User:Karizma Brown/sandbox

The Crakers The Crakers are genetically engineered homo sapiens in the novel Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. They were created by Glenn, who uses the code name Crake after the redneck Crake, with the help of the MaddAddam team. After their creation the Crakers are taught by Oryx on how to survive at Crake's request. Crake Genetically engineered the Crakers to make them what he considered more evolved homo sapiens. Crake feels that he engineered the Crakers in a way that would prevent any type of self destruction within the species. Some of the more complex mutations the Crakers were given were the fact that they are herbivores, and have no concept of clothing, or other types of complex ideas (as Crake wanted) and are unable to read. It is not discussed in  the novel if the Crakers would be able to learn how to read, if given the opportunity and taught, or if Crake genetically engineered them to be unable to read. The Crakers were also mutated in ways that were more physical, such as the Crakers posses bright green eyes, their adaptability to adapt to their environment and various other animal traits to allow them better survival in the wilderness. One such example is the skin of the Crakers and how they are"thick-skined, resistant to ultraviolet". The life cycles of the Crakers is also different than that of humans, they reach maturity much younger, become adolescents at the age of four, reach maturity at seven years of age and die at age thirty, without any type of sickness or old age setting in. No population problem and no suspense. Crake had also designed the Crakers with a quality known as "purring," something he had taken from cats, and is how the Crakers are able to heal themselves and others using a certain frequency of their voice. The Crakers also have heat cycles, once every three years a woman will go into heat, mate with four males and produce an offspring and since the hormones that arouse the males are only produced by the females at this time behaviors such as rape, child molestation, and others are nonexistent. Despite Crake's best efforts there are some things that are intrinsically human that no matter what Crake did, he could not splice out. Singing and dreaming were human traits that Crake could not get rid of without removing the humanity of the Crakers. Jimmy also helped with developing these ideas with his story telling to the Crakers, even the use of the name "abominable snowman" develops their creativity since none of the Crakers had ever seen snow before. Crake though he removed the parts of the brain that he saw as useless or dangerous. However, the Crakers still exhibit behaviors that were not originally intended. Abraham Lincoln displays leadership qualities, and appears to be more outgoing than the others. They create a model of Snowman, something they should not have had the capacity to do, and use it in an attempt to communicate with him while he is on his journey. This idea was totally their own creation. They also revere Orxy and Crake as gods, despite the fact that they have no real conception of what a god is. The Crakers are symbolic of the inability for man to control everything, and nature’s ability to change. They are also a testament to human nature, and what parts of us are so ingrained into being human that they cannot be done away with.