In the Maddaddam novel, men are demonstrated as violent and aggressive characters while women are objectified sexually and commodified. I can’t help but notice that Margaret Atwood often uses women as victims in this triology. In The Year of the Flood, we see an example of this when Toby works at SecretBurgers. Toby suffered from both physical and sexual abuse from her boss, Blanco. Her boss constantly uses his authority and money to abuse young girls and violate their bodies for his own satisfaction. Once Toby escapes, Blanco threatens to beat her up and even tells her he will kill her if he ver gets the chance to see her again. The idea of Toby living in constant fear is the reality of many women who suffers from abuse in today’s society.
After examining the image below, I find it disgusting how offenders are being let off the hook so easily. I believe due to the lack of punishment for these crimes, it makes it harder for victims to come out and to report it to the police. This is why so many women live in constant fear because they don’t want their offender to come back and haunt them even more.
Do you believe the reason for silenced victims is due to the amount of offenders being let off the hook?
When we first find out that Amanda’s pregnant, the characters in the book and the readers are left to wonder who the father could possibly be. The father of the baby is definitely a man who has had unconsented sexual intercourse with Amanda, but what everyone is eager to find out is whether the newborn baby will be a human/Craker hybrid or have Painballer DNA in him/her. Amanda set her mind on getting rid of the child if it proves to be the son of a Painballers. The others like Toby have mixed feelings about Amanda’s decision which is only natural. Unconsciously or not, most of us think of the unborn baby as a child of a rapist, a torturer, and a murderer. Now now, don’t feel guilty about labeling an unborn and innocent baby with these horrible tags, I’m sure we all had Amanda’s best interest in mind. However, the question remains: is criminality genetic?
In some cases, lawyers have tried to blame genetics for the actions of their client, including senseless murder, by justifying their action “as a tragic consequence of being born a killer” (Steve Connor). It’s natural to wonder if blaming genetics for a crime is a valid argument or pure rubbish. Scientists around the world have conducted numerous studies to try to find a link between genetics and criminality. According to several studies, it has been found that genetic background does have an influence on whether or not a person will engage in criminal behavior. How you may wonder? Well, it turns out that criminality is inheritable through mental illnesses and mental disorders, which are often genetic. However, studies have proven that the influence of environmental factors is even stronger than genetics, which means that even if someone is genetically predisposed towards criminality, it can be changed based on their environment, and vice versa. Therefore, the notion that criminals are born rather than made is not quite true since environmental influences such as parenting style, socioeconomic status, and peer groups also play a role in the development of a person’s personality and mental health.
In short, hypothetically speaking, if the father of Amanda’s child were to be a Painballer, the child may be genetically predisposed to criminal behavior, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they would engage in criminal behavior. Nonetheless, do you think the child would have followed in his father’s footstep if he were living with the MaddAddamites?
A lion meat burger at Il Vinaio restaurant in Mesa, Arizona. Photograph: Matt York/AP
They
say everyone loves a mystery, but I’m not sure the saying applies to what we
eat…Meat lovers, prepare for the ugly truth!
In The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood introduces SecretBurgers, a restaurant where the secret is what type or even what percentage of meat is in said burgers. Cat fur, mouse tails and human parts are all fair game in this underground diner. Pretty disgusting right? Well, reality isn’t that far from fiction. In 2013, Ikea stopped 760 kilograms of their meatballs from being sold in thirteen different countries. Why? The beef and pork products actually contained horsemeat . Ireland conducted DNA test on different brands of beef products and the results are astounding: more than a third contained traces of horsemeat and one contained more that 25% horsemeat. Other studies in a few countries support these results. Now, while this might not be as bad as, say, rat meat, the fact that food labelling is so sparsely controlled is cause for worry. What’s stopping companies from incorporating more questionable components in their meat à la SecretBurgers, especially if cattle become rarer or pricier?
Frozen meat adulterated with horse intended for burgers. Photograph: City of London police
What might be even weirder is that the exotic animal trade is booming. Demand is high for “forbidden flesh” and businesses are ready to supply. The Stuffed Dormouse in Carleon, Wales, for example, offers a peculiar option to its customers: Roulette Skewers. Adventurous eaters choose four meats and let the chef decide what to serve them. Talk about mystery meat! The choices include zebra, llama, horse, crocodile, ostrich, kangaroo and wild boar.
Another issue that
Margaret Atwood brings to light in The
Year of the Flood is the illegal trade of exotic animals for consumption.
In the novel, Rarity is a chain of restaurants which offers endangered species
in private banquet rooms. Bears, tigers, lions, sharks, among others are on the
menu.
The same is happening right now around the world. Animals are getting killed by the thousands every year and many are facing the threat of extinction. For example, lions, whose populations are dropping rapidly, are being bread and farmed for their meat across the US. Yes, you read that right: lion farming! Atwood lists the demand for tiger-bone wine as a reason for the slaughter of the thousands of tigers farmed in a few Asian countries. Another reason, as you can imagine, is that for their meat.
The rapidly expanding pangolin trade originating in Asia is also taking over the world. So much so that out of eight pangolin species, four are vulnerable, two endangered, and two are critically endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This defenseless animal has become the most trafficked wild mammal and the price on their meat is high. Other threatened animals being butchered for their meat include sharks for their fins, the Chinese Giant Salamander, which is critically endangered after 30 years of exploitation, many endangered primate species and even caribou here in Quebec.
Animal populations
of all kinds are quickly dwindling as we speak and like Zeb said, they’re
getting “fucking eaten!” (p.252). Aside from the pure sadness of seeing
majestic creatures like tigers and lions going extinct, can you imagine the
devastating effects this would have on their ecosystems? Everything in nature
is connected, and make no mistake, we will all feel the weight of our actions. With
that being said, find out how to help here: https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/5-countries-where-you-can-still-eat-exotic-meats-of-endangered-species/
Ps.:
To those of you who find these exotic delicacies new and exciting, consider this: the meat is very rarely are actually fresh. Since most of the handling of these animals is done illegally, health regulations and precautions are put on the back burner, endangering the health of the consumers and of the handlers. Eating ape meat for example could expose you to diseases like Ebola, anthrax and yellow fever. Handling wild carnivores is also dangerous; a biologist died from primary pneumatic plague after dissecting a cougar! So, beware!
Reading the Maddaddam trilogy definitely makes you wonder about the concepts of immortality and life after death. Could our consciousness remain even if our body has deteriorated? Even better, what if the death wasn’t compulsory anymore but rather a choice? Imagine if that choice was as easy as signing the back of our medical card. While all these thoughts might be speculative at the moment, some researchers have dedicated their lives to find answers.
Through the first novel, we witness Crake’s elegantly worded and frankly incomprehensive philosophy about immortality. The thought of not fearing death was a compelling idea which was intergrated in the characteristics of the Crakers. On the contrary, they view death as a simple transition to another life. Blackbeard imbodies this belief as he tells the Crakers that Pilar appeared to him in a pigoon’s body (227). Even *SPOILER ALERT* when Toby dies at the end of the book, Blackbeard chooses to believe that she took the form of a bear (390). Immortality is presented under the beauty of reincarnation and the preservation of soul.
Now, you are probably thinking where the fugde am I going with this? BUT, what if I told you that science is working on making life after death a tangible thing through cryonics and mind uploading. I am certain that you have heard of the former either through the Walt Disney Theory or Captain America. Indeed, I am talking about freezing one’s body through time. According to this theory, we would be able to freeze a person’s body once they are legally dead and bring them back to life when doctors solve the problem that caused the mortality. According to Dr. Jordan Sparks, more than 250 people have been frozen in the US and thousand have declared cryonization as their plan. Yes, thousands of people are going to pay 100 000$ to have their bodies frozen. Keep in mind that a trip to Antartica would cost less and provide the same results.
Here is a tiny-bitsy rapid video if you want to learn more:
Ok, so maybe cryonics still need a lot of work but what about Mind Uploading *cue in the Oo sound*. To make this short, some researchers are working on mapping the human brain and making your consciousness digitally immortal. Following this theory, your mind could also eventually be transferd into AI which would creat a cyborg you! Quite similar to the Astro Boy movie where Dr. Tenma makes a robot version of his son after he dies in an accident. That being said, take a moment and imagine your wife or husband walking around with a USB that contains your brain. I don’t know about you, but I would rather have them carry my picture around.
Although the Crakers had more of a spiritual view of life after death and did not see it as integrated into a computer or a freezing machine these two world views demonstrate the idea of immortality and the preservation of one’s conciousness. Now it is your turn to think about this potluck, would you want the chance to define your forever or would you rather leave it to the unknown as is seen in the novel?
Imagine living in a world so safe in which harassment does not exist… Amongst the many types of harassment, sexual harassment has become one of the most serious issues in today’s society due to the increasing rates of victims (the large majority consisting of women). According to the FIRE staff (2013), the website outlines several examples of sexual harassment, which include:
“Comments of a sexual nature”
“Sexually explicit statements, questions, jokes, or anecdotes”
“A pattern of conduct that would discomfort or humiliate, or both, a reasonable person at whom the conduct is directed that includes one or more of the following:
1) unnecessary touching, patting, hugging, or brushing against a person’s body;
2) remarks of a sexual nature about a person’s clothing or body; or
3) remarks about sexual activity or speculations about previous sexual experience”.
Unfortunately, as sexual harassment has plagued worldwide, it can occur at any time of the day and anywhere. When I say anywhere, oh I mean ANYWHERE. Over the years, the presence of sexual harassment has made its way into the workplace, where it is supposed to be professional. What I am trying to say is that we are never entirely safe from harm as there are always risks. As I have mentioned earlier, women are often victims of harassment in the workplace (19% of Canadian women have reported to this experience, and 4% to sexual harassment). When an individual is a victim of constant harassment at work, it is very likely that it can hinder their self-esteem, hence affecting their overall health. According to this article (2018), “sexual harassment may limit or discourage women from advancing into higher paid careers and may contribute to the persistent gender wage gap”.
In Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood, the concept of harassment and sexual harassment is presented in the way Blanco, the manager at SecretBurger, treats Toby and his other female employees. When Toby was hired to work at SecretBurger, she was really excited to start the job until she realized that she might have put herself in danger. She discovers that Blanco was a horrible short-tempered man who sexually harassed and assaulted the women who worked for him. Atwood first reveals Blanco’s disturbing behaviour towards Toby when she is called to his office as he tells her:
“Skinny bitch, I’m promoting you […] Say thank you” (37).
“Smart girl” […] “Come here. Take off my shirt” (37).
“Blanco put his flayed hands around her neck. “Cross me up, I’ll snap you like a twig” (37).
“He demanded a thank you after every degrading act” (38).
Oh, dear Lord… Isn’t it scary how this mistreatment happens in the workplace of today’s society? Thousands of innocent people get hired to work for companies expecting to remain in a professional environment and to have appropriate relationships with their employers and co-workers. The sad reality is that there are always risks wherever you are…
We all have those days when even the smallest of things can seem to be getting the best of us, and we can only see everything else going downhill from there. If I wanted an ice coffee at Tim Horton’s but they ran out of ice, it would make me feel some type of way and I am not going to very happy about it. Minor inconveniences like these can be source of a lot of frustration and stress, which just accumulate over time. Even if we like it or not, one simple disruption can honestly make or break our day, sometimes. Things like these can make life seem more complicated than it really is. We often forget that the recipe for a good life requires a couple of pinches of joyfulness and carefreeness (yes I Googled it and it’s actually a word).
In Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood, we get to witness the Gardeners celebrate April Fish day, our equivalent of April Fools. Despite being otherwise very strict and serious regarding the type of lifestyle that they lead, they have a day dedicated to remembering that everyone should loosen up once in a while, and not take themselves too seriously. During April Fish, the children are allowed to make fun of their elders and the older folks think back to their own childhoods. They work towardsacknowledging their own silliness, and realizing that no matter how wise anyone may think they are, everyone is a fool in relation to God. Adam one says, “Let us teach our Children tolerance, and loving kindness, and correct boundaries, as well as joyful laughter. “ (195)
It’s incredibly easy to get lost in our own little world and routines but just learning to laugh at yourself can be greatly beneficial. In fact, laughter has many health benefits including lowering blood pressure, reducing stress hormone levels, working out your abs (yay!), improving cardiac health, triggering the release of endorphins, boosting T-cells and producing a general sense of well-being. One of the many ways people use to bring joyfulness into their lives is called laughter yoga… yes you heard read that right… Laughter yoga is actually a thing who knew! Well I guess if Trump is president then anything is possible right?
What are some of the ways that you use to look on the brighter side of things? Shouldn’t everyday be April Fish? With everything that is going on in this world and the increasing amount of pressure that society continues to place on everyone, is it even possible to find the right balance between being serious and carefree? Feel free to leave any other additional thoughts.
The presence of religion in main stream
society (mostly in governmental related positions) has become very controversial
topic during the last 20 or so years. Quebec’s society, amongst others, has
been founded by the arrival of immigrants from Europe whom where very religious
at the time. It developed a strongly religion-oriented society, where its
population would be, almost entirely, constituted of Catholics.
However, times have changed and the
presence of catholic people, although still an important number, has decreased
since many other religions have increased their importance. This displays better
diversity of the population of our current society. You’d expect, in my
opinion, that such a positive change would encourage people to be more open-minded.
Sadly, not everyone agrees with this vision. Many, who are part of governmental institutions, consider that displaying religious beliefs while working a government position isn’t good when it comes to making decisions. They say that governmental and public related positions should not be allowed be display their religious beliefs.
Because of the increase in the targeting of the wrong people by the Bill 21, people have started to protest, to go in the streets. They did so in hopes to remind people that religion is not something that matters when it comes to doing their jobs right.
The idea of a fully secular society is something that is also shown in The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood. In that novel, The Gardners, who are a very environmental-oriented group, celebrate many biblical events and praise many of its saints. For their beliefs, they are considered by the big majority to be “freaks” and most people of the society don’t associate themselves with the Gardners. They are judged upon their beliefs and not by their capacities.
However, it has been proven, towards the end of the novel, that it was thanks to their different way of living and their self-sufficiency that many of the Gardners were able to survive the apocalypse. You could say that religious beliefs and lack of trust in main stream society helped them survive a tragedy created by those who laughed at them for being different. Pretty ironic if you ask me.
To be honest, I feel it important to conclude this blog post by saying this: The presence of religions make a society unique and diverse. Trying to make it laic is something that some deem necessary for a better succeeding society, but Atwood’s book can be used as an example where people with different beliefs did better, in the end, than a main stream laic society.
Wait… is that your cell phone vibrating? Nope! That’s the bees calling you! They are here to deliver YOU (yes, you) something very important!
Are you brave enough to be surrounded by 12,000 bees? Woman and bees. Photo by Holly Wilmeth. Source: Dailymail.co.uk
As we all know, these flying insects play a major role in Margaret Atwood’s novels, especially in The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam. I’ve never seen anyone like Toby so friendly with the bees. She talks to them out loud and she is not afraid to approach them and get stung. What shocks me the most is the fact that Toby is willing to let these buzzing creatures land… ON HER FACE! (MaddAddam, 211)
I have one word to describe her: c-r-a-z-y. I mean seriously, who dares to stand that close to a beehive? (Not me, that’s for sure!)
If a bee is simply flying around near you, I bet some of you guys would run for your lives, right? Why are we so scared of them?
Here’s what I think:
These yellow and black critters sting and they hurt AS HELL! They release a chemical called melittin. When it penetrates in the skin, you experience swelling, pain and you shout “AAAHHH!!”
If bees are causing so much trouble, should we spread our hate and kill them?
No bees no fruits.Photo by Palex66. Source: Dreamstime
The answer is NO! Don’t hurt these fuzzy little creatures! Bees are playing a primordial role in our ecosystem. They are well-known to be pollinators, and their job is to grab the pollen from flowers and transport them to another plant. As a result, some of these flowers develop into beautiful fruits!
Bees might be dangerous for some of us, but it would be worse if they were eradicated!
Here’s a short (3 min.) video that shows some consequences of the disappearance of bees.
What Happens If All The Bees Die? Source: AsapScience
Let me tell ask you this, dear readers, how can we save the bees from extinction?
_____________________
This message was brought you by bees. Do not hurt us. We make your world better.
In our modern society, the God’s Gardeners could easily be considered an extremist cult. According to OMF International, a cult is defined by several key factors:
A strong leader
Control and rules
Apocalyptic vision
Isolation
Close relationships
Use of scripture from an established religion
Furthermore, cults often believe they are the solution to an inescapable problem and encourage all members to follow a very specific point of view. They essentially want everyone to seem identical to outsiders.
The God’s Gardeners adhere perfectly to the previous description. It seems as if Margaret Atwood relied heavily on this framework during her writing process. Firstly, the Gardeners are greatly dependent on Adam One, who fulfills the position of the strong leader. They follow biblical teachings and psalms from Christianity, but are not Christians. They control their members by restricting them from eating meats or having contact with the Pleeblanders, a form of social isolation. Furthermore, the Gardeners live in close relation to one another by dividing few buildings where they are the only residents. Lastly, they believe in an apocalypse which they named “The Waterless Flood,” referring to the disease outbreak engineered by Crake in Oryx and Crake.
Even though the Cult of the God’s Gardeners are harmless and are helping to better the world, most cults do not receive positive criticism. A famous example of a destructive cult is the Ku Klux Klan, commonly known as the KKK, which believed in the segregation of African Americans in the United States. Their extreme manifesto encouraged white supremacist beliefs and inspired violence against African Americans. Their followers dressed in all white costumes and believed they were ridding the world of “evil people.”
A second, less extreme cult is the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Jehovah’s witnesses have millions of members worldwide and consider themselves a branch of Christianity, although many feel they misinterpret the bible. The cult requires complete cooperation with their doctrine. Their beliefs include refusal of blood transfusions, even if life-threatening situations, general acceptance of physical and sexual abuse amongst member families, and homophobia.
In general, extremism of any kind should not be encouraged. All cults tend to believe unequivocally in their manifesto, a characteristic that can have severe consequences. It is important to praise leniency and the ability to shift a point of view according to different situations, especially as our world evolves and encounters new technologies. After all, even the God’s Gardeners eat meat when they have no other choice.
CorpSeCorps does everything a corporate security service would do. Yet, the result of granting officers power and authority often leads to situation where they take advantage of their status and oppress the people instead of protecting them. Sharon shares her thought about the CorpSeCorps when she says: “the guards were ruder, they were suspicious of everyone, they liked to strip search people, women especially. They got a kick out of it” (Atwood, 53). In The Year of the Flood, we get the see the CorpSeCorps in more depth and witness how poorly they fulfill their role “[as] defenders of the peace [and as] enforcers of public security” (Atwood, 34). An example is how CorpSeCorps allows kidnappings, assassinations and drug trades to occur. Worst of all, they run their own business of kidnapping people to harvest their organs for transplantation and using the remains of the body to make burgers at SecretBurgers. Pretty disturbing, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, we’re all aware of the fact that police misconduct and abuse are not simply themes part of a science fiction book, but on the contrary, are a global issue that needs to be resolved. In developing countries, corrupt police officers can detain suspects in jail without any valid evidence, physically assault and torture suspects, a method often used to obtain information or a confession, as well as murder them without suffering any consequences. Even closer to home, in the States particularly, racial minorities have often been victims of police abuse, which includes shootings, which has consequently led to the creation of many activist movements such as “Black Lives Matter”. If you’re wondering whether or not events like these occur in Canada, well I hate to break it to you but they do happen, more often than I’d like to admit. Countless cases exist where police officers have assaulted people both physically and with a weapon, used excessive force when the situation could have clearly been handled differently, fabricated evidence and unlawfully arrested people.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: “If this is happening in our country, why isn’t the government doing anything to fix it?”. Well, they tried. Many cities across North America are equipping police officers with body cameras to prevent police brutality and misconduct. However, in early February, Montreal decided against arming police officers with body cameras because there were deemed to be costly and ineffective, partly due to the ability of turning the camera on or off at will. To learn more about why this project didn’t come to be in Montreal, click here and here.
When you think about it, isn’t it kind of scary. We live in a kind of world where some parents teach their kids to run from the police when in trouble instead of running to them for help. Insane right? What kind of justice system has officers who condemn the weak and poor but protect the rich? I believe that those who are given power to take away someone’s freedom and have weapons that can take someone’s life need to take their responsibility seriously or else, were on a highway to one heck of a chaotic world.
Once Upon A Wolvog 