Ayn Rand's Anthem and Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake

As a global society with many different individuals, the world is always progressing at a fast rate. Many individuals have different perspectives which influence society as a whole. Being a society with so much diversity, many issues also arise. Over the past century the world has changed more-so than it has ever before. The population of the world has soared, the environment has been strained and society has modernized their everyday lifestyles. Many technological advances have been made in increasing the convenience and comfort of human beings. With the world changing at such a rapid rate, the state of the future is often contemplated. In Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel, Oryx and Crake, she portrays the human race dying out due to a huge catastrophe caused by Crake, a eccentric scientist. Contrarily, in Ayn Rand's novel Anthem, she depicts the future society as being dictated by small groups of people, however all individuality is lost. Both these books illustrate a possible future to the current state of the world and predict completely opposite outcomes. In Ayn Rand's Anthem, and Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, the hope for an improved future is dependant on the role of man, organization of society and technology. However, neither of these aspects actually improve the state of the future and ironic as it may be, neither of the two different futures that are portrayed would be favorable for anyone.

The role of man in both books varies. In Oryx and Crake Snowman, whose real name is Jimmy, is the last man left on earth, as far as he is aware. He finds himself responsible for the Crakers, which are the genetically engineered forms of humans that Snowman's dead, genius friend Crake, created. The Crakers obey him because he is the only one with knowledge from the time "before" and they see him as a role model. The Crakers were released into the wild after mankind was demolished, so they have no real experience with living amongst real humans. The role of man in Oryx and Crake ends up being the role of the single man on earth, which is Snowman. He assumes the role that the Crakers have given him, as the wise one. They looked to him with their questions and their entertainment because of his obvious difference from them. In Anthem, the role of man is completely different. Partially because more than a single man actually exists, however, because the future described in this novel is