After studying both Oryx and Crake and Hamlet, it is clear that the two are both very different pieces of literature. Hamlet is a tragic Shakespearean play while Oryx and Crake is a dystopian science fiction novel. However, parallels and connections can be made between the two books. Firstly, both Hamlet and Crake seek to avenge their fathers’ death. Crake’s father died after management at HelthWyzer decided that the information that he had obtained was not to be known by the public and so had to be eliminated. His father had made the mistake of confiding in his friend and boss Pete that he intended to blow the whistle on the corporation's machinations. The narrative may be making a gesture toward Hamlet in Crake's discovery that his "Uncle Pete" conspired in his father's murder. Secondly, Crake’s mother may have quickly remarried her dead husband's boss out of fear that she, too, could become the victim of a mysterious "accident" similarly to the “accident” that cause King Hamlet’s death. The gesture toward Shakespeare's tragedy is provocative because Hamlet's revenge plot leaves the stage at the end of Act V looking a bit post-apocalyptic, similarly to the way things ended in Oryx and Crake.
Even though comparisons between Oryx and Crake and Hamel aren’t significant, they are still present. Both novels hold many absurd factors to them and both climaxes tend to revolve around revenge tragedies. In Hamlet all the main characters die at the end due revenge killings. In Oryx and Crake two main characters also die as a result of revenge. Jimmy murders Crake in order to avenge Oryx’s death. Another common factor is that both significant females are subject to abuse and sexually exploited. Oryx’s sexual exploitation was obviously much more than Ophelia’s but Ophelia was subject to exploitation from her own lover, which is probably very harmful as well. Both protagonists of the novel are shown to be looked down upon when it came to their mental strength. In Hamlets case, everyone else in the play found him mentally unstable, and for Jimmy he was though to be not as bright minded as even an average person. Both Oryx and Crake and Hamlet appear to be polar opposite in setting but have many similar factors. After all history tends to repeat itself.
After studying both Oryx and Crake and Hamlet, it is clear that the two are both very different pieces of literature. Hamlet is a tragic Shakespearean play while Oryx and Crake is a dystopian science fiction novel. However, parallels and connections can be made between the two books. Firstly, both Hamlet and Crake seek to avenge their fathers’ death. Crake’s father died after management at HelthWyzer decided that the information that he had obtained was not to be known by the public and so had to be eliminated. His father had made the mistake of confiding in his friend and boss Pete that he intended to blow the whistle on the corporation's machinations. The narrative may be making a gesture toward Hamlet in Crake's discovery that his "Uncle Pete" conspired in his father's murder. Secondly, Crake’s mother may have quickly remarried her dead husband's boss out of fear that she, too, could become the victim of a mysterious "accident" similarly to the “accident” that cause King Hamlet’s death. The gesture toward Shakespeare's tragedy is provocative because Hamlet's revenge plot leaves the stage at the end of Act V looking a bit post-apocalyptic, similarly to the way things ended in Oryx and Crake.
ReplyDeleteEven though comparisons between Oryx and Crake and Hamel aren’t significant, they are still present. Both novels hold many absurd factors to them and both climaxes tend to revolve around revenge tragedies. In Hamlet all the main characters die at the end due revenge killings. In Oryx and Crake two main characters also die as a result of revenge. Jimmy murders Crake in order to avenge Oryx’s death. Another common factor is that both significant females are subject to abuse and sexually exploited. Oryx’s sexual exploitation was obviously much more than Ophelia’s but Ophelia was subject to exploitation from her own lover, which is probably very harmful as well. Both protagonists of the novel are shown to be looked down upon when it came to their mental strength. In Hamlets case, everyone else in the play found him mentally unstable, and for Jimmy he was though to be not as bright minded as even an average person. Both Oryx and Crake and Hamlet appear to be polar opposite in setting but have many similar factors. After all history tends to repeat itself.
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