Paulina answers “Why is there so little criticism of the...”

Andy asked this question about Oryx and Crake:

Why is there so little criticism of the character of Oryx? She serves no purpose other than die as motivation for Jimmy to kill Crake and complete Crake's plan. She also appears to have no actual traits or thoughts that are not centered around the men in her life.

Paulina I think that the purpose of Oryx is definitely hard to grasp. For me she was a victim of society, of these communities forced to sell their children i…moreI think that the purpose of Oryx is definitely hard to grasp. For me she was a victim of society, of these communities forced to sell their children in order to give their other children a chance. She was exploited and abused but she never saw it that way because she didn't know anything better. Even after she gets out of those situations, she still sees her life as changing but never seems to compare her previous situations with her current ones. She takes her lot in life with the best attitude possible. I think that Atwood doesn't give her a voice because Jimmy and Crake don't either, I think her point is that they decide what's happened in her life: she's been sold, abused, exploited, saved, killed. She never has any kind of agency and I think that since that's all she knows she lives like that, seemingly a flat character, but it might be because her world and her "saviors" made her that way.
Do we want her to be more than that? We might be like Jimmy, wanting all the answers and forcing her to give them to us, but possibly just to make ourselves feel better, to know that she's not as broken, to hope that she's actually okay. (less)

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