Sunday, November 22, 2015

What are some examples of "environmental terrorism" in Margaret Atwood's novel The Year of the Flood?

Margaret Atwood's novel, The Year of the
Flood
, is a continuation of her earlier novel, Oryx and
Crake
. In that novel, we learn of the first example of title="environmental terrorism"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_terrorism">environmental
terrorism: the Crake released a plague to kill humans in order to allow the
introduction and survival of "a new race of genetic hybrids called 'Crakers.'” The
effect of such a move has a devastating effect on the environment and its ability to
sustain the lives of the survivors.


There are other forms
of "environmental terrorism."


One of the animals that has
been genetically-altered are pigs, called "pigoons;" they are very smart and destructive
to gardens which are necessary for the survival of those still alive, as well as those
who are preparing for the next "apocalyptic pandemic, which they call the 'Waterless
Flood,'" by "prepar[ing] 'Ararats' that contain food and supplies" for survival after
the flood.


One of the surviving groups is called the
Gardeners, that is something of a religious cult. Their wish is to live peacefully,
honoring those who have died and what has been lost, rather than taking steps to stop
further degradation of their world.


readability="6">

...our role in respect to the Creatures is to
bear witness...and to guard the memories and genomes of the
departed.



However, one of its
members, Zeb, creates a new group called "MaddAddam." He wants to stop the extinction of
countless species, occurring at an alarming rate. This is another example of
environmental terrorism:


readability="5">

There’s at least a hundred new extinct species
since this time last
month.



This is caused, in
some part, by a restaurant called Rarities, "which serves endangered
species."


One of the new members of MaddAddam is Crake
(introduced in the first novel). He is supportive of the group's desire to halt the
destruction of their world, however his idea in doing so comes in
the form of a pandemic plague that he releases. One of the major
characters, Toby, reflects that this is...


readability="5">

not an ordinary pandemic: it wouldn’t be
contained after a few hundred thousand
deaths.



This then, becomes
the "Waterless Flood" that the characters of the book have feared, another act of
environmental terrorism for which so many have been storing food and supplies in hope of
surviving its destructive power.

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