Ecocatastrophe in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake
Abstract
This study explores ecocatastrophe in Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake through the lens of environmental apocalypticism. By exploring the characters and motifs in the dystopian world of the novel, relevant contemporary themes such as the implications of genetic engineering, unbridled human avarice and consumerism, population growth and the relationship between human beings and the planet that we inhabit are explored. Through the theme of environmental apocalypse, the novel teaches us that only by acknowledging the interior value and integrity of nature and by trying to establish an equal relationship with nature can humans develop harmoniously, together with nature.
Keywords
ecocatastrophe, apocalypticism, genetic engineering, overpopulation
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