One of the key theme in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake is the conflict between that which is empirically provable, and that which is a construct of the human mind. This manifests in a variety of ways: numbers vs. words, emotion vs. survival, art vs. science. The protagonist, Jimmy/Snowman, is wrapped up in this conflict, because he is an advocate of the side which believes in the intangibles of human nature, but he feels like his side is losing, or has lost, depending on whether we address him before or after the catastrophe.
The conflict first emerges early in Jimmy’s life in the guise of an innocent qualification. He notices at a young age that Ramona talks as if she isn’t very intelligent, but Jimmy’s dad explains it away by saying that, “she didn’t want to put her neuron power into long sentences.” (25) Apparently, most people working at OrganInc behaved similarly, and it was because “they were numbers people, not word people, [but] Jimmy already knew that he himself was not a numbers person.” (25) This statement seems innocuous at first: just a child realizing his strengths in language and weaknesses in mathematics. Yet, as the story progresses, the emphasis on mathematical and logical competence in the compound increases. As mentioned before, most of the employees of the compounds were oriented towards mathematical rather than verbal prowess, and as such, their children end up with the same orientation. It’s frequently mentioned that the schools he attends are saturated with genetic science or math geniuses. The atmosphere is one where Jimmy’s talents aren’t valued, and he knows it. He knows that his father, mother, and peers accept him as merely sub-standard. This situation, combined with his desire to justify his own interests and be appreciated for them, is the main root for his perception that the practices of rational thought and artistic thought are at odds.
However, once Crake enters Jimmy’s life, the perceived dichotomy deepens to include more than just the two sides of academia. Crake is the epitome of these math geniuses that make Jimmy’s abilities fade into the background. Crake is characterized by his capacity for rational thought. He is a remarkable student, who takes his capacity for logical reasoning beyond academia. He applies it to social philosophy and uses it to dissect the meaning of human actions and their fundamental flaws. Yet, this application of “rational” thought causes Jimmy to see another side of his own skills. When hypothesizing about the new human race he would create, Crake addresses the issue of reproduction by effectively limiting romance to brief hormonal periods of fertility, claiming that the sexual frustration of humanity has caused more suffering than necessary. Jimmy immediately picks up on this as an elimination of something very precious and unscientific: art. Jimmy says “[romantic frustration] has been an inspiration, or that’s what they say. Think of all the poetry—“ in an attempt to express the value of the “free choice” of romance. (166-7) Yet, Crake, in his rational mindset, is unable to see art the way Jimmy does. He responds to Jimmy’s protests by saying, “people can amuse themselves any way they like. If they want to play with themselves in public, whack off over doodling, scribbling, and fiddling, it’s fine with me. Anyway it serves a biological purpose.” (167) He clearly cannot view art in terms of anything but scientifically verifiable value, and for that reason is very dismissive of art.
This is a trend throughout the entire story. Jimmy’s value are repeatedly marginalized. Yet, the outcome cannot be ignored. The outcome of supposedly perfectly rational thought is apparently apocalypse, and the replacement of humans with some hormonally driven human imitation. Yet, in this new world, Jimmy is the only suvivor, and he does so through his connection to his extinct culture. He repeats obscure words as mantras. But more importantly, the result to Crake’s scientific endeavor is a wholly unscientific people, who despite their programming, are developing mysticism around the legend of Crake and Oryx. There seems to be a flaw in Crakes rational thought.