Oryx and Crake (week 4)

I wish I could have finished the book before writing this post, but it’s been a little busy lately.

I came across this phrase during my reading: “the same blend of innocence and contempt and understanding” (300).

Out of context, I thought this was a well-written phrase. It connected all of these opposite emotions together, and made perfect sense. It’s one of those feelings in life there aren’t words for, yet Atwood put words to it. It’s like putting these words in a blender and getting a unique emotion of equal parts of them tied together. I can identify with this because I’ve felt this before. I think it’s interesting how she describes it in three words, yet when I piece it together, one feeling comes over me.

In context, Snowman is describing his childhood home. It was a place whre he was an innocent boy, yet came to understand so much about his life through experiences he had in this home. He had contempt for his mother for running away, contempt for his father marrying so fast, and contempt for the loneliness he felt as a result. The stem of the loneliness that encompassed his life and continued into the narrative present was here in this house. In the house, he was innocent to not understand his mother’s issues, yet he understood that she was unhappy; his innocence clouded his judgement to know what was really going on with her in the months leading up to her disappearance.

There three things blended together to give Snowman this unique feeling that there is no word for, yet it is understandable through context that he has these emotions.