Reproduction and Infertility

Margaret Atwood deals with themes of reproduction and fertility through a variety of ways, and Atwood routinely juxtaposes the Crakers with the human beings in order to discuss the importance of birth and life in this dystopian future. Atwood’s primary focus in exploring this theme is through Toby’s anxieties regarding her infertility. Toby constantly refers to her inability to reproduce, and her relationship with Blackbeard puts these anxieties into further focus. This theme is most prominent in the chapter "Bone Cave," in which Amanda, Swift Fox, and Ren discover that they are pregnant. While Atwood plays with the trope of new life and motherhood signifying the potential of the future in a science fiction novel, she complicates this trope through the main character participating in this process in ways that do not rely on her body’s capabilities. Toby gardens, keeps bees...