Loopholes from Dystopia:

Concepts of Anarchy and Social Exclusion

in

Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood (with cross-references to Aldous Huxley's Brave New World)

D i p l o m a r b e i t

zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades

eines Magisters der Philosophie

an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz

vorgelegt von

Patrick SPREITZ

am Institut für Anglistik Begutachter: Ao.Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr.phil. Martin Löschnigg

Graz, 2011 Table of Contents

1 Introduction...... 3

2 From Ideology to Fiction – Anarchism, Dystopia and the Artist...... 6

2.1 The Brave New Flood...... 6 2.1.1 The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake – A Summary...... 6 Oryx and Crake...... 6 The Year of the Flood...... 7 2.1.2 Brave New World – A Summary...... 7

2.2 Utopia vs. Dystopia or Artist's Imagination-lands?...... 9

2.3 While you were sleeping – Doers and Dreamers...... 13

2.4 Good Anarchists, Bad Anarchists?...... 17 2.4.1 From Words to Ideas – The Core Values...... 17 2.4.2 Together and not Against – Anarchic Communities...... 24

3 Until We Are Dead...... 27

3.1 Big Brother and his Sisters...... 28

3.2 The Forbidden Fruit...... 42

3.3 I and I...... 64

4 Judgement Day ...... 70

5 Conclusion...... 77

Bibliography ...... 79 1 Introduction

“Perfect storms” occur when a number of different forces coincide. So is it with the storms of human history.

(Atwood, Moving Targets 2004: 330)

Men and women have always sought to describe the circumstances which led to the “perfect storms” of their individual history, and the history of civilization in general. A variety of medial devices were developed to do so, be it fictional or documentary. In literature especially, fiction allows us to deal with the inadmissibilities, but also the positive achievements of humanity, without referring to a real event or person in particular. In Utopian fiction it is the perfect society its creators desire. Everyone dreams of a life without suffering – of a life in freedom and peace. Those writers who share a more optimistic vision developed a genre which, since its beginnings, has served as a basis for those who do not entirely share such positive future diagnoses for our beloved mother Earth and its offspring. Utopia becomes Dystopia. Optimism yields to a rather realistic approach towards the path our civilization was, and is, going to take. Add a little imagination and combine it with dark forces, which always seem to accompany human achievements, and you might have found the description of our future society – or at least have slightly exaggerated the current situation.

The aim of this Diploma Thesis is to analyse the representation of Dystopia in Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is going to serve as a reference work, which allows for a discussion of the topic in a broader historical context. The main focus will be on social exclusion and anarchy. As a potential substitute for existing social structures and as a consequence of increasing social and political discontent, anarchy and its supporters long for a society without any authority. The struggle of an entire community is often expressed by the attempt at change of a single individual. And it is the individual characters in the books who contribute to such changes and which are going to be analysed in this paper. Characters such as John the Savage and Crake realize what many others in these societies can only dream of - their actions have a crucial effect on society, its inhabitants, and on themselves as well. In the case of

3 John, this influence is kept a secret to the majority; Crake's action, in contrast, inevitably affects every person of Atwood's fictional world.

The first part of the thesis will deal with the ideological background and basic terms which are essential for further discussion. This section will describe the development of Utopian and Dystopian fiction as a genre and proceed to construct a framework of how social exclusion and social and political dissatisfaction are expressed by members of a society. In this context, the beliefs and background of the authors are also important. The quest for alternative social and political structures is not straight forward but ambiguous. Thus no explicit definitions exist. Every person has a different approach to the basic ideologies of such developments. In the last few decades scientists and philosophers such as Kropotkin, Chomsky and Gordon have intensively explored the possibilities of and urges for such a reconstruction of society. Their works are going to be the groundwork for the frame in which social exclusion and anarchic movements can be set.

The subsequent section deals more closely with the primary works by Atwood and Huxley. It examines social structures and hierarchy, from the state - as a complex mechanism of, at least in a fictional context, arbitrary oppression – right down to the individual. It is not only characters such as Snowman/Jimmy, Oryx and Crake/Glenn, but also Marx, Helmholtz and John, whose interaction with governmental institutions significantly stresses social dilemmas and the need for, from their point of view, change. Both Atwood and Huxley use powerful imagery to describe the impulses for a revolt against existing structures. The consequences they describe are even more significant – in one way or another, as Atwood and Huxley draw their conclusions from completely different (historical but also social) approaches.

To what extent can the societies represented in Huxley and Atwood be considered as being authoritarian and totalitarian? What are the main characteristics of such a society? Where and in which form does critique of the establishment come from? Which characters and concepts deliver critique? Anarchism, as a philosophical and socio-cultural movement, refuses any ruling establishment. Do the alternative ways of living represented by Huxley and Atwood reflect anarchistic tendencies? Which, if any, characters are anarchists? What conclusions can be drawn from the representation of the rebelling individuals and does Dystopia accept individuality at all?

4 The questions above will serve as a guideline for the analysis and have to be understood as an interacting body, which, as a whole, comprises the two final sections. By applying the fictional worlds created by Atwood and Huxley to scientific and philosophical ideologies and the individual’s attempt at change, including contemporary and actual movements in modern society, the complexity and importance of this will become more evident

5 2 From Ideology to Fiction – Anarchism, Dystopia and the Artist

2.1 The Brave New Flood

2.1.1 The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake – A Summary

Oryx and Crake

In Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood Margaret Atwood created a world which is severely destroyed by humans. Not only are most of the natural resources, which are needed for the maintenance of living standards, exhausted, but the balance and order of nature itself have also been irreversibly interfered with. Genetic codes of animals and plants, and humans, are manipulated in order to create new species of each. Efficiency and beauty is the main motivation – aspects which not only guide Atwood's society, but in the end also lead to its decline.

In Oryx and Crake, published in 2003, the story of Jimmy is told. After the downfall of society, which was caused by a virus exposed to the world on purpose, he is one of the last survivors of humankind. In this new world, which seems to be entirely hostile at first, Jimmy has adopted the name of “Snowman”. Every day is a struggle for survival. Jimmy's only hope of avoiding death is the grateful help of the Crakers, a humanoid species, which was created as a result of a scientific project carried out by Snowman's old friend Crake, who thought of the Crakers as a last resort for the planet.

In flashbacks the reader learns about Jimmy's past: how he became friends with Glenn, who later took the name of Crake; how he was incapable of establishing a serious and lasting relationship with women and fell in love with Crake's assistant and girlfriend Oryx; how he was not able to prevent Glenn from destroying humanity; and how, in spite of all this, he survived the first days of mayhem after the worldwide catastrophe, locked up in a compound research-centre called Paradice.

6 The Year of the Flood

The Year of the Flood, published in 2009, describes in more detail the society which was established in Oryx and Crake and provides further information about the complicated and tangled events that led to the catastrophe. The God's Gardeners, a group of people who have foreseen the destruction of society and who have prepared for a life after human domination on their rooftop gardens, are introduced. Some members of the Gardeners survive the “waterless flood” (Atwood 2009: 20) and start to rebuild their community and gardens. At the end of the story Jimmy/Snowman and Ren, a God’s Gardener Jimmy dates at college, are saved by each other - Ren, from violent men who try to enslave and abuse her; Jimmy, from starvation and solitude.

2.1.2 Brave New World – A Summary

Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is the story of a society which is guarded and controlled in every aspect possible. Men and women are no longer born, but hatched in test-tubes. Conditioning and genetic transformation predetermine the social class and role of every single person. “All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny." (Huxley 1932/2004: 12). Alphas are the most intelligent men and women of the society; epsilons are the least valued in terms of their appearance and character. The difference between these castes is not only visible in behaviour and intellect, but also in their physical characteristics. Any individuality and divergence from the norm is eliminated right from the beginning, so that society's gear wheels can work in perfection and without interruption.

Surveillance and oppression of personal freedom is the key to total control and a stable and bound society. This order is challenged, however, when Bernard Marx, an Alpha Plus, gets the chance to visit a Savage Reservation, “a place which, owing to unfavourable climatic or geological conditions, or poverty of natural resources, has not been worth the expense of civilizing." (Huxley: 1932/2004: 141). On his journey to the reservation Marx meets John, the “Savage” (Huxley 1932/2004: 143), and brings him back to his home in modern London.

7 Huxley's writing is characterized by “the clash of ideas [such as … ] the collision between art and science, which can be extended to include a collision between reason and imagination and between matter and spirit.” (Jeffares and Bushrui 1982: 6). For a slight moment, the clash of cultures between ancient religious beliefs and a world free of any spiritual imagination seems to provoke signals of social change. Marx and his friend Helmholtz Watson are influenced the most by John's presence. Helmholtz is inspired by the literary works of Shakespeare John recites frequently; Marx simply sees the chance to gain social importance by exploiting John for scientific, and his personal, purposes. In the end, Marx and Helmholtz are sent into exile on an island for social misfits. John, overwhelmed and disturbed by society's rationality, seeks solitude and silence at a forgotten lighthouse and in the end commits suicide.

8 2.2 Utopia vs. Dystopia or Artist's Imagination-lands?

Thomas More's Utopia, published in 1516, is often referred to as the first notable piece of Utopian fiction (Poppe 1983/1995: 17). Even the name More chose for his book shows the complexity and divergence of how people perceive Utopia. 'Utopia' can be translated as either 'the good place' (from Greek: eutopos) or 'no place' (from Greek ou topos) (cf. Morrissey 2004: 5). The definition of what can be considered to be 'good' or 'better' depends upon the individual (Davis 1981: 13). Every dream (subconsciously) is led by the dreamers mind; his or her individual experience creates this better world and frames its values.

“Perhaps it is a hopeful fighting instinct in man, a social refinement of an instinct for self-preservation, that maintains interest in books like More's Utopia.”

(Ames 1949: 3).

“How do we know if we have found eutopia and where are we when we do?” (Morrissey 2004: 5). This question not only highlights one of the basic ideas behind the introduction of the genre of Utopian fiction, namely the desire for change, but also emphasises the importance of the idea of imagination and dreaming. The fact that people on the one hand write, and on the other hand read, such books, stresses the importance of dreams of a better or, at least, different world.

In her works, Atwood takes account of topics such as feminism and forms a critique of society (Cooke 1998: 105). Every generation suffers from various social and political problems. Atwood uses her observations of everyday life as role-models for the societies she creates in her books. “Nineteen Eighty-Four was written […] as an extrapolation of life in 1948. So, too, The Handmaid's Tale is a slight twist on the society we have now.” (Cooke 1998: 277).

9 I believe that fiction writing is the guardian of the moral and ethical sense of the community. [F]iction is one of the few forms left through which we may examine our society not in its particular but in its typical aspects; through which we can see ourselves and the ways in which we behave towards each other, through which we can see others and judge them and ourselves.

(Atwood 1982: 346)

A similar approach towards the connection between reality and fiction can be observed in her reflection on the writing-process of Oryx and Crake. “It's deeply unsettling when you're writing about a fictional catastrophe and then a real one happens.” (Atwood 2004: 329) Margaret Atwood here refers to September 11, 2001, when New York was attacked by terrorists. Oryx and Crake's, and also The Year of the Flood's, evident connection to such actual events and the desire for an alternative, which will be discussed in more detail throughout the analysis, show how the objective observation of society, subjective implementation into fiction and progress of current events overlap consistently.

Since its conception, Utopia has been men and women's portrayal of the “good society” (Levitas 1990: 4). When talking about 'good' or 'bad' the view of the person referring to such concepts is important. For one person a created fictional world might be the most positive way of living he or she can imagine; for another person, this world could represent the complete opposite – Dystopia. It is the social, political and personal surroundings which influence every person - whether a world can be defined as Utopia or Dystopia. This perception is highly affected by personal experience.

[U]topia is a social construct which arises not from a 'natural' impulse subject to social mediation, but as a socially constructed response to an equally socially constructed gap between the needs and wants generated by a particular society and the satisfactions available to and distributed by it.

(Levitas 1990:181f)

Differentiating the perspective of the individual is important in order to emphasise whether the constructed society should be considered as Utopia or Dystopia. Milton's Paradise

10 Lost, for example, could be categorized as a Dystopian piece of fiction (Stevenson 2004: 129). 'Hell' stereotypically represents evil and thus can be characterized, from a western religious perspective, as a bad place. From the fallen angels' point of view this evil place in Paradise Lost also represents some sort of Utopia. The fallen angels created a world in which they flourish, according to their set of moral and social values, and evade the suffering of the rest of the world.

Herbert Marcuse (1980: 9ff) referred to Utopia as a historical concept in which social reconstruction is considered to be impossible as far as the realization of a new society is concerned. Possibilities for change are restricted to existing structures as long as conventional paradigms influence decision-making processes. In addition to social structures, the laws of physics and nature itself also restrain Utopias from becoming reality. Thus, dreaming of a better place replaces actual action and prevents one from reaching such limits. As long as technology is used to sustain capitalism, the desire for a better, fair world is a utopian one and the realization of dystopian nightmares is more likely. In Crake's dream, as the analysis will show, it is not the destruction of the entire society, but the creation of a new and, according to his values, more sophisticated one, which was the motivation to act and to overcome the rather static existence of simply dreaming of a different world.

Science and technology do not necessarily have to generate the basic environment for a Utopian or Dystopian world, but since Mary Shelley's Frankenstein the relationship between this literary genre and science has become more important. “It is often [in] contemporary science fiction that utopian dreams and dystopian nightmares are finding such exciting expression.” (Morrissey 2004: 4). Scientific developments and our actual society become the starting point for the Utopias and Dystopias, and the “what-if” scenarios (Atwood, Moving Targets 2004: 328) in the author’s mind add the details necessary for the creation of those worlds.

Deriving from Ernst Bloch's 'Not-Yet' concept (Levitas 1990: 86ff), such 'what-if' scenarios deal with the mental processing of material stored by a person with respect to his or her experience in society. Bloch differentiates between the 'Not-Yet-Conscious' and the 'Not- Yet-Become'. These two aspects form the subjectives and objectives which are

11 represented in Utopian writing. Subjective processing not only relies on individual perception but also varies according to historical influences. Starting from this individual point of perception, objective reality guides the path towards a Utopia or Dystopia. “It is fundamental […] that the material world is essentially unfinished, the future is indeterminate and therefore that the future constitutes a realm of possibility.” (Levitas 1990: 87).

When reading Atwood and Huxley, the scientific significance is permanently present. In Brave New World and The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake, science not only influences the people's lives, but also steers it in many ways. In Atwood, science is the starting point and the end of civilization on Earth we know it. “Oryx and Crake is a speculative fiction, not a science fiction proper. [It] invents nothing we haven't already invented or started to invent.” (Atwood 2004: 330).

A degree of suffering or personal dissatisfaction with the contemporary situation of the main characters is crucial for the genre of Dystopia. Moreover, the reader has to be convinced and needs to understand the characters' feelings towards the represented society.

In a dystopia the author must create a fantasy society or state of the future or the past where the characters experience palpable suffering which the readers fear are not the result of individual circumstances, but which could happen to them, given the right social conditions.

(Stevenson 2004: 130)

According to Stevenson (2004: 131), it is mostly evil manifestations such as the “faceless, all-encompassing state, bureaucracy, of belief systems”, which force the characters to perceive society and its influence as a negative aspect for his or her personal desires for freedom and self-fulfilment. The CorpSeCorps and the World State are such evil manifestations in the books to be analysed. The representation of such a society mostly serves as a warning and often refers to the actual society the author is or was living in, as well as its contemporary developments (Stevenson 2004: 135).

12 2.3 While you were sleeping – Doers and Dreamers

In Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood Margaret Atwood created a world in which not only individuals but also entire groups of people are excluded from society - from its accomplishments and benefits, and to a certain extent also from its problems and chaos, and are thus obliged to find alternatives to a norm introduced and agreed upon by the ruling institutions of this society. Such exclusion can be triggered by society itself, as a form of punishment for deviant behaviour of any kind or self-induced by the individual or group which is being excluded. In this chapter I am going to outline the basic factors, based upon actual research and scientific data, which lead to social exclusion and which are expressed in one way or another in Atwood and Huxley.

Social exclusion, as it is represented by Atwood, is not a mere fictional term used to describe dystopian developments of social interaction, but a widespread phenomenon in modern society. The term 'social exclusion' can be understood as “a general metaphor to refer to the range of socio-economic problems which poor places and their residents might face.” (MacDonald and Marsh 2002: 28). What the places are and who is affected varies from case to case. The Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC) has been collecting data on the causes of individual social exclusion in the UK and Australia since 2005. Based upon the results of this research the main areas of social exclusion have been identified.

In The Year of the Flood, the success of the socially functioning individual depends on his or her social and economic competence. One category of major causes for social exclusion defined by the GSDRC refers to social and civil rights, the concept of citizenship and related economic factors. Political participation, the right to express protest and governmental interference in the economic market of a society, to name only a few, are basic grounds for people and groups drifting towards social exclusion. Other fields of social discrimination and exclusion are concerned with identity, spatial factors and migration (Online 4). The identity of the individual, and especially of entire groups, seems to trigger discrepancies in society. Differences in race, ethnicity and culture, religion, gender, age and physical appearance constantly provoke political and social discussion and, in the worst case, lead to discrimination and exclusion. In Atwood, the main

13 characters are challenged by at least one of these aspects. Oryx and Jimmy’s development as complex characters in the story mirrors the individual expression of being different by combining the concepts of identity-loss, the quest to redefine one's personality in an oppressive environment, and economic failure according to the social standards in Atwood's dystopian world.

Modern western societies are a result of the desire to provide a specific standard of life for its members. These standards in general are only available as long as a specific set of rules, upon which everyday life is based, is followed. The rules have been predefined by the ruling class of the society and serve as a guideline to economic, and thus social, well- being. Gianluca Grimalda investigated the socio-economic reasons for the growing social gap in North America and Europe (Grimalda 1999: 269ff). According to Grimalda's research, technological development and educational systems focusing on an elite minority increase social and economical imbalance. Atwood describes the movement towards an elitist society by introducing compound research facilities which are intended to isolate the gifted and rich from the common masses.

“[T]echnological change is, from an individual point of view, nothing more than a godsend – a manna-from-heaven.” (Grimalda 1999: 278). A good education grants success and personal fulfilment in society but is, in general, only available for those who can afford it. Such privileges mostly are inherited and difficult to gain. The chances to overcome social classification are low, and as the examples of Jimmy and Oryx show, it is much more likely to fall than to rise up in the social hierarchy. Personal fulfilment or finding meaning in the lives of every single member of a community are often influenced by society's perception of such.

Stillman et al. (2009: 686f) summarize the most important criteria which are understood to grant a meaningful life. Their key point is positively functioning in a given society, which includes satisfaction with life, enjoyment of work, happiness, positive affect and hope. The last point in particular is an enormously important motivator for the main characters in Atwood to act and make decisions the way they do. On the one hand “[s]ocial exclusion causes a global reduction in the perception of life as meaningful” (Stillman et al. 2009: 692), but on the other hand it can also motivate one to adopt the role of a social misfit,

14 especially when there are others who are in a similar position. Being rejected by an entire society can lead to being accepted by another community, as the examples of the God's Gardeners and MaddAddam in The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake show.

The existence of social sub-groups, such as the God's Gardeners, not only enables people to gather whose views on life differ from the common understanding, but also demonstrates how society deals with the existence of such groups. Kerr et al. have investigated the concept of 'bad apples' in society and its role in social functioning (Kerr et al. 2009: 603ff). Their main argument is that, to a certain extent, social misfits, or as they call them 'bad apples', increase the social bond of the majority. The treatment of misfit- behaviour strengthens the sense of belonging among other members of the community.

[B]eing socially ostracized frustrates several core human needs - the need to belong, the need to feel in control of one's world, the need to maintain high self esteem, and even the need to believe that one actually exists.

(Kerr et al. 2009: 605)

Constant oppression and being treated as illegal debris push sub-cultural communities further towards social exclusion. At the same time, members of these groups and people who are affected and attracted by these groups' actions find common ground because they are all oppressed. The conclusion drawn by Kerr and his colleagues that “in social dilemmas bad examples are more influential than good examples (the bad apple effect) and that a credible threat of exclusion may eliminate or even reverse this effect” (Kerr et al. 2009: 605), can also be looked at from another perspective which views 'bad apples' as motivational factors for misfit behaviour. Toby joins the God's Gardeners after being mistreated by her boss and seeks refuge among them as a result of the negative influence on her, which, in this particular case, is caused by male dominance.

The existence or lack of social ties are generally the main factors for the individual to drift towards social exclusion. To discuss the phenomenon of social diversity, the concept of tolerance and in-acceptance in particular, it is important to include every aspect possible. Some reasons for being socially excluded might be triggered by action, chosen specifically

15 by the individual in order to send out a clear signal about his or her beliefs and values in life. In Atwood's books, social discrepancy is reflected by most of the main characters, who actively work against the almost totalitarian regime of the CorpSeCorps. The situation of most of the other people in the pleeblands reveals another aspect. Economic failure and exclusion lead to personal habits and tendencies to exclude oneself on purpose. Drug- addiction is only one example.

All societies transmit social values and standards that they consider to be important in maintaining social order. These include respect for the law and the value of work as a tool for integration and personal success.

(Suissa 2001: 390)

The pleeblands represent a majority within the social structure and thus serve as a trigger for socially controversial developments, such as social exclusion. To compare Atwood's fictional place of mayhem, any modern city could serve as a reference. As the quotation at the beginning of this chapter says, people are forced into social exclusion by economic and socio-political factors. If it is a free and personal decision, choosing social exclusion on purpose can be understood as a message from the individual to society itself. The social melting-pots of a society thus are at the same time the starting points for alternative ideas of how else society could be organized or simply exist, without introducing another arbitrary structure.

16 2.4 Good Anarchists, Bad Anarchists?

When looking more closely at the socio-political aspects in Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood, some elements in the story imply the existence of at least basic anarchic characteristics. Some of the characters, such as Crake and Ren, and also larger groups of people, desire a life which is quite similar to the life an anarchist seeks. This part of the paper is going to provide an ideological and theoretical background, which further analysis will refer to when examining to the struggle to create a society free of norms and values, which arguably limit the possibilities of personal fulfilment and equality.

2.4.1 From Words to Ideas – The Core Values

When one has personally felt the pressure of social exclusion and is determined to overcome it, it is necessary to find alternatives to the existing social and political structures. The reasons why individuals choose a way of living which departs from the generally accepted, i.e. the way of living predefined by the ruling class or most dominant elements of a society, are, most of the time, highly ambiguous and have to be characterized individually in each case. One ideological counterpart and substitute for modern social politics, which has been broadly discussed throughout history, is anarchy.

Anarchy, as a concept for social interaction and political discourse, has been the focus of thought for many sociologists, philosophers and artists for over 200 years (Gordon 2006: 277). The ideas of what anarchy and Anarchism, as a theoretical ideology, mean in particular and how it is possible to realize anarchy as a social structure are almost as numerous as the people who have dealt with the topic (Kinna 2005: 5). In this chapter the basic principles of anarchy, which seem to be generally agreed upon as core values for further and more specific discussion, will be defined. Additionally, some of the controversial ideas that writers such as Gordon, Chomsky and Nozick have developed are going to be discussed. Direct activism, and anarchic communities and networks apart from hierarchic structures, are two examples of the development in modern anarchy. The discussion of these practical examples will explain the attempts of modern anarchists to combine a

17 rather theoretical position with direct action that is appropriate and can be applied adequately to the needs of an entire community, in which every single member agrees upon the action to be taken.

Anarchism derives from the term anarchy (from Greek anarkhos, meaning 'without a chief'). While the common understanding often refers to chaotic disorder and lawlessness, a second approach, closer in its meaning to the ideology as a positive movement, encourages political debate and activism in order to achieve a society free from any oppression. In the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) this is defined as “[a] theoretical social state in which there is no governing person or body of persons, but each individual has absolute liberty (without implication of disorder).” (OED Anarchy 2010). As Gordon (2008: 4 ff) argues, anarchism does not possess a simple ideological tendency but is framed by numerous approaches toward a society free from oppression and state empowerment.:

Diversity leaves little place for notions of revolutionary closure or for detailed blueprints and designs for a free society. Instead, non-hierarchical and anarchic modes of behaviour and organisation are cherished as an ever- present potential of social interaction here and now – a ‘revolution in everyday life’.

(Gordon 2008: 5)

Anarchy is a way of living, thinking and (inter)acting that has been developing ever since its beginnings in the late 19th century. Philosophers and left-wing socialists who did not agree with the politics of the ruling establishments sought different, alternative perspectives. In Russia especially, men like Bakunin and Kropotkin started a discussion on how anarchistic values can be adapted to everyday life. Their mission was to achieve personal freedom for every individual.

In Anarchism – A Beginner's Guide Ruth Kinna summarizes the main principles of Anarchism. According to her, “Anarchism is a doctrine that aims at the liberation of peoples from political domination and economic exploitation by the encouragement of direct or non- governmental action.” (Kinna 2005: 3). Originating in the liberation of the working class of the mid-nineteenth century, anarchy, in its modern form, focuses on more than just

18 economic oppression. In addition to economic autonomy, an anarchic movement seeks acceptance and equality in controversial socio-political fields, such as feminism, sexuality and personal freedom; it also covers topics such as animal rights and environmental issues.

Anarchy is the goal of anarchists: the society variously described to be without government or without authority; a condition of statelessness, of free federation, of ‘complete’ freedom and equality based either on rational self- interest, co-operation or reciprocity.

(Kinna 2005: 5)

Peter Kropotkin was one of the first Russian philosophers who started to frame the core ideas of a society based upon anarchy. In his model of anarchic moral values, he discussed the importance of solidarity within a group of people (Kropotkin 1890/1978: 19f). When it is perfectly realized, solidarity grants personal freedom for all members of a community. Kropotkin argues that it is necessary to live a life led by bravery. Only when a person vouches for his or her principles can personal freedom be achieved. The core moral principle which underlies this understanding of Anarchism can be summarized as treating others the same way you want to be treated (Kropotkin 1890/1978: 21). This principle not only includes the individual expression of such values, but also the action taken, when such a right is being abused.

Personal freedom includes the absence of authority – be it a political, social or religious form of domination. Anarchy was, and still is, about the direct exchange of information, discussion based upon the concept of consensus-seeking and transposition of the results into direct action. The focus of such action is heterogeneous in its form and angle and can be applied to any situation, according to its purpose and necessity. As an example of taking action, Kropotkin describes a situation where a child is being mistreated by a man. A real anarchist would interfere with such behaviour and help the child, without fearing for his or her own well-being (Kropotkin 1890/1978: 17f). He even goes further when he justifies murder in order to prevent further immoral behaviour and oppression (Kropotkin 1890/1978: 23). Crake and Oryx's action - the release of the deadly virus - reflects this connection to altruism. As the analysis in chapter three will show, their idea of eliminating oppression and injustice leads to their own inevitable death.

19 Many people have argued that Kropotkin's approach concerning violence is inconsistent and unacceptable, insofar as anarchy should be understood as a serious alternative to existing social and political models. Nevertheless, anarchy promotes the acceptance of all approaches and the importance of the discussion of such issues. As a consequence, Kropotkin's entire argumentation and the situation that provoked such drastic action have to be taken into account.

Violence and militant action are aspects that have always divided anarchists (Gordon 2008: 78ff). Every person has his or her own view on direct action and its forms of expression. The key aspect of Anarchism and accomplished anarchy is ambiguity among all members of a community – given the basis of respect for all individuals. Only when such common ground is found can personal freedom be achieved. The main struggles in connection with direct action and violence are the various and varying propositions concerning pacifism and peaceful protest (O'Hara 1999/2008: 85 f). Physical violence and a more intense expression of discontent are often caused by disproportional brutality and governmental oppression of anarchists and their protests.

One of the main arguments for anarchy is the unconditional absence of authority and totalitarian structures in every possible sense. Society is broadly experienced as a complex and predefined construct. Every aspect of society has to be regulated and controlled. A consequence, which seems to be inevitable, is the establishment of control mechanisms, which gain power over the majority because of its certified actions and granted authority. Respect and personal freedom, seen from an anarchic viewpoint, can be considered as counterparts to law and order. One aspect which encourages the establishment of a power mechanism is the term tolerance. Barber (1971: 81ff) argues that the action of tolerating divergence includes an expression of power against the tolerated. Over-structured societies with (artificial) power establishments thus accept divergence and aberration from common norms, but only to a certain extent. One reason for such an attitude is that it is much easier to control, for example, subversive groups and their ideology, by giving them space to unfold. In The Year of the Flood, such a control mechanism exists between the God's Gardeners and the CorpSeCorps. Even though most of the members of the Gardeners do not notice that they are controlled by the government, its interference is evident. In Brave New World, the Cyprus Experiment refers to a similar form of institutionalized self-fulfilment (cf. Chapter 3.2). To tolerate means that the group in

20 control does not approve of alternative structures but simply allows their existence in order to avoid clandestine activity. Such groups are often referred to as being illegal and positioned in areas of society that are not entirely legally defined.

“Tolerance always involves conflict or tension; it can be reduced neither to mere approval nor to complete rejection. It always invokes a compromise.” (Barber 1971: 83). The compromise in this case does not mean that diverse ideology is being accepted, but that prosecution according to the laws of the state or ruling class would be too elaborate. As long as no concrete danger to the state is present, interference is not necessary.

The controversy of the subjective understanding of just and unjust behaviour is one of the main arguments which divide anarchists from those people who agree with the political and social norms of a society. It is everyone's free decision to accept or to neglect public laws. “Thoreau insisted that the only place for a just man in an unjust society was in prison.” (Barber 1971: 87). Taking action against existing conventions can result in oppression of oneself.

Not only socio-political values per se, but also cultural values and products, such as the arts, have to be included in a heterogeneous description of the core values of anarchy. Punk music, as a particular example, but also other forms of the individual expression of sub-cultural movements, are used as platforms for expressing a critique of society. “[T]he need to overcome the alienation and consumerism of everyday life” (Kinna 2005: 5) finds another medium, apart from scientific research and direct political action. The development of punk music from the mere denial of authoritarian structures to a medium that extends the opportunities for expression is a reflection of general tendencies among anarchists. Taking a position against the system still remains in the foreground of the movement, but messages are formulated more precisely and initiated directly towards the institutions that are to be criticised (O'Hara 1999/2008: 69 ff).

Any doctrines and unjust structures, whether in existing social structures or sub-cultural movements, limit the possibilities of ambiguous ambitions for improvement of people's social and political circumstances. Politically motivated movements, such as anarchy, tend towards indoctrination when the people who are involved forget about their motivation. In

21 Atwood's fictional society, the God's Gardeners have developed such ambiguity, but at the same time limit its potential because of internal hierarchical structures. Critique should thus not only be actively used for self-control, but also be accepted in order to avoid the renewal of authoritarian structures and artificial control mechanisms, which beforehand were to be abolished.

Co-operation and interaction within the community regulates public life and social interaction. No further rules and laws, whether from a state or a religion, are needed in order to preserve respect and social balance. Evaluation, when it is based upon limited aspects and speculation as a result of a lack of information, forces others to adopt a certain ideology. Such an expression of force and power leads to the establishment of structures of authority and does not apply to the idea of anarchy. Chomsky summarized the basic idea for change as follows:

[M]any commentators dismiss anarchism as utopian, formless, primitive, or otherwise incompatible with the realities of a complex society. One might, however, argue rather differently: that at every stage of history our concern must be to dismantle those forms of authority and oppression that survive from an era when they might have been justified in terms of the need for security or survival or economic development, but that now contribute – rather than alleviate – material and cultural deficit.

(Chomsky 1973: 152)

John Stuart Mill raised the question of elitist thinking patterns in anarchy and its critical conception of society (Barber 1971: 95f). His main argument draws upon the anarchist's rejection of traditional values and thus the rejection of the individual, who relies upon these values. Anarcho-punks often used to, and sometimes still do, adopt similar attitudes. “I am ok, and the others are stupid.” (O'Hara 1999/2008: 85). Such, or similar, expressions reflect resignation concerning the seeking of discussions in order to present one's position to others. Modern Folk-Anarchy (Curious George Brigade 2006: 163) rejects ignorance and promotes direct discourse. To relapse into ignorant and enclosed structures limits the ambiguity of anarchy's achievement in society.

It is from direct interaction between the state and the individual that the main discrepancies 22 among anarchists derive. Most of the anarchists tend to entirely reject governmental interference (cf. Kinna 2005: 63ff). The main arguments for this rejection are the state's immorality, repression and injustice. Chomsky takes a rather different position with regard to anarchists' obligation concerning governmental issues and the support of such:

[I]n my view, and that of a few others, the state is an illegitimate institution. […] Sometimes there is a more illegitimate institution which will take over if you do not support this illegitimate institution.

(Chomsky 2005: 212)

Anarchists like Chomsky and John Clark argue (Kinna 2005: 128) that even though the state illegitimately oppresses the individual in certain areas, such as warfare and taxation, it also provides social benefits for its citizens. Chomsky even compares absolute rejection of governmental authority with “ultra-right” politics, which seek to minimize the state into totalitarian constructs (Chomsky 2005: 213ff). If people reject their right to vote and thus do not actively take part in decision-making, the danger, he claims, is that the state becomes a purely totalitarian institution, controlled by a few “big corporations and investment firms”.

The state is justified, thinks Nozick, only in so far as it protects people against force, fraud, and theft, and enforces contracts. Thus it exists to safeguard rights and this is its sole justification. The state violates rights if it undertakes any more extensive programmes.

(Wolff 1991: 10).

Robert Nozick approves of the state as an institution that allows people to realize what is considered to be personal freedom. Such a “minimal-state” only interferes to a certain extent, and differentiates between necessary social benefits and crucial governmental control. Nozick argues that in order to maintain individuality, and thus personal freedom, a restricted set of rules is essential. In his utopian vision (Wolff 1991: 12ff) private goods still count for more than common benevolence, but a just and equal life is granted for at least a vast majority.

23 2.4.2 Together and not Against – Anarchic Communities

In Community, Anarchy & Liberty Michael Taylor provides an overview of the historical origins of anarchy. He argues that forty to fifty thousand years ago 'homo sapiens' already lived in “[e]galitarian anarchic communities” (Taylor 1982: 3). Such communities relied upon their rather small size and simple social structures. During the last few centuries, such communities were almost entirely replaced by states and highly organized communal structures.

States and anarchies promote counter ideas of how communities can be organised in terms of power relations and the acceptance of individuality and divergence. A discussion of artificial concentration of force and power (see Taylor 1982: 4 ff), when referring to the expression and execution of personal power on others, has to include both sides. Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood, but also Brave New World, describe various forms of social organization, from authoritarian control mechanisms, such as Huxley's World State or the CorpSeCorps in Atwood, to rather loose and constantly deforming forms, such as the God's Gardeners and the revolutionary online community MaddAddam which Crake is a member of and which influences the focus of Crake's research in the Paradice research facility. If, and to what extent, these forms can be considered as being anarchic, is discussed in chapter three.

Max Weber's definition of states as 'human associations that successfully claim the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory' only covers part of the conflict (Taylor 1982: 4f). It is not the state itself that exercises power but the individuals who have been given permission. A specific set of rules, which beforehand was precisely defined, defines the ground on which such exercise is legitimate. Thus these people receive authority, which allows them to control parts of the community. Taylor argues that such a monopoly cannot exist in the long run, as it can only be achieved if all members agree upon it.

Anarchic communities make decisions based upon the idea of consensus-seeking. Gordon calls this value a “shared form of organising” (Gordon 2008: 4) which, along with decentralisation and horizontal structures, preserve the egalitarian idea of the community. 24 No member of such a community will intentionally be given authority - which does not imply that power structures do not automatically tend to develop over time.

In Anarchy Alive! Uri Gordon tries to analyse the contemporary situation of the anarchic movement. In Europe especially, his studies have shown that one main struggle of anarchists nowadays is not to stumble over the same problems society has suffered from ever since the dawn of time – the establishment of authoritarian structures within an anarchic group or community, which limit its flexibility and the success of direct action. Communities that are organized according to anarchic axioms have to avoid the establishment of power structures. Discussion which is not reflected adequately and to a full extent can lead to polarization and the dominance of certain individuals (Gordon 2008: 47ff).

Anarchic approaches towards solving the problem of polarization, and the consensus aspect especially, have been criticised for being inefficient. Inefficiency for an anarchist, on the other hand, is considered to be one way to avoid power formations within the group becoming established (Curious George Brigade 2006: 148 ff). Every person's opinion is taken into account during discussions and in the process of solving problems. Thus, inefficiency helps to include as many aspects of the problem as possible. A more efficient discussion might be faster, but the danger of omitting crucial points remains.

Taylor (1982: 8f) positions and describes the phenomenon of the development of temporary authorities by differentiating between 'anarchies' and 'pure anarchies'. According to these terms, a 'pure anarchy’ would refer to a community with “no force concentration and no political specialization” (Taylor 1982: 9). In an 'anarchy', on the other hand, such a concentration would be limited. Examples of 'anarchies' would be primitive societies in the early times of human history. A person could execute force by giving advice or recommendations. In this example, it is not an exercise of physical force in the sense of a permanent authority, but rather some sort of position which can be taken ad hoc. Only in situations when the well-being of the entire group depends on experience and/or physical strength of such a person or group of people, does the community access their (temporary) authority.

25 Various forms of assembling people of similar ideology have developed among anarchists. Affinity groups, cells and cliques are three main ideas of how anarchistic projects can be organized (Curious George Brigade 2006: 62ff). This differentiation is based upon experience and the investigation of modern anarchistic movements and allows variation. The size of the group varies according to the project and provides the basic instruments in order to realize it. The success of a project depends upon the effort of all the people involved. Interaction between groups of interest is recommended but not necessarily sought. It is crucial to embed “anarchist theory that reflects more genuinely the debates, mentalities, and language of the contemporary anarchist movement that are found in everyday actions and utterances” (Gordon 2006: 281) in the projects. Without reflection on the individual's and the group's experience and mentality, norms and regulations are created which inevitably set limits and interfere with anarchy as a movement free of any (obvious) limitations.

26 3 Until We Are Dead

The aim of this chapter is to describe the social structure of the world Margaret Atwood has created in The Year of the Flood1 and Oryx and Crake2. Who are the oppressors and who is being oppressed? One of the main conflicts described in the books is the fight between a totalitarian establishment and uprising and revolting critics, or even enemies, of the system. Organisations and subversive groups have evolved: to organize and survive in the existing social system on the one hand, and to provide alternatives to the norm on the other. Within these groups, it is the individual characters who hustle for the realization of their dreams and visions, some quite openly, others rather subtly and from a distance. The following analysis focuses on the description of such systems and subversive groups and its members in order to prepare the ground to apply the previously established theoretical framework to the fictional world.

The first part of this chapter deals with the CorpSeCorps and its basic social structures; the subsequent part mainly describes the God's Gardeners, MaddAddam and Crake's Paradice project as representative examples of subversive and clandestine cells and groupings within the system; and the final part of this chapter discusses the role of Oryx, Crake (alias Glenn) and Snowman (alias Jimmy) in Atwood's story. In order to display the depth of social crises and revolutionary actions in a more general and historically adaptive context, comparable structures, groups and individual characters in Huxley's Brave New World are also taken into account. The World State and its Controllers, the Cyprus Experiment and Marx, Helmholtz and John, as a diverse triumvirate of characters, will be used to support the analysis.

1 the title The Year of the Flood in references to text passages and quotations will hence be abbreviated as TYOTF. 2 the title Oryx and Crake in references to text passages and quotations will hence be abbreviated as O&C. 27 3.1 Big Brother and his Sisters

The geographical and temporal setting of Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood is not explicitly defined. Hints throughout the story allow one to determine the place of action as somewhere in Northern America. The following passage from Oryx and Crake not only refers to the story's location, but also introduces some of the main topics in Atwood's Dystopia, such as personal freedom, thought and motion, and social and ecological awareness.

[E]veryone's parents moaned on about stuff like that. Remember when you could drive anywhere? Remember when everyone lived in the pleeblands? Remember when you could fly anywhere in the world, without fear? Remember hamburger chains, always real beef, remember hot-dog stands? Remember before New York was New New York? Remember when voting mattered?

(O&C p. 72)

Atwood uses real places and actual societies and replaces and transforms those into fictional settings, in which the world described appears real all the same. References by the characters to the ‘good old times’ enrich the contemporary fictional setting with additional currency and relevance for the reader. Thus, in reverse, the transition from reality into fiction as such is not always obvious. Similar to previous works, Atwood plays with the concept of fairy-tales and ancient mythology, which mainly serve as a frame for the reader's or spectator's imagination and implications. In the same way as Bloch's concept of 'not-yet' scenarios (cf. Chapter 2.2 on Utopian fiction), imaginative elements merge with actual developments of modern society.

Margaret Atwood reuses the old, great stories, modifying and usually subverting them, hiding their traces in order to reveal contemporary landscapes, characters, and problems.

(Wilson 1993: xi)

28 As has been said already, time and space, and thus reference to actual states and people, cannot be precisely identified. Starting from this rough fictional foundation, more definite structures in society are introduced. In order to be able to differentiate the opponents of the social clash and rebellions described in the books, it is necessary to provide an overview of this very society. The state as a whole symbolises a fence which encloses everyone directly and indirectly involved in public life and social interaction.

The first step is to define the mechanisms which keep the fence intact - in Atwood it is the CorpSeCorps who seek control and total authority; Huxley's control-body is the World State and its leaders. CorpSeCorps agents and World Controllers prevail because of the power they give themselves. In Brave New World the reader is introduced to “Mustapha Mond! The Resident Controller for Western Europe! One of the Ten World Controllers.” (Huxley 1932/2004: 28). Mond represents the entire control-body and more vividly personifies the mechanisms and ways of thinking behind it. Atwood introduces the CorpSeCorps more generally. Driven by the urge to uphold a hierarchical structure, both corporations actively design and shape these worlds according to their values and sets of rules.

Atwood essentially differentiates between two major social environments in Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood. Elite compounds, enclosed areas for the rich and gifted, stand in opposition to the pleeblands. Compounds are designed in order to prevent overlapping of the social classes. High security gates grant access only to registered citizens who, in the CorpSeCorps' opinion, meet the criteria necessary to be part of society's elite. Jimmy’s father refers to the CorpSeCorps as “our people” (O&C p. 32); by doing so, he reflects social nurturing with respect to ideas of social differences and hierarchy manifesting themselves in the crucial characteristics of an individual.

Long ago, in the days of knights and dragons, the kings and dukes had lived in castles, with high walls and drawbridges and slots on the ramparts so you could pour hot pitch on your enemies, said Jimmy’s father, and the Compounds were the same idea. Castles were for keeping you and your buddies nice and safe inside, and for keeping everybody else outside.

“So are we the kings and dukes?” asked Jimmy.

29 “Oh, absolutely,” said his father, laughing.

(O&C p. 32)

Crake, for example, is accepted at the ReJoovenEsense compound not only because of his descent, but also because of his outstanding intelligence. Jimmy is also accepted at compound research facilities because of his parents’ status. At OrganInc, Jimmy's first employer after graduation, the entire infrastructure for the workplace and private homes is provided by the authorities. “The house, the pool, the furniture – all belonged to the OrganInc Compound, where the top people lived.” (O&C p. 30). Interaction between Jimmy and CorpSeCorps authorities is closely connected to his mother, who is an activist and fights for freedom and the rights of animals and people. The role of his mother and her influence on Jimmy's life will be discussed in more detail in chapter 3.2.

The Pleeblands, as Atwood calls the area outside the elite compounds, are the home of the majority of the people. The name 'pleeblands' can be derived from the word 'plebs', a term derogatorily referring to “the ordinary people […] or the mob” (OED Plebs 2010). The definition of the Latin origin 'plere' (translated into English meaning: to fill up) more clearly underlines the highly negative connotations of the pleeblands as a place for people who are denied equal rights and are seen as being inferior to the elite of a country. In the history of ancient Rome “[p]lebeians were […] people who were considered to be an addition to the 'real' Roman population.” (Online 3). In the same understanding, the people living in the pleeblands in Atwood's society are seen as being different from the ruling class and do not deserve the same rights and chances.

Compound people didn’t go to the cities unless they had to, and then never alone. They called the cities the pleeblands. Despite the fingerprint identity cards now carried by everyone, public security in the pleeblands was leaky: there were people cruising around in those places who could forge anything and who might be anybody, not to mention the loose change – the addicts, the muggers, the paupers, the crazies.

(O&C p. 31)

30 The pleeblands are highly developed concerning their social structure and, at first observation, not quite distinctive for outsiders. Toby, for example, fears, after she has been rescued by the God's Gardeners, that Blanco, her former boss and sexual-oppressor, will find and harm her and the people on the rooftop-gardens who give her shelter. Adam One, the leader of the God's Gardeners, calms Toby by explaining some crucial characteristics of society in the pleeblands.

“My dear,” said Adam One, “you are safe with us. Or moderately safe.” Blanco was Sewage Lagoon pleebmob, he explained, and the Gardeners were next door, in the Sinkhole. “Different pleebs, different mobs,” he said. “They don’t trespass unless they’re having a mob war. In any case, the CorpSeCorps run the mobs, and according to our information they’ve declared us off-limits. ”

(TYOTF p. 48)

Sewage Lagoon and the Sinkhole are two examples of social sub-structures in the pleeblands. Mobs, mostly gangs and groups of people with similar interests, control these areas of the cities. Nevertheless, their internal action and interference with other groups are led and influenced by the CorpSeCorps interest and policy. Even though independence seems to exist among people living in the pleeblands, it is obvious that the control-body of the state does not leave society's development and structure to its own destiny. The pleebmobs' crucial function is to prevent oppression of the people of the lower class, rather than establishing an alternative society which is independent from the authorities.

The social structure represented in Atwood's fictional world of The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake is defined by an oppressive and hierarchical dominance of a few. The masses of people, legitimate citizens as well as migrants and illegal immigrants, depend upon the gratitude of the so called CorpSeCorps agents, who are patrolling the streets and backyards in order to spread fear and terror – the only way to maintain a minimum amount of order and lawfulness. Without their self-obliged authority their entire structure would collapse and the masses would reclaim their right to a life free from oppression and obedience. 31 The CorpSeCorps, formerly “a private security firm” (TYOTF p. 25), replaced governmental police forces which were unable to enforce law and to maintain order. Riots and rising criminality challenged social stability - the need for security and control allowed this change of power. “[M]ost people felt the CorpSeCorps were better than total anarchy.” (TYOTF p. 34). By anarchy, in this context, anarchic principles and a society free from any authority and based upon equality and respect (cf. Kinna 5ff) is not meant, but rather a state of social chaos and violence lead by a rudimentary understanding of Darwin's 'Survival of the Fittest' (cf. Online 5).

Every single person's life in the pleeblands is highly influenced by minor criminals and organized gangs. If one does not belong to a strong and powerful group or gang within society, finding a job, housing and everyday routines become a constant struggle. These groups' main idea is to defend the interests of their members against others and to provide a certain amount of safety and a feeling of belonging.

The fact that those gang and mobs in the pleeblands are mainly established to protect the individuals and to grant financial security at the same time strengthens the role of the CorpSeCorps. Illegal action and trade by the members of these groups are the basis for the CorpSeCorps maintaining power and a certain amount of control.

The local pleebmobs paid the CorpSeCorpsMen to turn a blind eye. In return, the CorpSeCorps let the pleebmobs run the low-level kidnappings and assassinations, the skunkweed gro-ops, the crack labs and street-drug retailing, and the plank shops that were their stock-in-trade.

(TYOTF p. 33)

Most people live at the edges of society and thus seek fulfilment through drug abuse and individuality based upon ideas and values introduced by society. To be accepted by others means being able to survive. Any expression of individuality other than the generally accepted is prosecuted and may lead to violence and disrespect. Actively engaging in consumerism is one aspect of being accepted. According to the motto “capitalism is dead,

32 consumerism is king” (Huxley 1959: 74), the majority does not seek wealth, but acceptance and compliance of their material needs.

The street kids — the pleebrats — were hardly rich, but they were glittery. I envied the shiny things, the shimmering things, like the TV camera phones, pink and purple and silver, that flashed in and out of their hands like magician’s cards, or the Sea/H/Ear Candies they stuck into their ears to hear music. I wanted their gaudy freedom.

(TYOTF p. 66)

Theft and drug abuse of the street kids reflect the general tendency in society. Criminal action, for a broad majority in the pleeblands, is the easiest and sometimes only way to survive and to provide and finance the comfort and luxury required. Taking drugs grants the necessary distance from reality and covers social and emotional impairment – another aspect which confirms the CorpSeCorps' position and supremacy. The CorpSeCorps use the people’s dependence on social and economical courses of events to amplify a portrait of society itself. In addition, the picture of the current situation in society which is most suitable for them is broadcast to the public by means of staged crime investigation and inciting riots. Many people were thus persuaded that a stiff hand was needed in order to prevent society from its decline – the first step towards the abdication of personal freedom. “[The CorpSeCorps] had an image to uphold among those citizens who still paid lip service to the old ideals: defenders of the peace, enforcers of public security, keeping the streets safe.” (TYOTF p. 34).

The planetary motto "Community, Identity, Stability." (Huxley 1932/2004: 5) in Huxley's Brave New World similarly refers to the aim of obtaining complete control over society by the ruling mechanisms and institutions, such as the CorpSeCorps. The World State's introduction of an explicit motto can be interpreted as the notion towards chaining its citizen to the state by evoking artificial feelings of belonging. Formulating the crucial and most representative values in a way that can be easily understood by every citizen limits the possibility of social discomfort of individuals. In a society where no single aspect of the individual is left to chance, such slogans rather play towards satisfaction of the ruling officials. The mass of people in Huxley's society do not have the intellectual sophistication

33 to understand the entire meaning of the planetary motto. It is the World Controllers and the Alphas who respond to it.

Prenatal conditioning, which is found in the Brave New World, does not yet exist in Atwood's society; other forms of manipulating the individual are needed in order to prevent social change and keep people from rising up against authority. Propagating violence and fear, for example, impairs a person's volition to defend his or her privacy. Propaganda not only is intended to gain absolute control and power over the common people in the pleeblands, but also raises and manifests corporate identity and patriotic feelings among the citizens living and working in the compounds. Feelings of belonging and being accepted by the group are crucial for the mental, and thus also social well-being of a man and woman.

In Brave New World Revisited, Aldous Huxley reflects social and technological development in the time after he published Brave New World in 1932. In his opinion, media and, more generally, entertainment, have ever since been the key aspects for successful manipulation (cf. Huxley 1959: 56f). Propaganda, as a means of shaping public opinion, subversively limits freedom of thought and individuality. Atwood and Huxley both apply methods of propaganda to their societies in order to express the power relationship between the ruling apparatus, represented by the CorpSeCorps in Atwood's and the World Controllers in Huxley's fictional world, and the common citizens.

Propaganda only works if the masses are convinced by its content. Slogans and simplified messages are one way of manipulating people's perception, even though the results are not distinct. “The morally squeamish intellectual may be shocked by [propaganda]. But the masses are always convinced that ”right is on the side of the active aggressor””. (Huxley 1959: 68). By spreading the 'right' news, public opinion in The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake is driven towards the generally accepted demeanour. Riots, murder, and possible threats from foreign countries are only a small set of sample news the CorpSeCorps broadcast and alter for their cause. The line between staged news and real events cannot be drawn explicitly, as “the media Corps controlled what was news and what wasn’t.” (TYOTF p. 293). It is the individual's ability to differentiate between hoax and reality that renders the impact of propaganda indefinite.

34 Being blindfolded by technology and information overflow, unconsidered medial absorption of any kind blurs the people's ability to differentiate. On the one hand, official broadcasts can be directed and changed quite easily without public notice. Commonly available technological devices such as cameraphones and open internet access for sharing information, on the other hand, make it almost impossible to entirely veil and manipulate news. The following passage from The Year of the Flood deals with the complexity of manipulating people via media control:

The CorpSeCorps could have shut down the Happicuppa riots. They could have spraygunned the lot, plus any TV camerafolk who happened to be nearby. Not that you could shut down coverage of such events completely: people used their cameraphones. Still, why didn’t the CorpSeCorps move in openly, blitz their opponents right in plain view, and impose overt totalitarian rule, since they were the only ones with weapons? They were even running the army, now that it had been privatized. She’d once put this question to Zeb. He’d said that officially they were a private Corporation Security Corps employed by the brand-name Corporations, and those Corporations still wanted to be perceived as honest and trustworthy, friendly as daisies, guileless as bunnies. They couldn’t afford to be viewed by the average consumer as lying, heartless, tyrannical butchers. “The Corps have to sell, but they can’t force people to buy,” he’d said. “Not yet. So the clean image is still seen as a must.” That was the short answer: people didn’t want the taste of blood in their Happicuppas.

(TYOTF p. 266)

Political and economical motivations overlap and one is mostly the root of the other. Consumer behaviour still influences political decisions and complicates the establishment of an entirely totalitarian state. Without the acceptance of a broad majority no ruling body can prevail forever.

[The CorpSeCorps men] had to be on constant alert. When there was so much at stake, there was no telling what the other side might resort to. The other side, or the other sides: it wasn’t just one other side you had to watch out for. Other companies, other countries, various factions and plotters.

(O&C p. 32) 35 A supplementary tactic for the manifestation of power is to bond the individual to social structures and mechanisms of control. Official personal identities are the key towards total observation. In the society represented in Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood the only possibility for a life legally accepted by the CorpSeCorps is by possessing an official ID. “As for the CorpSeCorps, they favoured official marriages only as a means for capturing your iris image, your fingerscans, and your DNA, all the better to track you with.” (TYOTF p. 115). Coherent with the necessity of official ID cards is the trade of such on the black market, which partly is controlled by CorpSeCorps agents. Not only are passports available, but also face lifting, new pupils and entire skin particles can be bought in order to gain a new identity. Purchasing a new ID is expensive and thus limited to a few people. Quite commonly the only option left is to decrease one's standard of living and social status. The lower a person sinks on the social ladder, the less obligatory is a legal ID. Toby, for example, is forced by recent developments in her family to disappear from public sight and hide her former identity.

She’d burned her identity and didn’t have the cash to buy a new one — not even a cheap one, without the DNA infusion or the skin-colour change — so she couldn’t get a legitimate job: those were mostly controlled by the Corporations. But if you sank deep down — down where names disappeared and no histories were true — the CorpSeCorps wouldn’t bother with you.

(TYOTF p. 30)

Iris and finger scans provide a coherent picture of the citizen’s travel and living habits for the CorpSeCorps at any time and support their control over law-abiding people, who constantly lose parts of their privacy. - “Planes were […] intensely scrutinized by the CorpSeCorps.” (TYOTF p. 47) - Not only does constant surveillance facilitate control over the masses, it also eases investigations of potential enemies of the system and terrorists, such as Jimmy's mother.

The relationship between the CorpSeCorps, Toby, and Blanco, Toby's boss at SecretBurgers, a fast-food restaurant serving burgers from largely unknown origin 3,

3 “The secret of SecretBurgers was that no one knew what sort of animal protein was actually in them: the counter girls wore T-shirts and baseball caps with the slogan SecretBurgers! Because Everyone Loves a Secret! ” (TYOTF p. 33) 36 demonstrates the complexity of social interaction in, and beyond, the pleeblands. Employed at SecretBurgers, Toby is temporarily dependent on Blanco's goodwill, being his inferior, both as employee and his “one-and-only” sex toy (TYOTF p. 38). “Toby was pleased to learn she’d got the SecretBurgers job: she could pay the rent, she wouldn’t starve. But then she discovered the catch.” (TYOTF p. 35). Living in the social underground and the fact that Blanco has friends in the CorpSeCorps preclude reporting her oppressor to the authorities. “Lucky for him he had friends in the CorpSeCorps or he’d have ended up minus some body parts in a carbon garboil dumpster.” (TYOTF p. 36). Not only does Blanco keep his employees like slaves, he also values his mistresses, and women in general, as inferior and treats them with violent disposal. Without the contact to the CorpSeCorps agents he might have already become a victim of precisely those agents or vigilantes. The only escape for Toby, at this moment, is to join the God's Gardeners and step further into anonymity by leaving the last official aspect of her life - having a job - behind.

A more subtle, but nonetheless effective tactic is to foment dissension and distrust among neighbours. Governmental control is usually limited to the public sphere and does not interfere with the individual's privacy. By encouraging neighbours to spy on each other, the CorpSeCorps intend to extend their influence and control over people's homes. At the beginning of The Year of the Flood the reader learns that “the CorpSeCorps had outlawed firearms in the interest of public security” (TYOTF p. 24). As a consequence of that Toby's father hides his gun by burying it in the garden. After her father’s death, Toby has to leave their house and go into hiding in order to avoid oppression by the authorities. Toby fears for her own safety at first, when she again hides her father's rifle in a neighbour’s garden, but then realizes that it is rather unlikely that she will be betrayed by anybody.

It’s possible a neighbour or two saw her digging around in the dark, but she didn’t think they’d tell. They wouldn’t want to draw the lightning down anywhere near their own possibly weapon-filled backyards.

(TYOTF p. 28)

The intention to pit neighbours against each other does not always help to manifest power, it also results in ignoring obvious violations of the law by some of the people who

37 witness such action, in order to avoid, on the one hand, direct contact with authorities, and on the other hand, drawing attention to oneself.

Disobedience concerning CorpSeCorps policy is prosecuted through discrimination and social and economical exclusion. Toby's father, for example, refuses to sell his house to a developer. Consequently, he loses his job and is no longer able to pay for his wife's medical treatment. This personal, but also financial, pressure leads to him committing suicide. “[H]umiliation, pain, and failure had eaten away at him until there was almost nothing left.” (TYOTF p. 26). Indirect manipulation of people's lives thus empowers the governmental institutions to direct citizens' behaviour according to not just political but also economical advantages for the state, in this particular case for the CorpSeCorps and their allies. Interference of this kind can be understood as a subtle action in favour of the establishment of a totalitarian society. To officially declare a totalitarian state is not possible yet, as society in Atwood's fictional world is too unstable and prone to rapid changes such as politically and economically motivated riots and revolution.

Disobedience and outlaw behaviour in Atwood's and Huxley's worlds entail prosecution. The level and forms of law-enforcement depend upon the severity of the crime and its impact on authority and stability of the state. The CorpSeCorps agents are more severe, counting on violent prosecution and several types of death-row. Unofficial, but nevertheless public, execution and draconian convictions are intended to awe the citizens of the state and to prevent further violation of the law. The World Controllers of the Brave New World, in contrast, reinforce social rehabilitation by reprogramming a person's behaviour directly in his or her mind. "And that [...] is the secret of happiness and virtue – liking what you've got to do. All conditioning aims at that: making people like their unescapable social destiny." (Huxley 1939/2004: 12). Individual social characteristics solely exist in some spare areas such as the Pueblo. Consequently, individual prosecution is not necessary and re-socialisation is preceded on a genetic level via systematic conditioning.

The CorpSeCorps agents uphold law and order by means of oppression and manipulation. As long as it is under the agents' control, crime and violence amongst the citizens in the pleeblands is accepted, if not expected. The lines not to cross, however, are definite and

38 trespassing results in imminent punishment. Blanco, having been affiliated with the CorpSeCorps, loses his exceptional position when he kills an agent's wife and has to face the consequences.

“He’s in Painball now, my dear,” he told her one fine Saint Mendel’s Day. “He may not ever be released. Perhaps he will return to the elements there.” Toby’s heart fluttered. “What did he do?”

“Killed a woman,” said Adam One. “The wrong kind of woman. A woman from one of the Corps who was seeking excitement in the pleeblands. [...] The CorpSeCorps were forced to act, this time.”

(TYOTF p. 98)

Painball is a form of prosecution criminals can choose as an alternative to being “spraygunned to death” (TYOTF p. 98). Formerly kept a secret by the CorpSeCorps, this form of punishment had gained enormous fame and public interest as it is broadcasted via the internet. Painball mainly is about criminals being locked in an enclosed forest. Two teams fight against each other to the bitter end. Equipped with a Painball gun that shoots deadly paint-bullets, the inmates are forced to hunt and kill members of the opposing team – the reward of surviving in the Painball arena is being released and freedom. Within the arena, no laws or rules exist. Survival is merely a matter of physical and mental strength – the prisoners' chances of survival rise with suppression of ethics and respect for fellow human beings; those who do not inherit such ruthless attributes face their ends.

Woman criminals didn’t choose Painball much, they chose the sprayguns. So did most of the politicals. They knew they wouldn’t stand a chance in there, they preferred to just get it over with.

(TYOTF p. 98)

The possibility to enter the Painball arena as a form of conviction primarily evokes feelings of horror among most citizens. In addition, survivors of the arena are feared after they have been acquitted, as they are capable of any form of violence and do not hesitate to

39 exert such brutality in public. Some people, such as Blanco, even spend several times in the arena and enjoy the thrill of having to fight for one's life.

If you survived for a month, you were good; longer than that, very good. Some got hooked on the adrenalin and didn’t want to come out when their time was up. Even the CorpSeCorps professionals were scared of the long-term Painballers.

(TYOTF p. 98)

Blanco and two other men, who have also spent some time in the Painball arena, survive the waterless flood. Their behaviour in the wilderness of the post-apocalyptic world is similar to the interaction of the prisoners in the arena – including a lack of respect for others. At the end of The Year of the Flood, the reader is confronted with a situation where Blanco and his comrades meet Snowman and some of the God's Gardeners. In this entirely different environment, compared to chaos and the oppressive and hierarchical social order of the pleeblands, physical strength and cruelty appear to be the more successful method to survive only at first sight. In the long run, it is the ability to adapt and to find alternative social structures that grant survival.

In Brave New World exile is based upon the consideration to send people to the community of banished people on Iceland, when they demonstrate the necessary intellectual 'dysfunction' that distinguishes the masses from a few individuals and are sentenced by the World Controllers for being different or deviant from the norm. Therefore, exile does not generally exist in the common people’s minds and is only taken into consideration by people of the highest social casts when conventional methods of social control for people, such as conditioning, fail.

The feelings that are evoked by the threat to be sent into exile vary according to each individual character in the book who happens to be faced with this form of punishment for behaviour which is not accepted in society. Marx, for example, pleads for mercy and disowns his friends, whereas Helmholtz understands the advantage granted by this alternative. In the following passage from Brave New World, the World Controller describes exile as an opportunity for self-fulfilment for freethinkers. 40 "One would think [Marx] was going to have his throat cut," said the Controller, as the door closed. "Whereas, if he had the smallest sense, he'd understand that his punishment is really a reward. He's being sent to an island. That's to say, he's being sent to a place where he'll meet the most interesting set of men and women to be found anywhere in the world. All the people who, for one reason or another, have got too self-consciously individual to fit into community-life. All the people who aren't satisfied with orthodoxy, who've got independent ideas of their own. Every one, in a word, who's any one […]."

(Huxley 1939/2004: 199f)

The island’s sole function is to provide space away from the public view for those who are deemed to be non-functional as members of the World State. Exile on an island in the rough seas of the North is one imminent punishment for members of the higher castes, if reshaping of the individual's social characteristics is impossible due to physical or mental dissonance, such as creativity and similar intellectual abilities different from the norm.

41 3.2 The Forbidden Fruit

The CorpSeCorps agents, as representatives of a totalitarian system, personify the authorial body of a state which is based upon oppressive values. Within such a system a vast majority of people willingly accept predominant social structures and hence the limitation of their personal rights, although this can also be due to their need for survival, and often takes place subconsciously. Nevertheless, subversive and insurgent groups of interest and cells exist within the system. For some, the reason for their existence is mere survival, others are eager to change the system for good.

The groups represented in Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood, such as the God's Gardeners and MaddAddam , as well as political and environmental activists who are not specifically named, deal with the nuisances in society in their own ways. These ways and the methods applied to overt, but also subtle, resistance are to be specified in the following analysis. The God's Gardeners were already briefly introduced in Oryx and Crake; in The Year of the Flood the group and its influence on the development of the story become more evident. Some characteristics of those groupings and factions Atwood introduces in her Dystopia, such as the God's Gardeners for example, are based upon actual existing movements of modern society as they were, and still are, known.

It is no accident that the postmodern dystopic writers like […] Atwood are connected to current social movements. In the postmodern era it is progressive social movements that try to correct or destroy inhumane or unjust tendencies of Empire. Consequently, postmodern dystopias portray groups of people acting together to overcome the evil state.

(Stevenson 2004: 136)

In Huxley's Brave New World revolutionary groups and fragments which resist the social order of the World State are not as obvious as in Atwood. Subversive behaviour and social criticism is restricted to certain characters - to Bernard Marx, Helmholtz Watson and John in particular - and their interaction, usually in private. The significance of these characters concerning the critique of the existing system and the quest for mobility within the social

42 spectrum will be discussed in “I and I”, chapter 3.3 of this paper.

In the story the God's Gardeners are the link between several other clandestine and revolutionary groupings and individuals. MaddAddam, a group of “bioterrorists” (Slettedahl Macpherson 2010: 82), is founded by a member of the God's Gardeners and some of the characters in the book, such as Crake, Zeb and Rebecca, start their revolutionary actions by using the infrastructure of this group. The God's Gardeners thus prepare the ground and support further developments and actions concerning the release of the deadly virus by Crake and Oryx.

As a matter of fact, the characteristics of the Gardeners and the role of MaddAddam will be analysed in more detail in the following section, whereas direct and violent activist action performed by undefined groups will only be described briefly in order to provide a complementary picture of the social situation in Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood.

43 The God's Gardeners

“Oryx and Crake […] projects not a national disaster but a global catastrophe “in a world that has become one vast uncontrolled experiment.”” (Howells 1996: 161). In this world driven by technological progress, consumerism and uncertainty, the God's Gardeners gather people of similar ideology and provide them with shelter and, as far as such a thing is possible at all in Atwood's fictional society, safety on their rooftop-gardens and at other hide-outs in the country. “The Gardeners didn’t exactly own [these buildings], because ownership was wrong, but somehow they controlled it.” (TYOTF p. 79). In these places owned by the God's Gardeners important characters in the story, such as Toby, Ren and Jimmy's mother, meet and are prepared for life after the Waterless Flood. Crake, whose real name is Glenn, also relies upon the Gardeners’ social position and is accepted as an outside informant (cf. TYOTF p. 145).

A massive die-off of the human race was impending, due to overpopulation and wickedness, but the Gardeners exempted themselves: they intended to float above the Waterless Flood, with the aid of the food they were stashing away in the hidden storeplaces they called Ararats. As for the flotation devices in which they would ride out this flood, they themselves would be their own Arks, stored with their own collections of inner animals, or at least the names of those animals. Thus they would survive to replenish the Earth. Or something like that.

(TYOTF p. 47)

The group's attitude is a constant fluctuation between controlled interaction with others and retreat to their hide-outs, as “[i]t wasn’t good policy to call attention to yourself on a pleeb sidewalk, especially not for Gardeners.” (TYOTF p. 242). Choosing alternatives to the generally accepted way of life inevitably triggers aggression and misunderstanding on the part of those stubbornly adhering to social conventions. Media broadcasts present a comic, if not preposterous, picture of the God Gardener's, which supports public anger and aggression against its members.

44 Did you see that? Unbelievable! Brad, nobody can quite believe it. What we’ve just seen is a crazed mob of God’s Gardeners, liberating a ChickieNobs production facility. Brad, this is hilarious, those ChickieNob things can’t even walk! (Laughter.) Now, back to the studio.

(O&C p. 397)

In the course of the story, the reader learns more and more about their role in society and the importance of being able to hide from society and the majority of people from the pleeblands. It is not only governmental repression they fear, but also the virus which will kill off most of the people living on Earth during, as the Gardeners call it, the Waterless Flood. All members of the group have left their former lives behind, for various reasons - some have been prosecuted by the CorpSeCorps while others were hunted by outlaws such as Blanco. Some others simply long for an alternative to the chaos and believe to have found it among the God's Gardeners. Even though they chose to take on new identities and leave their former lives behind, their professions and special skills help to support the entire group.

The Gardeners painted different things on their truck, said Zeb, according to need. At the moment it had a Heritage Park logo on it, impeccably forged. “There’s a number of ex-graphic artists in the Gardeners,” said Zeb. “Of course, there’s a number of ex-everything.”

(TYOTF p. 184)

The God's Gardeners' basic structure is defined by elementary religious characteristics, as well as by a close connection to science and nature – Earth, for them, is the provider of all essential items for survival. The Adams and Eves are the unquestioned leaders of the group, even though hierarchy exists only to a minimum degree. “In theory the Gardener fellowship had no overall head, but in practice its leader was Adam One, revered founder and guru.” (TYOTF p. 243). The loose, but still existent, hierarchic order becomes more evident when analysing the crucial ideology of the group.

45 Adam One insisted that all Gardeners were equal on the spiritual level, but the same did not hold true for the material one: the Adams and the Eves ranked higher, though their numbers indicated their areas of expertise rather than their order of importance. In many ways it was like a monastery, she thought. The inner chapter, then the lay brothers. And the lay sisters, of course. Except that chastity was not expected.

(TYOTF p. 45)

The God's Gardeners believe in an almighty God, who created the world and everything on it. “He created us through the long and complex process of Natural and Sexual Selection, which is none other than His ingenious device for instilling humility in Man.” (TYOTF p. 52). Despite their ostensibly religious approach, they also accept and understand the role of natural sciences and the positive developments that can be achieved by combining spirituality and scientific interest. On the streets, the Gardeners sell vegetables and food which they grow on the rooftops, as well as hand-made goods. Those vegetables are not only intended to be sold; their primary function is to provide a food supply for the group without being dependent upon the world outside. Their members are anxious to be vegetarians, and take “the Vegivows” when they join the group, as “animal protein should be the last resort.” (TYOTF p. 19). They participate in protest marches and initiate their own forms of resisting the CorpSeCorps authority and ways to deal with social discrepancies in general. The first encounter with the group in The Year of the Flood describes a demonstration against the policy of the SecretBurger restaurants:

The leader had a beard and was wearing a caftan that looked as if it had been sewn by elves on hash. Behind him came an assortment of children — various heights, all colours, but all in dark clothing — holding their slates with slogans printed on them: God’s Gardeners for God’s Garden! Don’t Eat Death! Animals R Us! They looked like raggedy angels, or else like midget bag people. They’d been the ones doing the singing. No meat! No meat! No meat! they were chanting now. She’d heard of this cult: it was said to have a garden somewhere, on a rooftop. A wodge of drying mud, a few draggled marigolds, a mangy row of pathetic beans, broiling in the unforgiving sun.

(TYOTF p. 39)

46 In the acknowledgements of The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood refers to the Gardeners as a religious group “[...] not modelled on any extant religion, though some of their theology and practices are not without precedent. Their saints have been chosen for their contribution to those areas of life dear to the hearts of the Gardeners [...]” (TYOTF p. 433). Chanting, celebration of important events and adherence to their core values are pre-eminent. Margaret Atwood's idea of representing the God's Gardeners based upon the model of actual religious movements is reflected inter alia in the group's members’ affection for “their instructive rhymes” (TYOTF p. 19), in which they seek to tighten the bond of the entire group by retelling, for example, the group's history and achievements.

Year One, Garden just begun; Year Two, still new; Year Three, Pilar started bees; Year Four, Burt came in the door; Year Five, Toby snatched alive; Year Six, Katuro in the mix; Year Seven, Zeb came to our heaven.

(TYOTF p. 60)

Rhymes and songs in general, and the Hymns of the God Gardeners, which are sung at the beginning of their meetings, in particular, are intended to recall and maintain the Gardeners' strong connection to their surroundings and to nature itself. “The God’s Gardeners believed in the healing power of singing. They encouraged children to sing in their schools, and they incorporated music into all of their Saints’ Days and Festivals.” (Online 2). This affection to nature and the balance, in the Gardener's idea of the world, which is reflected in the very personal interaction with animals and plants, is expressed differently by the various members. “Unlike some of the other Gardeners — the more wild- eyed or possibly overdosed ones — [Toby] has never been under the illusion that she can converse with birds.” (TYOTF p. 3).

Health and spirituality seem to be of utmost importance for the Gardeners when contemplating the group on a superficial level. The members of the group of the God's Gardeners maintain their close connection to nature and the spiritual world not only by consciously supporting their awareness through their behaviour and actions, they also meditate and take drugs which results in the fallow state of mind of some members. “Nobody at the Gardeners smoked, or at least not cigarettes.” (TYOTF p. 220). Another possible explanation for such a fallow state, which is given by some rather suspicious

47 members of the God's Gardeners, such as Ren, is depression. The following passage from The Year of the Flood, narrated by Ren, discusses this contradiction of the perception and alternate approaches of the individual concerning such a state of mind.

My own mother said Bernice’s mother was “depressed.” But my mother wasn’t a real Gardener, as Bernice was always telling me, because a real Gardener would never say depressed. The Gardeners believed that people who acted like Veena were in a Fallow state — resting, retreating into themselves to gain Spiritual insight, gathering their energy for the moment when they would burst out again like buds in spring. They only appeared to be doing nothing. Some Gardeners could remain in a Fallow state for a very long time.

(TYOTF p. 80)

The obvious and basic characteristics of the group potentially give the impression that the God's Gardeners only interest is to gain enlightenment on a spiritual level and live life according to their religious belief with as little influence from the outer society as possible. “You create your own world by your inner attitude, the Gardeners used to say.” (TYOTF p. 315). Nevertheless, throughout the story the reader stumbles over hints concerning their involvement in social revolt and Crake's plot, which put their actions and behaviour into an entirely different light. In Oryx and Crake, when all over the world the first cases of people being contaminated are made public, the media suspect the God's Gardeners to be responsible for the virus. “Conspiracy theories proliferated: it was a religious thing, it was God’s Gardeners, it was a plot to gain world control.” (O&C p. 398).

The members of the God's Gardeners “[...] were convinced of impending disaster, through no solid evidence that Toby could see. Maybe they were reading bird entrails.” (TYOTF p. 47). By using several clandestine information channels and establishing contacts with people such as Crake, the group constantly grows in number and prepares for survival after the disaster for those people who are, in their opinion, worth being rescued. “Once in a while [Muffy, a Truffle-cell minder of the God's Gardeners, would] bring in a female fugitive in need of a temporary hide.” (TYOTF p. 266).

48 [The] Gardeners, it seemed, were no longer a tiny localized cult. They were growing in influence: far from being confined to the Sinkhole Edencliff Rooftop Garden and its neighbouring rooftops and the other buildings they controlled, they had branches in different pleebs, and even in other cities. They also had cells of hidden Exfernal sympathizers embedded at every level, even within the Corporations themselves. The information provided by these sympathizers was indispensable, according to Adam One: by means of it, the intentions and movements of their enemies could be monitored, at least in part. The cells were referred to as Truffles because they were underground, rare, and valuable, because you never could tell where they might appear next, and because pigs and dogs were employed to sniff them out.

(TYOTF p. 189f)

Interaction between the God's Gardeners and other groupings in society, such as the CorpSeCorps or MaddAddam, subversively takes place away from the broader public and even most of the members themselves are not aware of such connections. The Gardeners’ informants provide an overview of CorpSeCorps internal developments and thus the group is able to maintain a certain distance from governmental oppression and preparations for the Waterless Flood predominantly remain private. One situation which shows that the God's Gardener are not completely responsible for their fate on their own, is when one of their members, Burt, is prosecuted for planting and selling marijuana. The Gardeners do not want to attract attention but prepare for the disaster. Burt's behaviour not only results in his conviction, but also endangers the entire group and unsettles some members.

After [Burt]’d been taken away by the CorpSeMen and Veena and Bernice had left the vacant lot, Adam One had called all the Gardeners together for an emergency meeting up on the Edencliff Rooftop. He’d told them the news, and when they’d grasped it, the Gardeners had gone into shock. The revelation was so painful, and so shameful! How had Burt managed to run a gro-op in the Buenavista without anyone suspecting? Through trust, of course, thinks Toby. The Gardeners mistrusted everyone in the Exfernal World, but they trusted their own. Now they’d joined the long list of the religious faithful who’d woken one morning to find that the vicar had made off with the church building fund, leaving a trail of molested choirboys behind him. At least Burt hadn’t done any choirboy molesting, or not as far as was known.

(TYOTF p. 166)

49 The general consensus on how the members of the God's Gardeners should interact and deal with the dangers from, as they call it, the “Exfernal World”, is for them to be highly aware of the fact that any proof of their actions and evidence concerning their involvement in clandestine and socially doubtful plots can lead to further oppression and, as in Burt's case, to imminent arrest or even death. Ren's description of how the Gardeners deal with any form of written information stresses their attempt for caution:

We wrote on slates, and they had to be wiped off at the end of each day because the Gardeners said you couldn’t leave words lying around where our enemies might find them. Anyway, paper was sinful because it was made from the flesh of trees.

(TYOTF p. 60)

The God's Gardeners perception of the various ways of expressing and executing power, against the group but also with respect to establishing their own private society, is present at all times. “The Gardeners were right about that part: reading someone else’s secret words does give you power over them.” (TYOTF p. 222). Their attempt to maintain and protect their hide-outs and rooftop-gardens and their connections to the outer world, which allows them to monitor developments in society, makes them responsible for their own fate. Moreover, the multitude of ideas and approaches concerning nature and its resources grant a greater chance to deal with any social issue.

“The Gardeners were strict about not killing Life, but on the other hand they said Death was a natural process, which was sort of a contradiction, now that I think about it.” (TYOTF p. 59), ponders Ren about the Gardeners being partly responsible for the fatalities resulting from the release of the virus. By supporting MaddAddam and Crake's project, they not only agree to kill a vast majority of people living on Earth, they also reveal parts of the group's true nature and interests – the creation of a, in their opinion, better world no matter what decisions have to be taken. The following extract from a speech by Adam One addresses the topic of power and puts the God's Gardeners position in society into a broader, and thus clearer context after the group has been attacked and abrogated by CorpSeCorps agents:

50 Today is a Feast day, but sadly we have no feast. Our flight was rapid: our escape narrow. Now, true to their nature, our enemies have laid waste to our Rooftop. But surely one day we will return to Edencliff and restore that blissful site to its former glory. The CorpSeCorps may have destroyed our Garden, but they have not destroyed our Spirit. Eventually, we shall plant again. Why did the Corps strike? Alas, we were becoming too powerful for their liking. Many rooftops were blossoming as the rose; many hearts and minds were bent towards an Earth restored to balance. But in success lay the seeds of ruin, for those in power could no longer dismiss us as ineffectual faddists: they feared us, as prophets of the age to come. In short, we threatened their profit margins.

(TYOTF p. 273)

MaddAddam

Their highly religious approach and the fact that the real purpose and idea behind the God's Gardeners is not revealed to all members of the group, result in some members taking a different direction and following Zeb who has founded “a break-away group, MaddAddam […].” (Slettedahl Macpherson 2010: 82). Zeb's idea is to establish an additional foundation which should provide resistance in a broader context. The God's Gardeners' main goal is survival; MaddAddam, as the reader learns, provides the context in which drastic events evoke the need to separate from the majority of society in order to stay alive. “Zeb figured if you could destroy the infrastructure […] then the planet could repair itself. Before it was too late and everything went extinct.” (TYOTF p. 333). Zeb believes that dissatisfaction with existing social structures and politics in general should be proclaimed through direct action.

Due to the project's close connection to Crake and the Paradice research facility, MaddAddam not only functions as a platform for social and environmental activists, but also provides a highly developed basis for sophisticated revolutionary action. This desire for absolute change is represented in Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood by means of Crake's research on the Crakers, a humanoid life-form, and the development of a deadly virus.

51 In the very beginning, MaddAddam's primary function is not quite obvious. It provides a channel for communication among its members via an online-game called “EXTINCTATHON. Monitored by MaddAddam. Adam named the living animals, MaddAddam names the dead ones. Do you want to play?” (TYOTF p. 268). The motivation to join the community varies according to the person's role in society and his or her interest in social protest. Crake and Snowman, alias Glenn and Jimmy, used to play the game regularly when they were young. Not knowing the original purpose of the platform, the reader can presume that they merely enjoy the superficial task of the game, which is to remember distinct animals and challenge other players in a quiz-like game. When Glenn introduces Jimmy to the game, the latter does not grasp its idea immediately but rather shows astonishment:

“MaddAddam is a person?” asked Jimmy. “It’s a group,” said Crake. “Or groups.” “So what do they do, this MaddAddam?” Jimmy was feeling silly.

(O&C p. 252)

Despite its harmless cover, MaddAddam plays a very crucial role in Atwood's society drifting towards its irreversible end. In the course of the story the reader learns more about the actual purpose of the MaddAddam and its importance for Crake's success. By using a hidden communication platform, people who support the group's cause can login and anonymously send messages directly to other members. Those people, the core members who are close associates of Zeb, threaten society by releasing diseases and various plagues. The group consists of “[t]op scientists — gene-splicers who’d bailed out of the Corps and gone underground because they hated what the Corps were doing.” (TYOTF p. 333). Anonymity among the members provides security and their actions remain clandestine.

In public, MaddAddam is merely perceived as a group of people playing Extinctathon and even members who have spent a long time using the platform for communicational purposes and as a meeting point for planning their actions, such as Amanda and Shackie,

52 disagree on MaddAddam's depth of involvement in the processes regarding the Waterless Flood. The following conversation demonstrates such opacity concerning the different approaches to the group:

“So this plague, was it a MaddAddam thing?” said Amanda. “No way,” said Shackie. “Zeb didn’t believe in killing people, not as such. He just wanted them to stop wasting everything and fucking up.”

(TYOTF p. 333)

Using MaddAddam's information channels, the God's Gardeners are told about recent developments and thus are able to make preparations in order to secure their members and hide-outs. As protests all over the world - some of them triggered by MaddAddam, others the result of dissatisfaction across the entire social construct - eventually get more violent and the general social situation is close to a total breakdown, the God's Gardeners' action and lives are also increasingly affected and they have to endure governmental oppression.

The CorpSeCorps crack down on subversive groups to maintain power. During such raids the Gardeners themselves have to abandon their homes and flee. In one of his speeches, in which he tries to explain the situation to the other members and calm down the group, Adam One mentions MaddAddam and tries to dispel the notion that there may be any deeper ties: “[T]hey linked us to the bio-attacks made on their infrastructures by the schismatic and heretical group calling itself MaddAddam.” (TYOTF p. 273). The distance he displays adheres with the fact that the God's Gardeners' method to avoid being prosecuted by the authorities is no longer valid. The group has lost its exceptional position concerning CorpSeCorps policy and their attempt to provide shelter for as many people as possible before and during the waterless flood is foiled. Many have to flee and find new places to prepare for the virus and “[...] are already outside the cult when the disaster strikes, as indeed are Zeb, Rebecca, Croze, Shackie and Oates, who have all joined MaddAddam instead.” (Slettedahl Macpherson 2010: 84f).

53 The following extract describes the connection between social protest and direct activism and groups such as MaddAddam and the God's Gardeners, who, in some cases, even initiate such attacks on society. Furthermore, it provides evidence for a complex system of informants who support the Gardeners and warn them of threats to the group:

Then the Rarity restaurant chain was obliterated by a series of lethal bombings. [Toby] saw the regular news, where these events were blamed on unspecified eco-terrorists; but she also read a detailed analysis on MaddAddam. It was the Wolf Isaiahists who’d done the bombings, they said, because Rarity had introduced a new menu item — liobam, a sacred animal for the Wolf Isaiahists. MaddAddam had added a P.S.: Warning all God’s Gardeners: They’ll pin this on you. Go to ground.

(TYOTF p. 270)

MaddAddam was founded by Zeb and based upon the core values of direct action combined with scientific research. This combination is intended to raise awareness of obvious problems in society. Zeb respects the value of life; a basic ideological axiom of the God's Gardeners. As a matter of fact, action taken by MaddAddam is not intended to kill people but to open their eyes and help them to understand the degree of social oppression by the CorpSeCorps. Crake, highly aware of the scientific capacity of the group, decides to use their abilities for his project at the Paradice research facility. Ren and Croze, two former members of the God's Gardeners, survive and meet again after the waterless flood and try to reconstruct the crucial steps which led to the catastrophe. A conversation between them provides information about how Crake blackmailed the most useful members of MaddAddam in order to make them work for him:

Then he tells me about the MaddAddams — how they were working with Zeb, but then the CorpSeCorps tracked them down through a MaddAddam codenamed Crake, and they ended up as brain slaves in a place called the Paradice Project dome. It was a choice between that and being spraygunned, so they took the jobs. Then when the Flood came and the guards vanished, they deactivated the security and walked out, but that wasn’t too hard for them because they’re all brainiacs.

(TYOTF p. 395)

Respected by the CorpSeCorps, Crake gains almost unlimited freedom in his research,

54 which allows him to act as he wishes inside the compound and to use his social privileges to track down the members of MaddAddam and force them to work for him.

“MaddAddam was a great caper,” says Beluga. “Until we got snatched.” “So-called drafted by fucking ReJoov,” says White Sedge, the youngest woman. “Crake, that little bastard.”

(TYOTF p. 388)

For outsiders, Crake's research is about developing the scientific basis for a life prolonging pill called “BlyssPluss” (cf. O&C p 342ff). The RejoovenEsense compound provides the necessary environment, such as high-standard laboratories with luxurious living standards. The best scientists and business folk are assembled at RejoovenEsense in order to develop and promote the pill. “My unit’s called Paradice [… .] What we’re working on is immortality.” (O&C p. 344). With these words Jimmy is introduced to the facility after he was hired by Crake to do the ad campaign for the project (cf. O&C p. 349). The elitist status of living in a compound such as RejoovenEsense becomes more evident when Crake shows Jimmy round the facility:

Next morning Crake took him for a preliminary tour of the RejoovenEsense Compound in his souped-up electric golf cart. It was, Jimmy had to admit, spectacular in all ways. Everything was sparkling clean, landscaped, ecologically pristine, and very expensive. The air was particulate-free, due to the many solar whirlpool purifying towers, discreetly placed and disguised as modern art. Rockulators took care of the microclimate, butterflies as big as plates drifted among the vividly coloured shrubs. It made all the other Compounds Jimmy had ever been in, Watson- Crick included, look shabby and retro. “What pays for all this?” he asked Crake, as they passed the state-of- the-art Luxuries Mall – marble everywhere, colonnades, cafés, ferns, takeout booths, roller-skating path, juice bars, a self- energizing gym where running on the treadmill kept the light bulbs going, Roman-look fountains with nymphs and sea-gods. “Grief in the face of inevitable death,” said Crake. “The wish to stop time. The human condition.”

(O&C p. 344)

55 What has started as mere pleasure becomes an addiction for Crake. He develops the idea of changing history by giving it a chance to start over again. The realization of his vision to throw the dice anew and take his future in his own hands requires a staff of talented scientists who are willing to cope with the consequences of the Paradice project in the same way that Crake is. Crake finds these scientists among the members of MaddAddam. When he introduces Jimmy to his actual project, the Crakers and the deadly virus to be more specific, the latter first believes that Crake has betrayed MaddAddam and his members, but then learns of the actual situation:

Each of the staff had a name tag with block lettering – one or two words only. BLACK RHINO. WHITE SEDGE. IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. POLAR BEAR. INDIAN TIGER. LOTIS BLUE. SWIFT FOX. “The names,” he said to Crake. “You raided Extinctathon!” “It’s more than the names,” said Crake. “These people are Extinctathon. They’re all Grandmasters. What you’re looking at is MaddAddam, the cream of the crop.”

(O&C p. 351f)

This “cream of the crop” provides the scientific spectrum for working on the official ReJoovenEsense project at the same time as Crake develops the virus and brings his actual research, the Crakers, to its perfection. ““At first,” said Crake, “we had to alter ordinary human embryos, which we got from – never mind where we got them. But these people are sui generis. They’re reproducing themselves, now.”” (O&C p. 356). The Crakers are kept in an enclosed area Crake calls the “bubble-dome” (O&C p. 356) inside the Paradice research facility. Inside this dome, the Crakers live with their family and are trained and conditioned according to Crake's vision of how these representatives of a better version of humans should behave.

That was [Jimmy's] first view of the Crakers. They were naked, but not like the Noodie News: there was no self-consciousness, none at all. At first he couldn’t believe them, they were so beautiful. Black, yellow, white, brown, all available skin colours. Each individual was exquisite. “Are they robots, or what?” he said. “You know how they’ve got floor models, in furniture stores?” said Crake.

56 “Yeah?” “These are the floor models.”

(O&C p. 355)

The Crakers common characteristics, as Crake envisions, are based on his dream to remove all the bad aspects humans have developed over time. As a consequence, he tries to diminish all of the negative characteristics of the humans and recode the Crakers' behaviour. Particular elements such as individual dominance, religious rites and sexual discrimination were sought to be erased. Oryx, Crake's associate and lover, is in charge of the Crakers' conditioning. As far as it is possible, Crake has already reprogrammed their genes in order to obtain the outcome he wished for. Crucial for the success of Crake's endeavour is to make the Crakers resistant to the virus and equip them with the necessary anatomical benefit to survive in the wilderness. Oryx applies the finishing touches and prepares the Crakers for a life outside a society as we know it.

Due to the fact that they are designed for that very purpose, the Crakers survive the waterless flood. They support Jimmy, who, in the world after the catastrophe, takes on the name of Snowman. The Crakers are completely aware of Oryx and the role of Crake as their maker. Jimmy uses this fact to influence them. In a world were survival has become an everyday struggle and achievements and commodities of former societies do not have any significant effects, Jimmy relies upon the Crakers who bring him food and offer protection in return for stories about Crake and the time before the flood. As Jimmy survives day after day with the help of the Crakers, he realizes that Crake's conditioning is not as effective as he thought. Crake's pragmatic conditioning only works as long as no unexpected events interrupt the Crakers' everyday routine. Jimmy's stories about the past and the representation of Oryx and Crake in these stories are of an almost spiritual nature and leave some crucial marks on the Crakers. When he does not return from a quest on which he collects supplies for survival and food in the ruins of the RejoovenEsense compound, the Crakers conduct a kind of spiritual ritual in order to guide Jimmy on the way back to his tree. Even though they stop the ritual the moment they sense him, they have obviously developed certain behaviours which are contrary to their initial conditioning, which was not at all Crake's intention.

57 The Crakers often have a fire going, but it’s never a large one, it wouldn’t make smoke like this. It could be a result of yesterday’s storm, a lightning-strike fire that was dampened by the rain and has begun smouldering again. Or it might be that the Crakers have disobeyed orders and have come looking for him, and have built a signal fire to guide him home.

(O&C p. 329)

In Huxley's Brave New World the social experiment on Cyprus involves attempts at investigating behavioural characteristics of human life-forms which are comparable to the research on the Crakers in Paradice. By means of establishing a parallel society of only Alphas, which creates a corresponding social structure, the World Controllers are able to investigate the social abilities of the elite citizens. The main research question is the extent to which Alphas are able to survive without the class system of the world state.

“[The] result of the Cyprus experiment was convincing." "What was that?" asked the Savage. Mustapha Mond smiled. “Well, you can call it an experiment in rebottling if you like. It began in A.F. 473. The Controllers had the island of Cyprus cleared of all its existing inhabitants and re-colonized with a specially prepared batch of twenty-two thousand Alphas. All agricultural and industrial equipment was handed over to them and they were left to manage their own affairs. The result exactly fulfilled all the theoretical predictions. The land wasn't properly worked; there were strikes in all the factories; the laws were set at naught, orders disobeyed; all the people detailed for a spell of low- grade work were perpetually intriguing for high-grade jobs, and all the people with high-grade jobs were counter-intriguing at all costs to stay where they were. Within six years they were having a first-class civil war. When nineteen out of the twenty-two thousand had been killed, the survivors unanimously petitioned the World Controllers to resume the government of the island. Which they did. And that was the end of the only society of Alphas that the world has ever seen."

(Huxley 1932/2004: 196f)

The conditioning of the citizens of the World State has been perfected over time. The greater part of society, which comprises of Betas, Gammas and Deltas, have been conditioned to lack the ability to be creative and think freely inside the corridors of imagination that have been left by science on purpose. The Alphas, in contrast, would be

58 in the intellectual position to establish their own society and express their wishes and needs accurately. At the same time their perfect minds limit their capability to take on minor roles in society. “Mustapha Mond! The Resident Controller for Western Europe! One of the Ten World Controllers.” (Huxley 1932/2004: 28) illustrates this volitional aspect of the Alphas' social abilities by referring to the hatching process. “You cannot pour upper-caste champagne-surrogate into lower-caste bottles.” (Huxley 1932/2004: 196), Mond explains to John and describes the Alphas' notion to take on leadership rather than to obey and serve.

The Alphas, as well as the Crakers, were perfectly designed by their creators. Social characteristics were modified intentionally and adapted according to the predominant social values. The crucial difference between the two projects is the approach of the initiators on the one hand and the scientific possibilities and intensity which lay the ground for the projects' success and failure on the other. The World Controllers, as stated above, intend to cement their social and scientific policy, whereas Crake's motivation is based upon the idea of giving society and Earth a new chance to start over again. On Cyprus, a civil-war breaks out and most of the people involved in the project are killed, leaving the survivors behind to re-enter the World State as obedient citizens. In Atwood's fiction it is the scientific project that succeeds. Civilization breaks down and what is left are some survivors form the old days and the Crakers, who, as Jimmy notes in his story, are perfectly capable of surviving on their own and will establish their own community and culture.

The Crakers are doing fine, they don’t need [Jimmy] any more. For a while they’ll wonder where he’s gone, but he’s already provided an answer to that: he’s gone to be with Crake. He’ll become a secondary player in their mythology, such as it is – a sort of backup demiurge.

(O&C p. 262)

59 Common Street Activism

The God's Gardeners and MaddAddam are two examples of activist groups which are highly sophisticated in their structures and aim their actions towards a definite, or, at least in the broad context, a specific goal. In Atwood's society activism is not restricted only to such well-organised groups; the constant unstable situation all over the world and in the pleeblands in particular arouses protests and constant direct activism. Those street activists react to recent social and political issues immediately when they arise. Every opportunity is taken in order to bring the protest on the streets and to raise public awareness.

Riots in the pleeblands always trigger violence and oppression from the CorpSeCorps. A mass-protest across the entire society cannot be tolerated by the authorities. Groups such as the God's Gardeners or MaddAddam can be infiltrated and kept under surveillance to a certain extent4. Individual protest and uncoordinated direct activism, in contrast, are difficult to impede. By making an example of such riots and prosecuting the people involved as brutally as possible, the CorpSeCorps spread fear in the pleeblands. News broadcasts regularly show raids against protesters and brand these images into people’s minds.

People like to feel strong emotions and therefore enjoy tragedies, thrillers, murder mysteries and tales of passion. The dramatization of a fight or an embrace produces strong emotions in the spectators. It might produce even stronger emotions if it were associated, on the subconscious level, with appropriate words or symbols.

(Huxley 1959: 76)

In the extract above from Brave New World Revisited, Aldous Huxley analyses the power of propaganda and deliberate imagery concerning the evocation of strong emotions and feelings of belongingness, but also fear and loathing. In this respect, such feelings can, on the one hand, prevent people from joining in riots, but can also evoke an even stronger will to support or avenge the prosecuted rioters. In Brave New World socially triggered riots

4 cf. analysis of the God's Gardeners 60 are not to be found. At one point, John provokes a minor riot among a group of Deltas when he throws “little pill-boxes of soma tablets in handfuls out into the area.” (Huxley 1932/2004: 187). The protest is not directed towards society and its oppressors, but expresses discontent with a temporary cutting of their beloved soma. This form of direct protest immediately causes a focused reaction by the authorities, who, conforming to their standards, use the results of conditioning on the peoples' behavioural patterns to re- establish order and enforce the law. John's offensive attempt to interrupt their everyday routines only lasts for a short moment.

Suddenly, from out of the Synthetic Music Box a Voice began to speak. The Voice of Reason, the Voice of Good Feeling. The sound-track roll was unwinding itself in Synthetic Anti-Riot Speech Number Two (Medium Strength). Straight from the depths of a non-existent heart, "My friends, my friends!" said the Voice so pathetically, with a note of such infinitely tender reproach that, behind their gas masks, even the policemen's eyes were momentarily dimmed with tears, "what is the meaning of this? Why aren't you all being happy and good together? Happy and good," the Voice repeated. "At peace, at peace." It trembled, sank into a whisper and momentarily expired. "Oh, I do want you to be happy," it began, with a yearning earnestness. "I do so want you to be good! Please, please be good and ..."

(Huxley 1932/2004: 188f)

In The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake protests and riots are imminent and constantly provoke the CorpSeCorps' reaction. Jimmy's mother, Sharon (cf. O&C p.28) is an activist, who, despite the consequences, chooses to fight for her rights and the protection of the planet. Her “politics are directed towards economic inequalities rather than gender division [...]” (Tolan 2007: 278), but nevertheless she emancipates herself from her husband, who is driven by scientific research, and fights for freedom and self- fulfilment. She leaves her family to join the God's Gardeners and later some more radical groups. Life in the compounds does not provide satisfaction for her and “she [feels] like a prisoner” (O&C p. 60). Consequently, she decides to take her destiny into her own hands. Jimmy is left behind with his father and with CorpSeCorps agents regularly contacting him for information on his mother.

61 After a while they’d taken to showing him pictures – stills from buttonhole snoop cameras, or black-and-whites that looked as if they’d been pulled off the security videocams at pleebland bank ATMs, or news-channel footage of this or that: demonstrations, riots, executions. The game was to see if he recognized any of the faces. They’d have him wired up, so even if he pretended ignorance they’d catch the spikes of neural electricity he wouldn’t be able to control. He’d kept waiting for the Happicuppa caper in Maryland to turn up, the one with his mother in it – he dreaded that – but it never showed.

(O&C p. 301)

An event which causes worldwide conflict is the development of the Happicuppa coffee bean. The company's policy is merely focused on efficiency. All beans ripen at the same time and harvesting is done with huge machines. As a consequence, workers are fired and owners of smaller coffee-bean farms are not able to compete anymore. What seems to be another pleasure for a society focused on consumerism and ignorance causes the death of many people whose only chance for survival is taken away.

The resistance movement was global. Riots broke out, crops were burned, Happicuppa cafés were looted, Happicuppa personnel were car- bombed or kidnapped or shot by snipers or beaten to death by mobs; and, on the other side, peasants were massacred by the army. Or by the armies, various armies; a number of countries were involved.

(O&C p. 210)

Jimmy's mother actively participates in those worldwide protests against Happicuppa. He regularly receives postcards from all over the world. “They were signed Aunt Monica, but he knew they were from her. Hope you’re well, was all they said.” (O&C p. 77). Even though he has no clear evidence, he knows his mother sent them. CorpSeCorps action against the protesters becomes more violent. Taking precautions when contacting family and friends is crucial. All letters and messages, especially those sent to people such as Jimmy, who is related to a well-known insurgent, are read by the agents and examined for

62 hints about its real origin. One day Jimmy believes to have seen his mother in a crowd of protesters on the news. “Then there was a CorpSeCorps charge and a cloud of tear gas and a smattering of what sounded like gunfire, and when Jimmy looked again his mother had disappeared.” (O&C p.212). The agents show no mercy, not even in front of running cameras.

63 3.3 I and I

In The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake, as well as in Brave New World, the wish to change gridlocked social structures is expressed most significantly by a few important characters. In Atwood's world those are Snowman/Jimmy, Oryx and Crake/Glenn. Huxley introduces Bernard Marx, Helmholtz Watson and John to fill this role. Their interaction on an intellectual, and thus more sophisticated, level, as well as their influence on society, triggers important events in the stories.

As has been discussed in the previous chapters of this thesis, the society in Margaret Atwood's world can be roughly divided into three main layers, each one referring to a different social class with distinctive members – the pleeblands or cities; the compounds with its universities and highly sophisticated social comforts; and in a more artificial and conceptual consideration, the Paradice research program with its dome inhabited by the Crakers.

The first social layer is represented by the vast majority of people. The Pleeblands, mainly big cities with their suburbs, harbour the so called common people; those men and women who did not have the opportunity to study at university, neither the elite nor the public. Their lives are more or less described as a struggle for survival in a world where those who can adapt most effectively to a system of oppression and corruption have the best chances - a modern version of Darwin's survival of the fittest (cf. Online 5). The second social layer is formed by a few elite compounds, restricted high-security areas for a selected minority of people, who either were lucky being born into that social background or who were shown by their test results to be (highly) mentally gifted and thus significantly relevant for scientific research and the 'improvement' of society. The third layer of Atwood's society is found within one particular compound, the RejoovenEsense, which contains the research facility Crake is working at.

Those three layers are directly reflected in the characters of Jimmy, Glenn and Oryx. They come from different social backgrounds but meet at RejoovenEsense to work together on Crake's project. Jimmy and Glenn have already known each other since they were young

64 and enjoy the comforts of growing up in the compounds. Still, they can be assigned to different layers. Crake's outstanding intellect grants him a better education in one of the leading compounds of the country, while Jimmy attends less prestigious facilities. As a consequence, Crake is able to do his own research, whereas Jimmy relies upon the goodwill of the CorpSeCorps and Crake's influence.

Oryx, in contrast, has to cope with oppression and exploitation of her body from the very beginning. People from all over the world are promised better lives, but then forced to sell themselves in order to stay alive. Oryx is only one victim of human trafficking and exploitation for other peoples’ personal benefits. Thousands of people are taken from their homes and brought to so-called first world countries where they have to face reality.

This was how [Jimmy and Glenn] first saw Oryx. She was only about eight, or she looked eight. They could never find out for certain how old she’d been then. Her name wasn’t Oryx, she didn’t have a name. She was just another little girl on a porno site.

(O&C p. 103)

Even though Oryx suffered severely because of western society’s urge to entertain at the cost of others and its notorious desire for scientific progress, she supports Crake's research, which, too, is based upon the exploitation of people. The goal Crake follows seems to exceed any ethical antagonisms. After she has overcome her oppressors and fought for her personal achievements, she is able to take her own decisions; and supporting Crake discloses a chance for a change for good. Tolan (2007: 286f) states that “the figure of Oryx articulates significant tensions surrounding the notions of sexual liberation, free will, exploitation, commercialism, race, exoticism and ethnicity that congregate around the theme of pornography.” With her job with the Crakers, Oryx finds a chance to overcome her past and grant future generations of whatever life-form a better life.

Crake can essentially be described as an activist whose desire for change in a society going mad triggers actions that severely change life on earth. He first destroys society, only to subsequently rebuild it by releasing the Crakers. “The cleansing by fire advocated 65 by the violent anarchists seems intended not only to purge the enemy but to sanctify the revolutionary masses as well.” (Barber 1971: 21). Crake's fire is the virus he sets free in order to destroy the current human society. The entire social body is his enemy and thus, in Crake's eyes, it has to be destroyed from top to bottom.

This was not an ordinary pandemic: it wouldn’t be contained after a few hundred thousand deaths, then obliterated with biotools and bleach. This was the Waterless Flood the Gardeners so often had warned about. It had all the signs: it travelled through the air as if on wings, it burned through cities like fire, spreading germ-ridden mobs, terror, and butchery. The lights were going out everywhere, the news was sporadic: systems were failing as their keepers died. It looked like total breakdown […].

(TYOTF p. 29)

When he is an informant for the God's Gardeners, Crake talks with Ren about the faults of men and women. In his opinion science provides the possibilities to alter the shape of life and erase illness of any kind.

“Illness is a design fault,” said the boy. “It could be corrected.” Yes — he was definitely Compound. Only brainiacs from there talked like that: not answering your question up front, then saying some general kind of thing as if they knew it for a fact. Was that the way my real father had talked? Maybe. “So, if you were making the world, you’d make it better?” I said. Better than God, was what I meant. All of a sudden I was feeling pious, like Bernice. Like a Gardener. “Yes,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I would.”

(TYOTF p. 147)

Along with his main research, Crake develops a virus which is intended to destroy the vast majority of people on earth. Only the Crakers and a couple of chosen people should be injected with the anti serum. Crake's idea is to clear the planet of humans and their negative effect on it and to enable a new start for a society designed for the purpose of re- establishing natural harmony. Actions taken by the Crakers should be initiated by rational thinking. Only in terms of reproduction and in exceptionally challenging situations which could endanger the survival of the entire species should an individual adopt a more

66 specialized role in the community, such as taking the role of a leader at a hunt or of an advisor in a peculiar situation. Taylor's differentiation of 'pure anarchy' and 'anarchy' similarly describes such a “limited concentration of force“ (Taylor 1982: 7). In the same way as the anarchic communities described in Taylor, the Crakers' community should also be defined by a lack of political specialization, equal participation in communal chores and collectively taking decisions in order to maintain social balance.

Jimmy, who is locked in the Paradice dome, survives the waterless flood. After most of the people on the planet are dead and it is safe to leave the building without being contaminated, he settles in the nearby woods. In Oryx and Crake, Jimmy recalls his past and the events which lead to the catastrophe. Living side by side with the Crakers, he is able to follow their development from a more or less synthetic life-form to highly evolved human beings who are sophisticated in their behaviour.

At the same time as life in the world after Crake is beginning to re-establish itself, Jimmy’s past becomes increasingly blurry. Remembering details of his life, especially, becomes more of a challenge for him every day. In his former life, Jimmy worked as an advertiser. He was a master in playing with words and using language in order to convince people to buy the products he was representing in his commercials and texts. He never was able to establish a lasting and sincere relationship with a woman. To make his life even more complicated, the only woman he ever really loved was Oryx, Crake’s girlfriend.

When Oryx and Crake return to the Paradice dome after they have spread the virus all over the world, the situation in and around the compound is already critical. People are going crazy; in their struggle for survival they kill each other and raid every building that is not protected. Jimmy is locked inside the control room and watches the surveillance monitors for signs of Oryx and Crake. The following passage from Oryx and Crake describes the last moments of Crake and Oryx and it displays Jimmy’s struggle. On the one hand, he supports Crake and his vision without a question. On the other hand, Oryx, the woman he loves, is Crake's girlfriend. Being threatened with the death of Oryx – who is killed by Crake in order to spare her a gruesome death from the disease – he is forced to shoot his best friend.

67 Crake’s beige tropicals were splattered with redbrown. In his right hand was an ordinary storeroom jackknife, the kind with the two blades and the nail file and the corkscrew and the little scissors. He had his other arm around Oryx, who seemed to be asleep; her face was against Crake’s chest, her long pink-ribboned braid hung down her back. As Jimmy watched, frozen with disbelief, Crake let Oryx fall backwards, over his left arm. He looked at Jimmy, a direct look, unsmiling. “I’m counting on you,” he said. Then he slit her throat. Jimmy shot him.

(O&C p. 384f)

In Brave New World it is Bernard Marx, Helmholtz Watson and John who most significantly reflect the social dilemma of the World State. Marx and Watson, two Alphas, are very successful in their jobs. Marx works in the Psychology Bureau (cf. Huxley 1932/2004: 28). Watson’s profession is working as “a lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering (Department of Writing) and in the intervals of his educational activities, a working Emotional Engineer.” (Huxley 1932/2004: 57).

Watson and Marx share the unpleasant fact that both are not entirely happy with their lives. Marx suffers because of his outsider-position; Watson seeks literary freedom and creativity apart from conventional pragmatics. Marx’s intellect and working-position demonstrates all the characteristics of an Alpha-Plus, his physical appearance and emotional happiness however do not. A conversation between Lenina and Fanny describes the social discrepancy regarding whether or not a woman should date a man like Bernard Marx.

“But his reputation?” “What do I care about his reputation?”

“They say he doesn’t like Obstacle Golf.” “They say, they say,” mocked Lenina.

“And then he spends most of his time by himself – alone.” There was horror in Fanny’s voice.

(Huxley 1932/2004: p. 38)

68 Marx’s position grants him access to the “Savage Reservation” in Southern America (Huxley 1932/2004: p. 38) where he meets John, the son of a Beta who was left behind in the reservation by an Alpha Plus, who feared of public denunciation, because she got pregnant by him. Marx brings John to his world in London because he senses some advantage for him. Confronting society and John’s father in particular with this man, who is a born descendant of two citizens of the World State, must gain him some respect in society, so Marx thinks.

In London, John draws attention to himself in every way. Public interest is caused merely by the fact that he was born and not hatched like ‘normal’ people in the brave new world. Lenina Crowne, the woman who accompanied Marx to the reservation, is fascinated by John’s pure and raw sexuality (cf. Huxley 1932/2004: p. 164ff). Watson shares the same fascination with literature and writing that John has. Their approaches vary, however, because of their different social nurturing. John reads Shakespeare and ponders on the beauty of nature and life in general. Helmholtz, in contrast, is caught by the possibilities of combining words. It is not describing the beauty of things he admires, but the beauty of the words themselves.

Marx takes advantage of John by exploiting his otherness at prestigious events. Lenina’s permanent obtrusive attempts to seduce John upset him the most. Ultimately he rejects her with the words, “The murkiest den, the most opportune place, […] the strongest suggestion our worser genius can, shall never melt mine honour into lust. Never, never!” (Huxley 1932/2004: 169f). The only situations when he enjoys staying in this odd world are the conversations with Helmholtz Watson and Mustapha Mond. Even though latter understands and desires the beauty of individuality and creativity, which can be found in Shakespeare’s works, he refuses such things and accepts society’s need for order and stability (cf. Huxley 1932/2004: 193). Challenged on several levels simultaneously, John goes mad and leaves society behind to live in a lighthouse all by himself, where he, after being constantly molested by reporters, tortures himself and commits suicide in the end.

69 4 Judgement Day

In the preceding chapter, Atwood's and Huxley's fictional worlds were examined focusing on group dynamics and individuality in social systems which have been designed solely for the benefit of privileged citizens and show highly developed mechanisms which are intended to oppress the masses. In this chapter, the analysis focuses on the question of the extent to which anarchy and anarchic values, which were defined in the first chapter, can be found in, and applied to, the aforementioned groups and people.

Life in the Compounds contains myriad residual references to twentieth- century America, which work to orientate the reader within Jimmy’s world. However, Atwood’s vision of the scientific and economic developments of the future ensures that Jimmy’s past, whilst relatively normal when compared to his post-apocalyptic present, remains nevertheless a dystopian scenario of globalisation’s endgame.

(Tolan 2007: 277)

One of the crucial desires people seem to be lacking in modern society is complete freedom and general happiness. According to Marcuse (1980: 15ff) such happiness is often considered to be undeserved and not accepted in society as a characteristic of the modern way of conducting one's life. An important aspect which Marcuse introduces into the discussion is the negation and neglect of one's personal desires. Technological and thus capitalistic dominance limit the perception of life's potentials. Only when such paradigms have been overcome, do social change and personal freedom become possible. Socialism is, in Marcuse’s view, an unconsidered paradigm which restricts the establishment of social equality.

At first sight, Crake's technological and scientific research seems to be triggered by a noble motivation in order to support the greater good of society. He uses the immense potentials in order to create a better world. In the Paradice dome the Crakers are taught to accept life as a precious gift and to deny any form of domination. Respect for the world and its creatures is the crucial ethic Crake seeks to implant in the Crakers. Science grants

70 him the methodology to imprint anarchistic features in the Crakers' behaviour. What Crake seems not to have included in his consideration is the ability of progressive change in an individual. John, in contrast, believes in the possibility that men and women can be changed. In Brave New World, however, such a change cannot be realized anymore because of the severe alternation of the genetic code and the thusly imbedded behavioural patterns.

Margaret Atwood's approach to utopian fiction includes a very realistic starting point, which is evident in The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake. The entire society represented in her books only varies in some aspects from the society in which she has grown up.

[H]er poetry and fiction express a distrust of the everyday world, finding it a place of deceptive appearances and emotional shallowness – in part because contemporary society is driven by commercial interests and dominated by mass media and consumerism.

(Bennett and Brown 2002: 777)

Science has reached higher levels, in reality as well as in the imagination of writers' science fiction and Utopian/Dystopian novels, and the amount of oppression in and dissatisfaction with the existing society is expressed differently.

In her work since the late seventies […] Atwood does not abandon the concerns of her earlier writing, but she does employ a greater range of style and topics. She is by turns more lyrical and personal, and more satirical and political.

(Bennett and Brown 2002: 778)

In the introduction to Dystopia, Helmut Willke talks about the lights and shadows of Dystopia. Its light is going to shine when chaos meets anarchy; keeping in mind that negative aspects in the perception of anarchy do exist, from a point of view which is based upon an authoritarian idea in which the existence of governmental values cannot be denied. Shadows arise when a society underestimates such chaos and tries to contain it

71 with models too rudimentary for its complexity (Willke 2002: 8). By excluding crucial details, social change cannot be applied to all members of a former system and thus lacks anarchy’s basic underlying idea – respect. This perception of Dystopia and the connection to anarchy shows that even though society and many writers of Utopian fiction accept and appreciate anarchic structures as an alternative, its negative connotations cannot be ignored.

In addition to the general critique of anarchy as a system with too few social structures, Willke's statement can also be understood as a critique of anarchy's complexity which derives from the struggle of many anarchists to realize their own concepts. As was discussed in the chapters on Anarchy, no actual rules and guidelines exist, which could serve as a basis for further development of anarchy. Nevertheless, people seem to be unable to achieve this kind of freedom, even if they claim to have reached a point where rules and structures no longer have influence on them.

In Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood has created a world which can only vaguely be defined as a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ place. As Davis (1981: 13f) argues, the distinction between good and bad varies according to the perception of the individual. Crake’s decision to re-establish society according to his values thus cannot explicitly be defined as being good or bad. For the majority of people, death is not seen as a positive thing. Those survivors of the waterless flood who wished for change might be pleased with the new possibilities which were granted due to the disaster – others might have wished for a different way of applying such change, if there was such a desire at all. Utopian as well as Dystopian fiction promotes the desire for change (cf. Morrissey 2004). Atwood’s speculative fiction (cf. Atwood 2004: 328ff) presents what she calls a ‘what-if’ scenario, in which everything described seems to be possible. The main characters in Atwood and Huxley are significant examples of the various reasons for social exclusion. Stevenson (2004) speaks of fantasies which should evoke the notion of being reality. Brave New World and Atwood’s fictional world include socio-economic problems which the reader can compare to social and economic developments in his or her actual social environment.

Jimmy, Oryx and Crake, as well as Watson, Marx and John share some crucial

72 characteristics which grant them their exceptional positions within the stories of Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, and Brave New World. All of them are, to some extent, faced with social exclusion. Oryx can not avoid being oppressed and as a consequence is forced to a life of social disadvantage. Jimmy and Crake are not excluded from society explicitly but they choose a different life for themselves. Their approach and individual perception of social concepts, such as love, parts them form the majority. On an intellectual level they are capable of adapting to social norms as well as applying alternatives to their lives. Their emotional temper, nevertheless, supports their decisions which lead towards exclusion and misunderstanding. In the same way that John fails to clarify his notions and ideas to society, Crake and Jimmy also fail to achieve their utmost private goals. Crake, as he understands the situation, has to kill Oryx and then commit suicide. From the context of the story the reader can assume that Crake did not intend to take the position of a martyr. He leaves Jimmy behind as his messenger and contact person to the Crakers – even after death he desires to stay in charge of his project. Both Crake and John are misunderstood visionaries, whose ideas are not adaptable to the entire society and who, in respect of their final decision to end their own lives, choose the ultimate form of social exclusion.

From a rational point of view, choosing social exclusion voluntarily may seem as a rather harsh and unwise, or even absurd, decision. The decision to reject social norms and authority consequently causes problems in most cases. The ties between fiction and reality are closest and most visible when a phenomenon such as social discrepancy and social change are discussed. Atwood and Huxley both tried to talk to the future by referring to the past and present at the same time.

We can talk to the past as we can talk to the future – the time that is dead and the time that has not yet been born. Both acts are absurd, but the absurdity is necessary to freedom.

(Burgess 1978/1980: 35)

Crake’s image of the future is a very distinctive one. In the same way that he is a rather contradictory character, his decisions and behaviour are also not entirely straight-forward. His science is based upon distinguished structures which do not leave any space outside

73 their system. In order to control nature, he has to accept the basic rules and the resources given by nature. He uses those structures and rules to create the complete opposite – a society with no rules, no laws, no artificial structures and no human interference. The Crakers are supposed to be the perfect representatives of Crake’s idea of anarchy. Their behaviour on the other hand shows that Crake has failed in his quest for a different human society. We can speculate and say that it is only a matter of time until the Crakers develop a community with similar structures as were found in the society Crake destroyed.

Anarchy promotes an understanding of life free of any desire for power and wealth. As proven by anarchic communities of early human evolution, such communities are possible and have existed without significant interference to natural rules and laws (Taylor 1982). Crake's desire for such a society was already impossible before it even could be realized, as he only could diminish negative patterns in human behaviour by interfering with the genetic code. The revolutionary masses do not exist in Crake’s effort to overthrow society. The people he gathers, nevertheless, are not workers but gifted scientists. With their help Crake is able to achieve his goal of starting history anew - restarting in the respect of giving nature a better version of men and women. Revolution in this respect does not mean reorganising society but recreating it. The following abstract from Anthony Burgess’ 1985 picks up the critique on Anarchism as only possible for an elitist minority as previously suggested by Barber (1971: 95f).

[Intellectuals] become revolutionaries. Revolutions are usually the work of disgruntled intellectuals with the gift of the gab. They go to the barricades in the name of the peasant or the working man. For 'Intellectuals of the world unite' is not a very inspiring slogan.

(Burgess: 1978/1980: 37)

In the story Crake takes a position which gives him immense power over the Crakers and the humans he kills with the virus. The idea behind his actions could possibly be thought of as motivated by anarchic thinking. Kropotkin’s approach towards the justification for murder and physical violence in order to prevent more drastic events (cf. Kropotkin 1890/1978) could be applied to Crake’s project. Its realization, however, is characterized by patriarchal elements and the domination of one single individual rather than anarchic

74 ideas. In addition, Jimmy’s stories and his attitude and opinion of Crake do not conform to the core values of Anarchy. Jimmy puts Crake onto a platform on which he and Oryx as well, because of her significant participation in the project, receive almost god-like characteristics.

In the same world where the Crakers seek to establish a society which can be compared to the anarchic communities described in Taylor (1982: 3ff), the survivors, men and women from a fallen world, have to struggle for survival and create new forms of organizing their interaction. In this world, anarchic core principles could be one possibility for creating a different society. Gordon (2008) and Kinna (2005) have listed the principles on which modern anarchists rely in their actions and attempt for a change. The resistance movement and social sub-groups in The Year of the Flood and Oryx and Crake show some of these points.

The Gardeners display a picture of being a religious group to the outside world. Their involvement in Crake's action is not quite obvious, but hints throughout the book allow such a connection. In a very broad context the group could be categorized as being partly anarchic due to their tendencies in supporting Crake and thus the downfall of society as it is known. Chomsky's approach of interacting with the state (cf. Chomsky 2005) only marginally applies to their attitude. Robert Nozick's minimal-state (cf. Wolff 1991) also interferes, albeit much more intensely, with a social structure which is based upon familiar values and does not accept an entire paradigm shift.

Even though they do have a hierarchic order and believe in supernatural power - both factors detach them from any existing and, as a result of their appearance, authentic anarchic group – the God’s Gardeners provide the necessary basics for direct activism and the organisation of anarchic communities. Zeb, a former member, founds MaddAddam. The various hide-outs and rooftop gardens give shelter to activists and create room for cells and affinity groups which need a place to plan their actions. Modern Folk-Anarchists (cf. Curious George Brigade 2006) use similar places, not only to prepare for protest, but also to provide space in which communities are able to realize a society based upon anarchic values. Among such cells and affinity groups Jimmy’s mother also joins the revolt against oppression and exploitation by the CorpSeCorps and other

75 authoritarian systems all over the world. Sharon’s real intentions are not entirely revealed. The reader finds out that she leaves her home in the compound to actively participate in the protest. Whether or not she can be defined as a real anarchist cannot be said without any doubt - to what degree does she conform with anarchistic values and which riots, apart from the Happicuppa movement, does she support? It is possible to say that she takes the risk of being prosecuted by the CorpSeCorps because of her clandestine action. Jimmy grasps a quick sight of her on the media, and the agents investigating Sharon’s case also hint towards her involvement in direct street activism.

Within the most relevant groups described by Atwood, MaddAddam and the God’s Gardeners, clear hierarchic structures are evident. In Anarchy Alive! (2006) Uri Gordon discusses the dangers of leadership and the establishment of definite structures amongst anarchists. Anarchy as a free and progressive movement does not rely upon leaders and authority. Every person is able to express his or her emotions and desires. The only limitation is other people’s freedom and a respectful treatment of such. In The Year of the Flood, Toby’s father tells her about the ruthlessness of society. “People can smell desperation on you, he said to Toby. They take advantage.” (TYOTF p. 26). Crake takes advantage of the unstable situation in society. He lacks the anarchist understanding of the concept of respect and ignores the right of every person to survive and be part of a better place.

76 5 Conclusion

The aim of this diploma thesis was to analyse Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood with a special focus on the representation of social exclusion and anarchy. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World has served as a reference work for the analysis. Atwood’s and Huxley’s societies are very authoritarian and show totalitarian structures, which are mainly characterized by total control via scientific alteration and constant surveillance. The concepts of social exclusion and anarchy are evident throughout Atwood’s stories. In a world where chaos and oppression are predominate, groups and individuals long for alternatives. The God’s Gardeners and MaddAddam support change and provide the necessary infrastructure. Within these groups various individuals gather in order to be part of an alternative community.

Investigation of Atwood’s works concerning anarchy using a rather theoretical approach shows that no characters or groups entirely conform to anarchic core values. Atwood herself is highly aware of social inadmissibilities and gives several solutions in order to overcome such. The God’s Gardeners and Crake, as the initiator of the waterless flood, cannot explicitly be described as being anarchists, but they do possess certain anarchistic tendencies. Individuality and individual protest are distinctively formulated in Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood by the description of single characters such as Jimmy, Crake and Oryx, but also some minor characters reflect the concept of expressing personal freedom. Amongst those characters, Sharon, Jimmy’s mother, who is relatively insignificant for the story as a whole, most obviously leans towards anarchic values. Even though Brave New World covers similar social structures of oppression and social exclusion comparable to Atwood's works, political statements concerning alternatives for society are missing. Huxley rather lists problems and does not give explicit alternatives. George Orwell criticised Huxley “for a lack of 'political awareness'[...]” (Burgess 1978/1980: 55) in Brave New World. John is the only character who obviously protests against the social structures of the World State; Helmholtz Watson and Bernard Marx simply desire their personal intellectual freedom.

Emma Goldman once said that “Anarchism is the great liberator of man from the phantoms

77 that have held him captive; it is the arbiter and pacifier of the two forces for individual and social harmony.” (Online 1). Atwood’s Dystopian world in Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood describes the urge for individuality and social harmony. Which solutions and action will lead to it is left to the reader’s imagination. Utopian fiction dreams about a better world; in order to understand how to make this dream come true, the faults and problems of the actual world have to be understood. Atwood clearly exaggerates in the tale of Jimmy, Oryx and Crake – to leave this story as what it is, nothing else but a frightening nightmare, everyone has to be aware of the dangers of it coming true in reality.

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