.
Oryx and Crake presents a very different scenario than that novel''s religious theocracy. However, in both novels the
collapse of civilization quite noticeably echoes current events. Oryx and Crake critically examines developments in science and technology such as xenotransplantation and genetic engineering, particularly the creation of transgenic animals such as "wolvogs" (hybrids between wolves and dogs), "rakunks" (racoon and skunk), and "pigoons" (pigs and baboons, for organ transplants)<3>. This society, which not only tolerates but promotes such extreme commercialization and commodification of life, has also produced an exacerbated gap between rich and poor, as well as the commodification of human life and sexuality in prostitution and online child pornography. Oryx and Crake does not depend on imagining new scientific or technological discoveries; the novel merely extrapolates on the basis of technologies that are, in principle, available today and carries current social and economic developments and their attendant ethical choices to their radical conclusions. However, this still does not exclude it from science fiction, since the genre has long accepted such "extrapolative" works within its canon. The work would fall within the sub-genre of social science fiction, which is not heavily concerned with gadgets and space opera for their own sake.
Published: January 14, 2008
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