Summary:
Margaret Atwood's "Orxy and Crake" was obviously influenced by Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein." Both Crake and Victor Frankenstein try to changed the human race by manufacturing a human, both with disasterious consequences. Both Crake and Frankenstein do not take responsbility for their actions.
In the novel Oryx and Crake, and the classic Frankenstein, the main characters share very similar characteristics. Both Crake and Victor Frankenstein try to create a new human race which eventually leads to disaster. Also, they childishly refuse to take responsibilities for their mistakes. Even though the two books were written almost 200 years apart, it goes to show that the same problems that affected Victor in 1817 are still affecting the society of the future in which Crake lives in. The embedded Frankenstein story in Oryx and Crake suggests that Crake is a Dr. Frankenstein who refuses to take responsibility for his creations.
Crake and Dr. Victor Frankenstein share many similarities, which are shown by their actions. Both Crake and Victor try to create a new race of people. Crake creates the Crakers, and Victor creates a monster. Neither Crake nor Victor realize what they are getting themselves into. In Crake's case, he wants to create a community of pure and innocent people; he strives for a world better then the one he lives in. In order to do this Crake does not teach the Crakers about war or any other brutal aspects of the modern society he lives in. Crake does not give the Crakers the knowledge of social status or competition against each other. For example, "Hierarchy could not exist among them, because they lacked the neural complexes that would have created it." (Atwood 305) Crake goes on to say, "there was no territoriality: the king-of-the-castle hard-wiring that had plagued humanity had, in them, been unwired." (Atwood 305) Crake takes what he believes are the problems of the society he lives in and applies that to make the Craker's life better then the one he lives in. As for Dr. Frankenstein, he realizes right away that the creation of another human race was a bad idea. Unlike Crake, Victor does not destroy the already existing human race before he tries to create another one. By doing this, it foreshadows the troubles in the book that are to come. Victor's love for new sciences and interest in things undiscovered is what drives him to create his monster. Victor becomes obsessed with the creation of life. "I will pioneer a new way, explore unknown powers, and unfold to the world the deepest mysteries of creation." (Shelley 46) The main problem with Victor's creation of the monster is that he one, abandons it as soon as it comes to life; and second, Victor did not think of all possible things that could go wrong, or plan very well for the catastrophic project he was taking on. Even though the outcome of Crake and Victor's actions may not have had a positive impact on the society they lived in, neither of them intended their projects to end with the negative and tragic effects that they both did.
In Frankenstein, Victor is given another chance by the monster to create a second monster, or be killed. Even though in the end Victor backs down from his creation of the second monster, at first he accepts the proposal. "I was moved. I shuddered when I thought of the possible consequences of my consent." (Shelley 145) This quote shows that even though Victor subconsciously knew that creating another monster was wrong, he agrees anyway. He knew how it would end. I believe that what Crake did, ended exactly how he planned it also, and if he had the chance to do it all over again, he would take it. Crake, being a scientist would want to redo what he did, and make it better. By improving his plan he might be able either make sure everyone is killed off to insure no one suffers as snowman did, or make life better for his Crakers. Both Victor and Crake share a passion for science and would do whatever they could to further the studies of scientific research for their times.
One other thing that Victor and Crake have in common is their lack of taking responsibility for their actions. As soon as Victor's monster comes to life he panics and runs away from it. From then on, Victor spends the rest of his life trying to get the monster out of his life and refuses to take responsibility for what he did. If Victor was mature enough to take responsibility for the monster he created, he might have realized the monster was really not a monster at all, but a being that just needed the love and attention of another. Crake also shows a lack of responsibility when dealing with the demolition of the human race and the creation of the Crakers. Before the BlyssPluss infects everyone with a deadly disease, Crake hints at what is to come. By Telling Jimmy that if Oryx is not around he will not be either, Crake is foreshadowing the end of the book. As soon as the disease is spread and people start dying, Crake immediately kills Oryx, and causes Jimmy to shoot and kill Crake. Crake knew that killing Oryx would cause Jimmy to kill him, and by doing this Crake did not have to deal with the consequences of what he did. Both Victor and Crake share the characteristic of immaturity by refusing to take responsibility for their mistakes, making them very similar.
Another example of Oryx and Crake having an embedded version of Frankenstein could be the fact that both Victor and Crake choose to create a race that is far less educated and evolved as the society they live in. In Oryx and Crake, Crake describes the Crakers as needing a teacher who could "communicate on their level. Simple concepts, no metaphysics." (Atwood 309) Crake purposely makes the Crakers less intelligent then he is, or anyone else. The way Crake does this is very similar to what Victor does with The Monster in Frankenstein. Victor goes so far as to not even teach the creature to talk, or understand a language. If Victor would have took the time to care for his creation he could have taught it to talk, however The Monster was not born with the ability to talk like the Crakers were. The Monster was also given no common sense by Victor. When Victor and The Monster come face to face and talk the monster tells his creator how he learned about heat, cold, pain, and the first time he experienced fire.
"In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain. How strange, I thought, that the same cause could produce such opposite effects! I examined the materials of the fire, and to my joy found it to be composed of wood." (Shelley 103)
The Monster was created with absolutely no knowledge of anything, and because of his abandonment upon his creation he was left alone to figure out everything for himself. It could be possible that when writing Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood was influenced by the relationship between Victor and The Monster when thinking of the relationship of Crake and the Crakers.
The influence Frankenstein had on Oryx and Crake could also be noticed by the fact that both Victor and Crake are responsible for their own deaths. With Victor, he did not technically commit suicide, but by not taking care of himself like he should, it led to his own demise. When Victor is finally on his deathbed he talks about his happiness about finally dying. "When I momentarily expect my release is the only happy one which I have enjoyed for several years. The forms of the beloved dead flit before me and I hasten to their arms." (Shelley 215) Victor's life has been so miserable ever since he created The Monster that when his time to die finally comes he is happy about it rather then sorrowful. In the same way Victor caused his own demise, Crake was also responsible in a way for his own death. I believe that Crake knew of Jimmy's love for Oryx, and he knew that by killing Oryx Jimmy would kill him. This was a for sure way that Crake could die. "'I'm counting on you' Crake said. Then he slit [Oryx's] throat. Jimmy shot him." (Atwood 329) Crake, like Victor wanted his life to end. So when it was their time to go they welcomed death with open arms.
Another possible reason for the embedded Frankenstein story in Oryx and Crake could be because of all the similarities between the authors. It could be possible that Atwood was influenced by Shelley since they did lead similar lives. First, both Shelley and Atwood are feminists. This could explain some of their same thinking. The men in both stories are portrayed as immature and irresponsible which could trace back to the feministic ways of both Shelley and Atwood. Second, both authors were raised with families in high society and intellectual people. Both of Atwood's parents are successful scientists, and Shelley's mother was a famous feminist while her father was a philosopher. Also, Oryx and Crake as well as Frankenstein have created controversy. Frankenstein had, in the earlier years of its publication been banned from schools and libraries; while Atwood's portrayal of the future has sparked controversy simply because people fear it might actually be true. Lastly, Atwood and Shelley share the characteristic of being influential through their writing. Shelley's Frankenstein has become a classic in literature all over the world; not to mention an inspiration to young writers every where since Shelley was only 18 when the book was published. Atwood has been very influential in the science aspect of her books. They get people thinking about the future of the world and the way things are going now, what happens in Oryx and Crake could become a reality.
In conclusion, the story of Oryx and Crake has many similarities of Frankenstein, and depicts the story well. I believe the statement of Crake being a modern day Dr. Frankenstein is accurate and correct. Crake, like Victor refuses to take responsibility for the disaster he has caused. These actions lead to the demise of everyone in Crake's life, not to mention the entire world, just like Victor's actions lead to the destruction of himself and most of his family members and loved ones. I believe it would be safe to say that both Victor and Crake are irresponsible. They want to be portrayed as influential high society people when actually they were immature and scared of what they had done. The demise of both characters in the end goes to show that even though the two might appear intellectual; they are both irresponsible and refuse to pay the consequences of their actions. The many similarities between the two novels, the main characters, and the authors, prove that Crake is a modern day Dr. Frankenstein, and the two stories are embedded within one another.
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