Essay Example on Oryx and Crake: Science Without Ethics in a Dystopian Age

Paper Type:  Essay
Pages:  7
Wordcount:  1885 Words
Date:  2023-06-06
Categories: 

In the developing technical age, the idea of science without ethics has emerged into a central stage issue. The book Oryx and Crake (Atwood) explore science without ethics, mainly through two of the dystopian worlds that are engineered by Atwood, which are all from the protagonist Jimmy after a devastating plague destroyed the humanity. In the novel, Atwood portrays her perception of the present genetic modification and how companies mutate food specifically for their monetary benefits. In her book, Atwood shows corporate dominance, climate change and genetic engineering through the characters Jimmy, Crake, and Oryx who lives in a dystopian capitalist society.

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Crake, one of the main character's in the book, is known to be a biogeneticist as he creates genetically modified organisms for the corporates. He modifies the genes based on human fetuses with particular features developing new superspecies based on homonids referred to as "Crackers," stating that they are more superior to human beings. Additionally, he modifies bacteria hence creating an antibiotic, which is a resistant super plague as it wipes off the entire human life on the globe. In the world of today, some people frame GMO as perverted science; other portrays it as scientific progress as it is seen from the character Crake.

From the Crackers all the way to the dangerous genetically modified animals and genetically modified bacteria, GMOs have played a critical role in Atwood's book. In the book, the characters make their living from the sale and creation of genetically modified products for large corporations. All the products are associated with genetically modified organisms. Lang, in his article, explores the myth and science that surrounds the GMO foods in order to help in understanding what is at stake.

The author, Lang (2016) grounds the debates in chemistry and biology behind the genetic modification, which is seen from Crake. He developed genetically modified organisms for the companies. Atwood manufactures a world based on a post-human world where, through Crake, there is the creation of some creatures resembling humans, although they lack human flaws. These creatures are among the living things on earth. Additionally, overturning genetically engineered animals like pigoons, wolvogs, and rakhunks. Also, through Crake and his obsession with science lacking ethics, Atwood portrays the dangers of trying to force limits of humanity as well as anthropocentrism.

Moreover, Lang (2016), in the article, portrays how food intensively instilled with social, religious, cultural, and ethical meanings, which he claims to bring a variety of non-scientific issues. It is seen in Crake's obsessions of using science without any ethics. Atwood in the book contrasts Crake's science of an obsessed character Jimmy as he exemplifies the humanities. Contrary to Lang's article claims on non-scientific issues, Crake makes use of science without ethics to create genetically modified products that posed threats to society.

Genetically modified bacteria will always cause threats to societies. In book, because of Crake's own genetically modified bacterial, wiped out human life on the planet. Also, several of the genetically modified organisms caused threats to Jimmy, who was the Showman during the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Even though the GMOs were important to Showman's society before the plague. The pre-plague future in Oryx and Crake book portrays a divided society by both scientific knowledge and wealth. "The pigoon organs could be customized[...]identical with some of their own" (Atwood 28-29) The wealthy intelligent leaders stay in gated company compounds while the mathematically "dull-normal" live in urban wildernesses referred to as pleeblands. The science of Crake in the book by purposely manipulating natural systems and organisms follows the traditions that portray humans as separate from nature.

Furthermore, Crake attempted to do away with all biological ideas of humanity as he believed that they were responsible for greed, inequality, lust, and violence. During his production of the beings, he wrote a particular ethic to the cracker's DNA as well as vitiating communal or individual choice. The posthumanism framework from Crake's character is not a feasible alternative to the world's present conditions because it requires the annihilation of human species and also demolished the possibility of choice that describes ethical considerations.

Though Atwood's speculative fiction work, Oryx and Crake provide information about the near-future world that is portrayed through the eyes of Snowman during the post-apocalyptic landscape. It is through a flashback where Jimmy describes a future story in which the human race died because of a particular virus known as JUVE that was engineered from the lab by Crake. Atwood has used the character of Snowman in framing the traditional understandings of nature, which has been eroded and changed in the speculative world.

The Snowman was caring for the genetically modified crackers, curious as he survives as well as recovering his memories about the past. Each and every aspect of the book somewhat involves genetically modified organisms as the characters continuously face the advantages and issues that arise from the microorganisms. The constant flashbacks in the world of jimmy through the book show that time inarguable, which not so close to the future where technology and science emerge faster compared to human responsibility and ethics.

Anthropocentrism in the jimmy's society is highly dominant for which biotechnology corporates have resorted to changing some of the other species to supplement their trans humanistic requirement. In that society, it lacks the trans humanisms which comes at a price and what would happen in case a change in life expectancy occurs for the humans. There is a very huge gap between public opinion and scientific judgment on genetically modified food, countries are confronted with specific dilemmas based on how these products should be regulated in the market.

The biotechnology companies within the jimmy's society see no harm in what they are doing when trying to mess up with other species due to their head as they believe that the central part of the universe. Crake, in the novel, is seen exploiting both nature and humans together with biotechnology corporations, which seems to dominate the entire society. Both not only strives to expand human life expectancy but also manufacturing new diseases, thus getting people to rely on their products, something which has happened in the modern world.

Atwood generates a society that depends on science as well as capitalism based on moral guidance. Fundamentally, through the characters of Crake and jimmy, she illustrates dangers that extremist ideology might have on society, which lacks prevailing ethical code. Crakes tell jimmy, "look at it realistically. You can't couple a minimum access to food with an expanding population" (Atwood 145). Also, she has explored the world of genetically modified through the book when hinting about an unethical, yet companies making profit existing in a fictional story that hauntingly exists in reality.

Modification of people in a sense based on a step back development on the human race. People that are developed by Crake are like reset towards the race because there are no arguments between individuals and no cloths. Atwood, in her book, agrees that it is capitalism that has resulted in a culture where it is nearly shameful in pursuing humanities and arts. The conflict is reflected in the book where the character struggles towards clutching to apparently intangible values of the arts amidst based on a capitalist society's eradication.

Oryx and Crake's (Atwood) book stresses the importance of valuing the humanities and arts-based on capitalist society, particularly in the education system. The grit of the issues might be a portion of humankind from the book, and the current world may have started messing with the natural world, and the balancing brings it to cyclic existence. Sudhir claims that genetically engineering permits scientists in splicing a particular gene that shows certain traits into a plant without any trials of choosing the breeding, which has been revealed in the novel by the creation of human-like creatures by Crake.

In the book "Oryx And Crake," Atwood provides stepwise to the fiction drug that cures the specific disease. Atwood discusses a lot of different experiments that result in various forms of foods. She claims that animals that are bred not in a normal look but contain human-like organs that might help individuals when they require them. In the novel, the author sets up an idea of anthropocentrism, which is an idea the globe of humans is dominant as well as being the significant morally animals. Oryx And Crake are like a cautionary prediction of the future. Also, in work, she explores the dangers of trying to push the limits of humanity and anthropocentrism without ethics.

Moreover, in the futuristic society, Atwood in the book manufactures science without ethics, which is predominant, and individuals are incredibly captivated by biotechnology. Also, there is the exploitation of both nature and humans. She argues that biotechnology companies dominating society strives to expand human life expectancy and manufactures new diseases in getting individuals to rely on the products. Science exposed to ethics in some of the private profit biotechnology corporations pushing the questioning of humanity value. Atwood projects into the near future, which is for both to be familiar and even beyond people's imagining. She talks about the future of having a breed created in the lab involving humanesque is in the process.

Through the characters Crake and Jimmy, in the novel Oryx and Crake, the entire society was dominated by big corporations that were willing to producing and providing anything that would possibly want for a price. The corporations in the book seemed to make use of genetic modification on a particular organism to generate desired products that they had wished to sell. Atwood paints a horrific an exploit the world towards the future based on food industries years from the current century.

Cultural declination of humanities in the society from the novel is shown in the shabbiness of jimmy's new school. Notably, the world has changed due to varieties of human-influenced issues that have mirrored modern problems within society. Eventually, the Oryx and Crake are parallel with contemporary society on how it handles the issues affecting the world as well as making them more extreme and immediate.

In various ways, Atwood portrays where the world we are in might end up in case things continue down endangering paths as well as not having a kind of check based on powers of genetic engineering.

Conclusion

Climate change is part of the world's lives, and several areas are already being affected by its changes. In Oryx and Crake, climate change is portrayed various times, both implicitly and explicitly. Crake and jimmy graduated at a time when it was warm and a humid day early in February. Likewise, the ceremony was always being held in June due to hot and sunny issues. It all changed like in the modern world and "but June was now the wet season" (173). The reason for the change was due to seas rising due to global warming as it also happens in modern days.

When Atwood was mentioning Jimmy, that time he lives in is could be the 2050s, and by this, she sends a message on what the future holds for the twenty-first century. From the book, we see more water and temperature becoming hotter, and since 2000, it has hotter at arctic than the usual way. Additionally, by 2018, it was getting warmer at a high rate, then become twice as fast as the global temperature averages. Globa...

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Essay Example on Oryx and Crake: Science Without Ethics in a Dystopian Age. (2023, Jun 06). Retrieved from https://proessays.net/essays/essay-example-on-oryx-and-crake-science-without-ethics-in-a-dystopian-age

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