The story is narrated by Snowman, who has made his home in a tree in order to escape the dangerous pigoons. He is slowly starving to death, and his days are filled with mindless babbling as he attempts to maintain his intelligence. He mourns for his lost love Oryx, and he is torn with feelings of bitterness and amity towards his best friend Crake. His solitude is beginning to break down his sanity, and the simpletons he calls the Crakers make him feel increasingly alienated. Snowman soon decides that in order to save himself from starvation and insanity he must set out on a journey into the world he has left behind, unsure of what now awaits him. Through his frequent flashbacks the reader begins to understand the events that led to the near extinction of humanity, and the creation of the Crakers.
Throughout the novel, it becomes evident that, given the speed at which technology and science have advanced in the past century and the direction that research is going, the world that Atwood reveals is not only a possibility, but that this possibility could become a reality in the not-so-distant future. Readers will find themselves questioning whether the positive implications of advancement will ultimately outweigh the negative.
Overall, Margaret Atwood has mastered a futuristic classic. “Oryx and Crake” is not just simple entertainment; it gives us a glimpse of a future that is, if nothing else, spine-tingling.
