Nature
Nature is everywhere in Atwood’s novels whether it’s ‘Surfacing’ or MaddAddam. The protagonists of the novel attempt to save nature from the dreadful actions of humans. The foundation of God’s Gardeners is a step taken by Zeb to halt the exploitation of earth by its inhabitants. Zeb prefers saving nature over his family and his identity. Nature rewards by providing shelter to the survivors of the attack of criminals. It is nature who provides a chance of rebuilding civilization. Zeb is also connected to his love in his effort of preserving the natural environment.
Violence
Violence is a recurrent motif in the novel. The book begins with the survivors of a biological disaster. The criminals attack Toby, Ren and Amanda along with other survivors. The criminals attempt to play a game of death because they consider themselves as immune to the pain, so they do not empathize with others.
The criminals also attempt to attack the survivors in the camps and try to kill them brutally. They act in violent ways and do not behave as normal human beings. Instead of assisting others, they get pleasure out of hurting others. They take the common people and urge them to fight for their lives but eventually kill them. The narrator says, "But hatred and viciousness are addictive. You can get high on them. Once you've had a little, you start shaking if you don't get more." The players of painball became addicted to the real show of death so they kept on attacking and killing people.
Painball
The game symbolizes the basketball game which was played by the Mayans. They used to sacrifice their lives for the sake of winning the game. Another idea related to this game is hunger games. The pain ball seems to be like hunger games because in both the games the participants lack empathy and take other’s lives for the sake of excelling in the game. The organizers seek pleasure out of the game of death, and they are not directly involved in the games. They stand apart and urge the common people to provide entertainment by risking their lives. The authorities become so much addicted to the show that they can not give away this vicious cycle of death.
