human relationships theme Flashcards
examines various relationships
familial, sexual and romantic
and how they are affected by the scientific and cultural shifts taking place
Jimmy’s relationships
his mother ran off, while his father is distant- “Daddy it thinking. That’s what they pay him for. He doesn’t have time for you”
his friendship with Crake is founded on video games and watching porn
Jimmy’s romantic love
Oryx- implied to be a conglomeration of televised images of women that Jimmy has seen through his life
snowman
marked resemblance to “no man” - perhaps implying that he can’t be human himself without other humans to have relationships with
Crake
disdainful of human bonding
never shows familial love for his parents
Jimmy suspects that Crake killed his mother and step-father by experimenting on them with deadly viruses
Crake and sex
sees it as an “inelegant” solution to reproduction
believes love to be poorly regulated hormones in the human brain
“love was undependable”
Crake designing the Crakers
he tries to breed out sex and romance
limits sexual frustration and betrayal, as it overpopulation
“sex is no longer a mysterious rite”
trust, love and bonding
are hard to come by in this novel, sex and love are often paid for
in a culture so saturated with consumption and entertainment it is not clear which relationships are real and honest
effect of the society
Jimmy: alienated and alone and plagued by addictions
Crake: becomes maniacal in his attempt to control human relationships through scientific manipulation
violence against other humans
is a major theme in the novel and seems to be in the current world too
our consciousness of it seems to go round in a cyclical fashion
