Oryx and Crake question

" femme fatale - an attractive and seductive woman, esp. one who will ultimately bring disaster to a man who becomes involved with her."

I don't see Oryx doing anything that leads man to destruction. She is the pure one, the one being exploited.

I see Oryx as an metaphor for mother nature. How she was exploited, imprisoned, traded, used, and wronged. Interestingly she also had a hand in Crake's master plan, it is the corruption of nature that ultimately leads to humanity's downfall.

I have a couple interpretations of the love triangle and actually of the whole book. One is that everything was inevitable and environmental causes were everything, and it was the spirit of the time that led to everyone's downfall. (I got this idea from reading Tolstoy's Love and War.) Basically, the apocalypse emerged out of chaos, and the love triangle was part of this chaos. It was the one thing that was out of Crake's knowledge and control, and the one thing that Jimmy had over Crake, who at times was more his idol than his friend. Jimmy's adoration of Crake is a lot like his adoration of Oryx. I think the most interesting part of the triangle is Jimmy's confusion about whom he loves and how.

My other interpretation is the Crake-as-omniscient theory, that everything was in accordance to Crake's plans, and the purpose of his relationship with Oryx was to mess with Jimmy so that he would lead the Crakers after their death. Crake's suicide and killing of Oryx was planned. The bodies of Crake and Oryx seemed real enough to Jimmy, but it all could have been planned. You really can't trust everything Jimmy says, though you pretty much get the entire story through him.
Oryx doesn't seem like a stereotype to me. She seems like a character who has reacted to a certain childhood, and the expectations laid upon her by men. I am not exactly familiar with femme fatales, but does she fit this general role?

There is love, but there are many things mixed in as well.

I see parallel between the two man's interaction with Oryx and their interaction with nature.

Crake's interaction with Oryx is one that started with fascination, then possessiveness and control, that ultimately ends in Crake killing Oryx by his own hands. Very similar to Crake's interaction with nature.

Jimmy lives in active denial, he wants comfort but not the responsibility. He repeatedly mention how disgusted he is with those exploited Oryx, but he refuses to acknowledge his exploitation of her, and he did nothing to right the wrong. I see the reaction as a paralleled to how Jimmy was horrified by chicken nobs, but he willingly eats them without giving it a second thought.

It has been a while since I read this, so I may have some things confused.
Oryx is with Crake because it benefits her. Because of her upbringing she doesn't have the same reservations that others might have and goes to Jimmy. Jimmy gives her attention that Crake does not, but Oryx is really just playing with him. She never acknowledges that she is the girl in the picture. She knows he loves her, but she might be incapable of romantic love. It is her love of the Crakers that holds Jimmy to them. Crake was a total jerk and gets her just because he can, knowing Jimmy is infatuated with her.

I believe that Jimmy loves Oryx and he saves the Crakers because of her. I also believe that Crake doesn't really care for Oryx in the way that Jimmy does but he needs her apparent simplicity because the way he functions is so detached. Maybe he needs her to satisfy his primal urges that can no longer be satiated looking at internet pornography sites. Oryx, on the other hand, has been raised to make people believe that she is innocent and has learnt to say whatever they want to hear. I don't think she is as simple-minded and innocent as she makes out. She was undoubtedly a victim of child-abuse but I can't help but feel she manipulates Jimmy and Crake into looking after her and giving her what she needs. Maybe she was even in with Crake's plan. There is so much mystery surrounding her that I don't think she can be considered a reliable character.

I love the idea of Oryx being a metaphor for mother nature though :) (I just wish I didn't find something a bit iffy about her character...)

I don't think it's all that clear that Oryx IS the same person as the child that Jimmy and Crake fixated on in the video. She may not be, and like any immigrant, minority woman who's suffered exploitation of one type or another, she doesn't want to talk about it or dwell on it. She may think (rightly or wrongly) that her life is better now, with Crake and Jimmy, even though Crake is a psychopath and Jimmy is obsessed with her. She has a job that pays well--a career, in fact--and she travels a lot. That can seem like freedom, even when it's really not.

The love triangle is believable as any, considering it's a work of fiction and most of the book, like rakunks, are made up. I think Jimmy's love for Oryx fuelled him to stay at Glenn's experiments, and his love for Oryx fuelled him to save the Crakers, despite his hate for Glenn, and the hardships he had to go through to save them. I don't know how I feel about Oryx as a stereotype.