Canadian writer and poet Margaret Atwood is first of all famous for her novels. The novel titled Oryx and Crake was published in 2003 and was the finalist for the Booker Prize. It is a brilliant combination of the fantasy and the love story. The reader gets absorbed with the plot from the very first chapter when the main character is found in a tree. His name’s Snowman and he is probably the last living man in the whole world. He is surrounded by strange creatures called Crakers, who take care of him and seem to worship him as well. The story goes on and it appears that the Snowman is not a real name of the character. Previously, he was called Jimmy. He had mother and father, who were scientists and therefore the whole family lived in a compound – highly developed and protected district. The world is driven by the biotechnology and Jimmy’s father works for the OrganInc Farms and conducts experiments and researchers in order to develop a pigoon, a pig-like animal, that suppose to posses human-tissue organs, which can be used by surgeons. The scientist does not take care of his son. He always forgets his birthday and does not pay attention to Jimmy’s problems. Neither does his mother. She left job and now she is always unhappy and depressed. Jimmy tries to turn her attention but it is useless. The boy is lonely and deprived of love and tenderness. He does not feel and support and understanding. His inner world is empty.
But fortunately Jimmy finds a friend. Glenn, who would be known as Crake later on, is also a lonely boy, who suffers that his father does not love him. Kids spend lots of time together. But their friendship did not bring happiness to Jimmy. Crake becomes well-paid and respectful scientist and Jimmy seems to stay underdeveloped. He has lots of girlfriends but he does not feel love. Crake invents his own creatures because he believes that they are better than people. And Jimmy feels jealous about Crake’s career and his love affairs.
Another very important character of the novel is Oryx. She was sold by her family and she was made to participate in pornographic films. As they were kids, Crake and Jimmy saw her and Jimmy fell in love. In the last days before the apocalypses Oryx dates with Crake and teaches Crakers. Jimmy who always experiences the lack of love feels anger. His actions lead to the death of both lovers. Jimmy is actually responsible for the beginning of the era of Crakers. After people died from the diseases he runs from the compound together with creatures.
Yet, he is still alone, lonely and not beloved. Crakers were not designed to love. And now the sense of Jimmy’s life is only searching for food, creating myths about Crakers and their origins, protecting himself from beasts. He is called Snowman by locals but they actually have no idea what is snow and how showman looks like. The main character feels that he is useless, everything he possesses is useless as well. The young boy was searching for love but even now when he grew older he did not receive it. His world stays empty because he has nothing to fill it in.
The tragedy of Snowman is that he tried to deserve love during the whole his life. But someone who cannot love cannot be loved in turn.
