Oryx and Crake - Why AP?

AP or Nay-P?

It's no secret that Margaret Atwood, the author or Oryx and Crake, is a remarkable author. She's become one of my favorite authors thanks to Ms. LaClair after reading The Handmaid's Tale in class and I've been dying to read some more of her work. The way she toys around with different themes, literary devices, and writing styles is, to put it simply, incredible. 

Before discussing why this book is considered AP worthy, we must first know the requirements of an AP worthy book. I used an outside source to conclude what makes a book AP worthy and summarized it. 

In order to be AP worthy: 

1.  The book must endure through time
2. The book must contain complexities, tensions, ambiguities, and/or emotional depth
3. The book must speak to important, challenging, or relevant real-world issues
4. Lastly, the book must have a certain high quality in its writing style - imagery, motifs, allusions, tone, foreshadowing, theme, etc., the author should be using their high quality writing style to say something beneath their words

With that being said, that's exactly why Oryx and Crake is a literary merit book. Her use of different literary tools work together to create such a complex and intriguing book. Atwood always messes around with such interesting concepts, especially gender roles and relationships (which will be discussed in my next post). 

Atwood always toys around with important and real-world issues such as women's rights (in The Handmaid's Tale) and in this book, she's dealing with the idea of playing God. After reading parts of Crake and Snowman's backstories, we find out Crake became a bio technician and creates his Crakers project (genetically engineered children to be bought and sold) in hopes of achieving immortality and a species of perfect humans. The apocalypse actually stems from the invention of the Crakers, Crake created a viral pandemic to kill mankind and destroyed the antidote. 

The Crakers were invented to be the perfect human, but Crake essentially removed everything he disliked about humans and the world. In one scene, it is revealed Crake removed the "God neuron" so the Crakers wouldn't have to participate in organized religion. I find this ironic because not only is Crake playing God by doing this, but the behavior of the Crakers is very similar to the behavior of religion followers. They treat Oryx and Crake as if they're gods, going into a prayer like state when conversing with them, which defeats the purpose of Crake removing the "God neuron". The Crakers also look to Snowman like the beholder, similar to the way followers look to priests. 

A fun symbol Atwood incorporates into her book is toast! Not only is there a subchapter in chapter twelve titled "toast", but toast is used to symbolize a variety of things such as the relationships Jimmy has along with holding onto memories from the world before. The texture of toast is very dry and plain along with burnt. Jimmy's relationships with those considered to be "close" with him can be described in a similar way. 

Memories are also a big motif in Oryx and Crake. The book jumps in and out of Snowman's past memories and the present and Snowman often quotes and references things from the past. I believe Snowman holds onto the past so strongly because In one scene, Atwood uses both motifs while Snowman tries to figure out a way he could explain toast to the crakers, saying "toast was a pointless invention from the Dark Ages. Toast was an implement of torture that caused all those subjected to it to regurgitate in verbal form the sins and crimes of their past lives. Toast was a ritual item devoured by fetishists in the belief that it would enhance their kinetic and sexual powers. Toast cannot be explained by any rational means.

I am toast." (98)

After reading this paragraph, I thought wow. Why would someone dedicate an entire paragraph to something like the history behind toast...how strange. 

The toast represents how pointless it is for Snowman to hang onto things like knowledge during the apocalypse. All that knowledge he's holding on to will mean nothing after he passes away, it'll die out with him. He can't explain this to the crakers and make them understand, solidifying the idea that once Snowman passes away there really will be no recollection of human life. Toast will just be a thing of the past or whatever they decide to define it as. 

Toast is mentioned throughout the book multiple times. It was mentioned when Crake told Jimmy "I never remember my dreams" and to "have some more toast" (218).  In another scene, Jimmy's mom is making French toast while his father tries to persuade his wife into staying home because it's "for our own good" even if she feels like a prisoner (54).  It's a small but important detail to pay attention to in the book. 

After reviewing the examples listed above, I do believe Atwood's Oryx and Crake is worthy of being considered AP. There's a lot to work with on the AP exam, a student could analyze the imagery, theme, and style since her work is quite unique. Atwood never fails to amaze me with her work, it always leaves me with questions and wanting more. I recommend reading at least one book of hers, they're very eye opening and engaging!

Works Cited

Aplitandmore. "4 Quick Questions to Determine If a Book Is 'AP-Worthy.'" AP Lit & More, 12 July 2020, aplitandmore.com/2020/07/12/4-quick-questions-to-determine-if-a-book-is-ap-worthy/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2021.