Oryx and Crake

Drawing parallels to modern society, Tattoo’s three main concerns are the negative side of globalization, the loss of a middle class, the negative side of libations and excessive human exploitation for personal gain. Furthermore, the limited omniscient point of view and a metaphor helps to highlight the dark aspects of increasing globalization. In a globalizes world with endless flow Of information, people are exposed to excessive amounts Of negative data which makes everyone afraid. Atwood even gives the impression that she is not in favor of this trend: “too much hardware, too much software, too many performs” (34).

This growing fear makes people realize the possibility of more threats. Therefore, groups of individuals, specially those inside the Compounds such as Organic, tend to isolate themselves within the safety and comfort of the Compound walls to avoid “too much envy, fanaticism and bad faith” (34) out in the Planeloads. Ultimately, the vast majority prize their privacy more than ever since globalization not only benefits people by making it easier for them to connect together, but also leaves people more susceptible to bad influence from their surroundings.

In this case, the limited omniscient point of view points out the limited social contact that the people of the Compounds have with the Planeloads. Although globalization might bring some groups closer, the profound effect actually divides society apart. Moreover, a metaphor is used to describe how the relationship between the Crackers and normal human beings relate to that of developed nations and developing nations. As the Crackers came into existence, humans are left behind as they lack the physical attributes and survivability in the midst of a pandemic apocalypse.

In a similar way, less developed countries are cut off and are not receiving the plus side from the globalization of developed countries: eke the door of a great vault shutting’ (50). Both literary devices stress the imminent occurrence of a more isolated world. Atwood examines the disappearance of the middle class by emphasizing the dichotomy of the upper and lower class through the usage of juxtaposition or contrast. The comparison is first made by describing the physical layout of the communities.

Members of the elite live in heavily gated communities known as Compounds while the majority of the poor reside in the Planeloads or the cities in which public security is low. People of the Compounds are inconsiderably better off, possessing luxuries with the likes of ‘the house, the pool, the furniture” (33), as opposed to “the addicts, the muggers, the paupers, the crazies” (33) of the Planeloads roaming about the city wreaking havoc in the streets. Both classes have developed mistrust due to the seclusion and a lack of interaction: “Compound people didn’t go to the cities unless they had to and then never alone” (33).

From the noticeable segregation, a sense of unity between the two is slowly slipping away with the possibility of causing disastrous consequences. Therefore, the elite have more power of taking advantage of the Planeloads for their own betterment. As one example of exploitation, corporations in the compound continuously create diseases targeted towards the Planeloads, thus making immense profit by forcing them to buy their medications, which often worsens their health.

Without the middle class acting as a stabilizer, members of the upper class are more susceptible to immoral behavior towards the lower class, leading to extreme social imbalance. By using hyperbole and irony, Atwood argues that there will always be the exploitation of the poor and weak in society. Similar to Jimmies father, many medical workers Of the compound are always discovering new alternatives to gain profit from the poor: “The rewards in the case of success would be enormous” (65).

Knowing that these people are desperate for sustenance and financial aid, they take advantage of their vulnerability and deceive them by using them as test subjects to test the deadly effects of their newly created diseases. These tests often have detrimental consequences to the test subjects, leading to physical impairment and sometimes death. The destitute individuals are compensated very little for their services and are mostly unaware of the deadly consequences that may arise.