When the Craker’s mating ritual is explained, it is also explained Crake formulated their sex acts are based on all sorts of animals (baboons, octopus, penguins, silverfish), yet Jimmy says that we would just become “hormone robots”. In a way, Crake’s creation of this sexual system is organized and does remove all the negatives that come with sex (rape, jealousy, anger, infidelity) but Jimmy asks what about the art of sex? What do you think of this organized sexual behavior and how does it play into the posthuman argument?
ENGL 360 | Future Perfect Human
Prof. Myra Seaman | Fall 2016
When reading that section of the book, I found myself siding more with Jimmy in finding the entire setup very odd and seemingly artificial. While Crake lays out his reasoning in a seemingly logical way, the blue tint to the skin alerting the males that the female is ready to mate, the ‘no hard feelings’ flower choosing ritual, even the three year cycle logically makes a sort of sense. However, that seems very cold and clinical- and as Jimmy states; “Sex is no longer a mysterious rite, viewed with ambivalence or downright loathing, conducted in the dark and inspiring suicides and murders. Now it’s more like an athletic demonstration, a free-spirited romp” (165).
While this seems to work, it is very alien, and stripped of the very human emotion of love. The courtship exists only for a short while, no ties are formed from it. This works for the continuation of the Children of Crake, yes, but where is the affection? Where is the silly little emotions that bind people together past the lust? Crake stripped the need for that away, replacing it with his ‘logical’ ideal of sex. The Children of Crake seem to be a posthuman ideal in a way, freed from the messy ties of human emotion even when it comes to sex, but the loss seems to be more sad that beneficial, and only Snowman can see or understand this.
I think this programmed sexual behavior they display is yet another way of showing the huge divide between Jimmy and Crake. There are many examples of this like jimmy going to a school dedicated to the arts, that “the levels of real power” deemed, “an archaic waste of time” (195). While Crake attends the prestigious “Watson-Crick,” where he is developing the future so to speak. I believe this sexual behavior is another display of the author trying to show the much needed dialogue between the amoral (Crake), and the more moral thinker (Jimmy) that in turn gets the reader thinking as well. This is Crake’s way of showing that he has changed behavior for the better in his eyes, but for Jimmy it is far from better, it is just foreign and unnatural. This is another exceptional example of the post human kind of theorizing taking place. What are the pros and cons we ask, for Crake who is this passionless accumilation of androidian ideologies this is great, because the procreative purpose is served in an efficient fashion. However, for Jimmy this is an abomination, the idea of not being intimate or having any real feeling toward the other person is unconscionable. Crake is this character that is never portrayed as needing sex, while Jimmy is obsessive in an almost addictive way. The contrast between Jimmy and Crake is great way for the ethical dilemmas to be discussed allowed to the reader.
Just like anything in life, the perceived “negatives” of sex that Crake tries to eliminate help emphasize the contrasting positives. Without them, the relationships lack that hesitation and fear of rejection that lead to the happiness gained from overcoming that. Crake’s attempt to alter this proves to be a perfect example for the posthuman concept because it revolves around regulating a natural process with the intentions of improving it, but ending up hindering it instead. Jimmy’s reaction to this stays true to his character in that it appropriately reflects an authentic response based on his personality.
I think this topic opens a dialogue too regarding the posthuman idea of humanity vs the other. While Crake chooses the side of rational thinking and Jimmy of emotional, it is clear the Atwood wants us to side with Jimmy, making the sex between the Children of Crake completely foreign to us. However, considering humans are capable of rational thought, what exactly is it that makes Crake’s new world seem to us so uncomfortable and distant from our ideas of humanity? Atwood seems to be using Jimmy and Crake to contrast too very dominant traits of humans – rational and emotional response and sides with the emotion. The fact that Crake uses animals to inspire his new means of reproduction shows just how inhuman it is to think without those emotions.
I like what Levena has to say about the Children of Crake fitting the posthuman model because they are “freed from the messy ties of human emotion”. It seems to be a common theme that the posthuman and the other are versions of the human but with out any of the messiness or the baggage that comes along with being human. When considering the kind of sexual system that Crake sets up it is evident that he makes choices in the mating ritual in an effort to avoid the negative emotions involved in a sexual relationship; “‘needless despair [that can be] caused by a series of biological mismatches . . . resulting in the fact that the one you love so passionately won’t or can’t love you’” (166). Although it is a positive that Crake’s system has “no more prostitution, no sexual abuse of children, no haggling over the price, no pimps, no sex slaves”, it is these kinds of messy emotions and unfortunate situations that make sex human. And by taking away or “fixing” the system to prevent the bad, Crake has also taken away all of the good and that is what Jimmy means when he suggests that the Children of Crake are nothing more than “hormone robots”—their mating is void of emotion, of connection and of art. When considering then the sexual system of the Children of Crake would we be able to classify them as human, when they are a part of a system that is so inhuman?
When reading this chapter in Atwood’s novel it made me consider the ways in which sex is approached in other posthuman situations we have encountered. In Never Let Me Go the clones were encouraged to approach sex in a very human and very familiar way. Perhaps this was encouraged because it made the humans feel better about themselves in letting the clones have human-like experiences. In Battlestar Galactica the Cylons are capable of sex in a very human way as well and they can even have sex with humans (as we see with “Number Six” and Dr. Gaius). But in BSG it seems like the Cylons see sex as an emotional weakness in humans and they use that to their advantage in order to exploit humans. So when considering the system Crake has in place it is very different from other posthuman situations we have seen and it seems as thought it is in place to avoid the emotional messiness that comes with many common human experiences.
The difference between Jimmy and Crake’s views on sex represents a common theme in visions of the post-human. Crake opts for removing the problematic components of the sexual experience, as you note, and Jimmy sees these emotions and complications as an essential part of the human experience.
The post-human is tied to the question of what is essential to the human experience and what is not. Where humans have failed, it is common to see a vision of the post-human trying to reconcile these failures with improvements, implying (as we see here) that the new beings are superior due to these changes.
Of course, I side with Jimmy’s perspective on this issue. Crake’s rationale for this organized approach to sex is recognized, but I believe that it is too impartial.
While this organized approach succeeds in ensuring a system of security free from emotional complications, it fails in instilling the stoic virtues that its inception was inspired by. We use our rational minds to overcome our emotions, and through that struggle we become better people. However, the Crakers do not learn from experience, because they do not fail. The irony here is that in creating a system with the goal of living better lives and becoming better than human, the Crakers lose many of the deeper lessons that life has to offer.
Thanks for sharing, I also read your content carefully it was perfect. Keep shining and inspiring us all! Also check this egg rate today website, which provides daily egg rates in India.