Although Crake genetically engineered the Crakers, Snowman has been left with the task of building their moral and philosophical universe. Crake attempted to edit out many of the qualities that he felt were ultimately pitfalls of the human species. Snowman notes that many of these things cannot be edited out.
For one, the Crakers long to understand where they come from. Crake thought he removed the desire to worship a higher being. Ironically, it appears that Crake has unwittingly taken the role of a deity in the Crakers’ world. The Crakers long to have a history, which ultimately proves many of Crake’s hypotheses incorrect.
Crake took much joy in his invention of the Crakers. Snowman, on the other hand, finds the task of explaining the world to the Crakers, like toast, to be extremely tiring and depressing. They are so unfamiliar with his world that every explanation results in him feeling more isolated than he did before.
Snowman feels the weight of many responsibilities on his shoulders. Namely, he has been charged with ensuring the Crakers’ survival and, unintentionally, has become responsible for remembering that which cannot be remembered by anyone else because he is the last human. The weight of these responsibilities is sometimes crushing for Snowman.
