It is also during these numerous web-surfing hours that they first see Oryx. Crake's nickname sticks whereas Jimmy's does not. Crake ( Glenn) and Jimmy (Thickney) take on nicknames as part of the game. The game requires vast knowledge of all of the extinct species on Earth. One game in particular, Extinctathon, gives them their nicknames.

Extinctathon, and view many vulgar websites for entertainment purposes. During this time, they play online games, i.e. Jimmy and Crake begin to spend a lot of time together after school. As such, the two things are tied together in his mind. Jimmy met Crake/Glenn a few months before his mother's departure. Because of his mother's illegal departure, Jimmy is repeatedly questioned by the CorpSeCorps, the government’s security and investigative agency. Jimmy misses both his mother and his rakunk but is not sure which one he misses more. Jimmy's mother, highly dissatisfied with her life in the Compound, runs away. Killer had been a birthday gift from Jimmy's father years ago. The sight of a rakunk reminds him of his pet rakunk Killer. It is revealed that Snowman recalls these things to pass his time, as there is nothing else to do. He felt that Jimmy was ill equipped for success. Jimmy's father was always critical of Jimmy's lack of skills in the sciences. Young Jimmy feels sad for the pigoons because they cannot do anything in their cramped quarters.

Unlike her husband, she sees the animals as more than an amalgamation of proteins. Jimmy's mother, Sharon takes issue with the level of genetic splicing taking place.

These animals, called pigoons, were the source of some tension in the marriage of Jimmy's parents. His father was a geneticist that worked with pigs used for human organ harvesting with a lab technician named Ramona. Through his recounting of his past, the reader learns that he used to live on a compound belonging to a company called OrganInc. It is soon learned that Snowman used to be named Jimmy. In contrast, he is very fond of, and still hears the ephemeral voice of Oryx. Snowman exhibits a great deal of anger towards a man named Crake. The Crakers ask him many questions and bring him one fish each week. Snowman is living in an outdoor setting near a body of water with a group of seemingly alien entities called Crakers. Oryx and Crake is told through the vantage point of a man named Snowman.

Oryx and crake by margaret atwood