I think Crake is an extremely interesting character in the novel, even more so after the discussion we had in class about him being a mad scientist/super genius. Personally, I think he is a mad scientist, because he took the route that, in his view, promotes ‘the greater good’, with the end justifying the means. But past this, I think what he did is something that anyone is capable of doing, given the circumstances. He is extremely intelligent, and gets the best education; he has the drive to see his projects through, and develops the ego necessary to completely believe in his vision. What I want to know though, it how he developed both the lack of empathy he shows towards not only the animals he experiments on, but also the countless people he kills as well. It is this lack of care that places him beyond the usual cliché of the scientist mistreating the animals he or she is experimenting on; he obviously cares for the planet. His whole mission is to stop the pollution, influence, etc., that he thinks humans continue to cause just by existing.
I remember it being brought up in class that PETA is offering a reward for anyone who can create a Petri-grown chicken substitute; perhaps this is the view that Crake takes, especially in regard to the ChickieNobs. If I remember, he says it is easier to just imagine them as sea anemones. Since they are not ‘real’ animals, they do not deserve the same protections as animals. On a side note, I wonder about how PETA will react to large-scale, perfect-genotype cloning, if we even get that far. Will they offer the same protections to these animals (since they are animals in every since except their conception) as they do to ‘normal’ animals? If anyone knows, I would like to hear about it.
But back to ChickieNobs, with the disgust and revulsion I feel for the ChickieNobs organisms, I wonder if I could justify killing them. This is too similar to the stance Crake takes; could I kill these things for the greater good, for their own good, without any way of getting their own opinions? I still think Crake is at fault for being a part of their creation, but I think we have to be careful in condemning him and undoing his work, as we may end up being just as arrogant as he in thinking we are justified in killing them. They are alive, if not completely sentient, and we harvest their products at constant detriment to themselves, (though the same things can be said about honeybees. It is a tricky subject to approach, and one just can’t say, “Better they were never created at all,” since it is all to easy to say that, by the amount of destruction and mayhem humanity has caused throughout its existence, we deserve the same fate. Perhaps this is where Crake go this idea in the first place.