Oryx And Crake Analysis

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The thought of hierarchy often changes due to the perception of a certain time period. In A History of The World In 10 ½ Chapters, Julian Barnes shows how hierarchy’s are perceived in various ways according to who is writing about them and what time period they are taking place in. When Barnes talks in the last chapter about Heaven, he allows the reader to see a different view into the “future” and on what Heaven really could be like; therefore forcing a varied politically correct thought about this phenomenon. In contrast, Oryx and Crake written by Margaret Atwood, sees a phenomenon such as the world in the future not as politically correct as it was perceived, but as a world far worse than what it is to this day. This could also spark personal…show more content…
Hierarchy exists in A History of The World In 10 ½ Chapters when a man has a dream about going into Heaven and wonders how all the people can be living amongst each other with such an extreme amount of occupants He also wonders who is allowed to enter Heaven and what are the stipulations to remain there. Hierarchy deeply changes perception in the future as demonstrated when the male character questions, “What happened to the Old Heaveners” (Barnes, 302). The character wonders where people go after Heaven and is there a greater place the others go or do only the greats stay. This questioning of who is greater changes his perception on hierarchy because he is in Heaven and not in the present time. Being in a different time period changes his perception because further into the future people will see God as less of a powerful entity. People in the past were deemed to be more spiritual and biblical compared to the times now; which will only get worse as the times go on. The phenomenon of Heaven is questioned deeply in this chapter through an allegory; sacred texts such as the bible written by many different writers but in the end handed down by a superior power, states that all good souls go to Heaven. In contrast A History of The World In 10 ½ Chapters shows that Heaven seems to allow all admittance even though the man did not even consider himself to be of…show more content…
In A History of The World In 10 ½ Chapters, Barnes talks about Noah’s Ark as if he was a stowaway woodworm that was not allowed on the boat. The animals that were chosen were explicitly chosen for a reason, but why were humans and not all animals chosen? Barnes explains how some animals were not important enough, this means humans are metaphorically “in the same boat”. In the past the animals were possibly viewed higher up the ladder than humans, which means our evolution up to now has been immense. Humans now view themselves as much greater than what they should; humans are considered dominant and socially humans are far superior. Barnes also talks about how some animals were let on but some sent to the ships kitchen, “Seven animals were welcome on board, but five were destined for the galley.” (Barnes, 11). This could mean that the ones being eaten were better than the ones not even taken; humans are possibly considered at the bottom of a hierarchy in the past. In comparison to Oryx and Crake they value life much more in the past and not social reputation as they do now. Social hierarchy runs the world in Oryx and Crake everyone wants to be perfect, which is why Crake had created Crakers, but his down fall was ultimate perfection, in the creation of a pill which summoned immortality. The attempt at perfection
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