Oryx and Crake

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. What element of Atwood’s dystopian novel resonated the most strongly with you? Is it the scientific concepts, the environmental warnings, or the complex human relationships at its core?

2. How does Atwood’s approach to genetic engineering in Oryx and Crake compare to the reproductive control in her earlier dystopian work, The Handmaid’s Tale, which examines how power can reshape society?

3. The novel’s structure jumps between past and present, gradually revealing how the world ended. Did this nonlinear storytelling enhance your engagement with the mystery or make it more challenging to follow Jimmy’s journey?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Jimmy and Crake represent the divide between humanities and science education. Which character’s worldview feels more familiar to your own way of thinking about the world?

2. Snowman struggles with preserving human language and knowledge even though he’s the only one left who values them. Have you ever felt like you’re keeping something alive that others don’t appreciate or understand?

3. Corporate compounds offer safety and comfort but isolate residents from the wider world. Would you choose the security of compound life over the uncertainty and freedom of the pleeblands?

4. Throughout the story, Jimmy makes questionable choices but never sees himself as truly evil. When you’ve made decisions you regret, how do you reconcile your actions with your personal moral code?

5. Oryx maintains an almost serene acceptance of her traumatic past, refusing to see herself as a victim. Does her attitude strike you as admirable resilience, troubling denial, or something more complex? How do you typically process difficult experiences from your past?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The novel depicts a world where corporations have replaced governments in controlling people’s lives. Do you see parallels between Atwood’s corporate compounds and the influence of major corporations in contemporary society?

2. Genetic engineering in the story serves beneficial purposes as well as destructive ones. Given current advances in gene therapy and genetic modification, which aspects of Crake’s work feel most realistic or concerning to you?

3. Climate change has dramatically altered weather patterns in Snowman’s world, making survival increasingly difficult. How does this environmental backdrop coupled with contemporary concerns around climate change shape your understanding of why Crake felt such drastic action was necessary?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Language and words serve as Snowman’s primary connection to his former humanity. How does Atwood use his obsession with obsolete vocabulary to highlight what’s been lost in this new world?

2. The Crakers are designed to be “perfect” humans without aggression, racism, or destructive impulses. Yet they begin developing religious thinking and art, which Crake tried to eliminate. What does their evolution suggest about essential human nature? Do you think Crake’s vision was fundamentally flawed from the start?

3. Oryx functions as both a real person and a powerful symbol throughout the story. In what ways does she represent humanity’s relationship with innocence, exploitation, and redemption?

4. Animals play crucial roles as both victims and threats in this post-apocalyptic landscape. How do genetically modified creatures like pigoons and wolvogs reflect the novel’s themes about science interfering with nature?

5. Crake’s name choice references an extinct bird from the Extinctathon game he played with Jimmy. What significance do you find in his decision to abandon his birth name Glenn for this identity tied to extinction?

Snowman creates elaborate mythologies to explain the world to the Crakers, essentially becoming their prophet and storyteller. His narratives blend truth with fiction to make the incomprehensible world accessible to his audience. How does his role as a mythmaker connect to broader themes about faith, truth, and the power of narrative? What does it suggest about humanity’s relationship with storytelling?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Design your own genetically modified animal companion for this post-apocalyptic world. What traits would you combine and why? What would you name your creation, and how would it help you survive?

2. Describe a time capsule before the apocalypse to help future survivors understand what humanity was like. What three objects would you include to represent our species? What story would each item tell about human nature, and why would these particular artifacts matter to survivors like Snowman?

3. Picture yourself encountering the three mysterious survivors that Snowman discovers at the novel’s end. What questions would you most want to ask them about their survival, and what do you think their presence might mean for the future of both humanity and the Crakers?