Oryx and Crake

In the aftermath of the disaster, Jimmy spends his time getting drunk and watching news reports documenting the extinction of the human race. We see that Crake thought through every facet of his plan, ensuring that once the seeds of the virus had been put in place, the time between onset and death would be too rapid for anyone to formulate a vaccine.

The voyeuristic nature of the media (evidenced by Jimmy’s and Crake’s online viewing habits) also reaches its peak, with some news anchors deciding to go out with a bang by filming their gruesome deaths in detail. Here, we are reminded of Crake’s earlier statement about people having the “flair” to know when their time is up, as well as his odd reaction to his own mother’s death. For all his interest in the future of the planet, Crake seemed to take perverse delight in such grim imagery and lack compassion, showing that Jimmy is better equipped to look after the Crakers.

Though he receives calls from people asking to be let in, Crake ensures that the dome is kept secure. Despite all that has happened, he manages to implement the necessary practical measures. Still, sitting alone and witnessing the extinction of the human race via TV bulletins is an experience that he could not have foreseen, and it leaves him numb with shock. In a sense, the Crakers are luckier in that they have no understanding of what has occurred.

Even though Jimmy now knows what Crake had been planning, there are still some questions that play on his mind. Did Crake set up this elaborate “grand finale” so that that he himself would not have to deal with the consequences of what he had done? Was there any jealousy about Oryx? Was he taking his plans to their logical conclusion or was he a lunatic? Whatever the specifics, Crake does not have to deal with the aftermath.

Returning to practical concerns, Jimmy knows that this arrangement cannot go on forever: the dome’s resources and mechanisms were not boundless or permanent, and he and the Crakers would ultimately end up trapped and suffocating to death. He knows that he cannot leave the dome until the virus has taken its course and the streets are safe from desperate people.

At this point, Snowman looks at the last note that he had ever written, which outlines what he believed happened in terms of the creation and dissemination of the virus.

Once the virus has run its course, Jimmy introduces himself to the Crakers in his new identity of “Snowman” and says that Crake has instructed him to take them to a better place. Given their placid, accepting nature, they do not require much convincing, and Jimmy finds that he excels in coming up with elaborate stories. This reflects his imaginative, artistic nature and confirms that he is better-suited to caring for them than Crake. He can imagine the Crakers driving him mad with boredom, but he also feels responsible for them and his compassionate nature is apparent. It is notable, for instance, that he does not transfer his anger at Crake onto the innocent Crakers.

Snowman decides to take the Crakers to a park near a seashore, where they will find lots of edible foliage. Along their route, they find a few stray individuals in the late stages of disease, who Snowman quickly dispatches. Here, the story enters the realm of overt sci-fi horror, with Snowman besieged by virus-ravaged people that he must put out of their misery). Snowman manages to deal with such threats, and he and the Crakers reach the seashore. This is an important point in terms of story structure, as the novel has come full circle: we have learned all that is to be learned about past events, with the novel now establishing the setting in which we first encountered Snowman. The difference is that, now, we know the background to Snowman’s plight, and the novel’s references are no longer cryptic.

The novel then shifts to the present for the final time, with Snowman returning to the Crakers after having visited the compound to retrieve supplies. His aim now is to find the source of the smoke or any other signs of human life. At the village, he sees that the Crakers have built an effigy so as to draw him back home, and he is reminded of Crake’s negative view of both religion and art. Crake believed that the beginning of art would mark the beginning of trouble, as it involved symbolic thinking. The effigy thus raises the possibility that the Crakers may develop traits that are in opposition to Crake’s aims. Still, when they see Snowman, the Crakers destroy the effigy, as Oryx taught them that a thing should return to its origin after it has served its purpose.

The Crakers reveal that they were visited by other individuals like Snowman during this period of absence, who had run away. Snowman is startled and now has all the more reason to search for other human beings. He now has a shred of hope, and this is reflected in his observation of the sky at dawn: despite all that has happened, the world can still be beautiful. Finding an ant in his hat, he thinks of one of Crake’s conundrums: “Can a single ant be said to be alive, in any meaningful sense of the word, or does it only have relevance in terms of its anthill?” Snowman appears to be pondering his own situation here, as he has existed as a lone ant since the disaster and has felt that he was not truly alive but merely existing. Now, however, he is faced the possibility of finding others of his kind.

The novel concludes with Snowman following footprints in the sand to find three people around a fire. He is cautious, but remembers Oryx telling him not to let her down. What did she mean by this? With his watch showing zero hour—as always—Snowman decides that it is time to go. With that, the novel ends and leaves the reader wondering who these other individuals are, how they survived, and how they will react to both Snowman and the Crakers.