Archetypes Within The Rising Action: What the Heck is Going On?

In the novel Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood uses literary archetypes found in the Hero’s Journey to develop the skeleton of the story. These archetypes are meant to give the reader a preliminary idea of the characters. However, by creating characters that don’t fall easily into archetypal patterns, Atwood creates tension and confusion early on in the plot. This feeling of uncertainty fills the reader with a sense of unease that mirrors the feelings of the protagonist within the book.

Snowman

When it comes to archetypes, Snowman is an unusual narrator. In most novels, the protagonist by default fits the Hero archetype. The Hero is a character that has a tangible goal that, when reached, equates to the attainment of happiness.  Additionally, they face obstacles such as a long journey, a monster or a villain. In the first four chapters of the novel, no aspect of Snowman’s character appears to fit these conventions. So, if he’s not the hero, what archetype does he fulfill? 

The answer is complex. Any given character can play the role of a variety of archetypes at different points in the novel. Moreover, most characters don’t fit any archetype perfectly. Characters can also play the role of a specific archetype according to the situation. This is the aspect of literary archetypes that I believe is most applicable to Snowman. To the Crakers, Snowman is the archetypal Mentor figure. He is wise, older and instructs the Crakers on how to survive in their new world. This is shown when the Craker children come to him and ask him if their found objects from the old world are dangerous. He tells them what’s safe, and later explains his beard. It’s obvious they regard him as a font of knowledge, someone who knows the answers to strange, mysterious questions. At this point in the novel, when we consider the character of Snowman as separate from Jimmy, he does not fit neatly into any archetype.

Crake

Crake is an another character that can’t be easily pigeonholed into an archetype. There’s something undeniably sinister about him. He is brilliant but obsessive, perceptive but removed, and something of a mystery to the people around him. Then, of course, there is the disturbing things he and Jimmy watch for fun. The reader feels, quite justifiably, uncomfortable about a character who watches child pornography and live-streamed executions. All of these facts point towards Crake being an example of the Shadow archetype. Shadows are the villains of the literary archetypes. They often exist as a foil to the Hero, showing what they could become if they made different choices. But there’s a problem. Despite his questionable hobbies, Crake has not actually done anything evil. Because of this, he doesn’t quite play the role of the Shadow.

However, there’s an archetype that fits Crake a little better; the Shapeshifter. Shapeshifters are characters whose true motivations are unclear. They may appear to be on one side, and turn out to be on the other. They may also switch sides multiple times over the course of a story. While Crake has not revealed any real information about his motivations, the very fact that we simply don’t know what he’s all about makes him a Shapeshifter. Many Shapeshifters draw the Hero in with a sense of possible danger, combined with a strange appeal. While Crake does not appear to have the sexual element that some Shapeshifters do, he does inspire a kind of fascination in Jimmy, which ultimately leads to them becoming friends. As the book progresses and more about Crake is revealed, he will likely change from being a Shapeshifter to some other, more concrete role.

Jimmy

Given the extreme differences between Snowman and his earlier persona, Jimmy, I’ve chosen to consider these two characters as separate archetypes. Jimmy is a fairly typical example of the Trickster archetype. The Trickster is someone who uses laughter, jokes and pranks to illustrate truths about society. While Jimmy is young, we can see from his performances in school that he uses humour to deal with the unhappy reality of his home life. In particular, his hand-puppet shows of Righteous Mom and Evil Dad are classic examples of Trickster-like comedy. Here, Jimmy takes the unhappiness of his parents and the ethical dilemmas they appear to be struggling with,and makes them into a joke. This kind of humour appears to make light of a bad situation but actually, makes the message more appealing to the audience. By making these jokes, Jimmy deals with his own emotional problems, while making the conflict he lives with more apparent to the reader.

The Hero’s Journey

The novel Oryx and Crake doesn’t follow the typical linear path of the Hero’s Journey. Rather, we start the novel right in the middle of what appears to be the Ordeal. The Ordeal is the part of the Hero’s Journey right after or during the climax. This is when the Hero is tested the most, in a situation of hardship and emotional struggle. There is arguably no situation more stressful than the utter destruction of the known world. At this stage of the novel, we don’t really know much else about where Snowman is in the journey. He could be at the beginning or the end, since we know nothing about how he got here and where he’s going. In fact, most of the novel so far has been the reader trying to figure out just what the heck is going on. Usually, a story starts in the beginning of the Hero’s Journey, with the Hero young and inexperienced in their world. However, in Oryx and Crake, Snowman is the most experienced person we’ve met so far. Margaret Atwood uses the Hero’s Journey template and subverts it to add a sense of confusion to the novel. This, combined with the unclear nature of the main characters, creates tension that leaves the reader feeling as though they themselves are the ones stranded alone in an unfamiliar world.