Margaret At woods novel Oryx and Crake On page 206 of Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake, protagonist Jimmy wonders, “Why is it he feels some line has been crossed, some boundary transgressed?
How much is too much, how far is too far?” Atwood asks this question not only about the happenings in her fictional world but also about our society in the
21st century.
Your job will be to answer this question, using evidence from the story as well as making connections to science and technology in the world today.
Your essay should be 6-8 pages in length and should have at least 4 outside resources (evidence from the real world, literary criticism on Atwood’s novel,
interviews with Atwood herself, etc).
You may choose to approach this essay from any angle you would like: maybe you will argue that no line has been crossed, that society is moving in the right direction and that on fatal decision changed everything in Oryx and Crake rather than a string of scientific developments. Perhaps you’ll argue instead that a line HAS been crossed, that in both the novel and in society, we are playing God and that only pain and suffering can result from destroying nature. You
might choose a third option and argue that a line MAY have been crossed in the novel but that no such line has been crossed in the real world.
Again, the choice is yours to make, but you do need to address the question both in terms of the text and in terms of real life.
