Oryx & Crake discussion questions

We held a lesson on Oryx & Crake where we discussed some questions that I will share with you right now.

Introductory Questions:
What kind of genre does the book belong to?
What kind of protagonist is Snowman? Can we trust what he's telling us?
What kind of society do we find in 'Oryx and Crake'?

Genetic Engineering:
Where do we find Genetic Engineering in the book?
What connotations does Genetic Engineering have in the book?
What are the drawbacks and the advantages of Genetic Engineering as mentioned in the novel?

Consumerism and Capitalism:
Who holds the power in society?

Old World vs. New World:
How does the Old World differentiate from the New World?
Can we see differences in the language? What role does language play?
What sort of values were important in the Old World? How did this change over time?

Identity:
Who is the Self, who the Other?
Can religious themes be identified?

 Of course I also have answers to all of these questions, but that's not the purpose of this post. Maybe I will take up one or two of these questions and elaborate on them further.