Pandemic Panic and the Fear of Death: An Ecocritical Read of Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake and Jack London's The Scarlet Plague

Nielsen, Asger Martinus Schjødt

2. Term (Master)

Media Studies (Minor subject)

2023

2023-01-18

36 pages

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze, by close reading, the worlds of the speculative fictious novels, Oryx and Crake and The Scarlet Plague, in terms of how fear is portrayed as being the manifestation of irrational and selfish behavior. These fictious worlds serve as mirrors reflecting contemporary societal concerns that we may not be aware of or simply ignore when going about our everyday life. These concerns involve matters such as the very definition of humanity and how they may alter if certain fields of science are left unquestioned. The two novels in question showcase similarities in their apocalyptic narrative, but more so, a distinctive difference in their reception of critique. In The Scarlet Plague, the scientists are the heroes in which all hope is being placed to keep everyone alive. In Oryx and Crake, on the other hand, the scientists and the field of bioengineering is what cause our absolute demise and will inevitably wipe us from existence. These aspects are then considered with the pattern of behavior experienced during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, in terms of how people and society navigated through being induced with a similar fear of death and the uncertainty of one’s safety.

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