Throughout “Parable of the Sower” Lauren and her father are constantly batting between being prepared for disaster and not wanting to stir fear and panic. Lauren, being a realist and seeing where the country lies in peril wants to be prepared for the worst. She also sees the benefit in preparing others for the worst, when it comes. Her father understands the situation that they are living in but for fear of scaring the community stays silent on pressing issues. During a conversation about preparing for disaster, Lauren’s father explains “These things frighten people. It’s best not to talk about them.” And Lauren responds with “But, Dad, that’s like…like ignoring a fire in the living room because we’re all in the kitchen, and, besides house fires are too scary to talk about.” p. 63
Do you think that in today’s political climate (and environmentally changing climate) that some people are Laurens and others are her father? Meaning that do you think some people face these challenging, pressing issues head on and others ignore them for fear of causing a panic? Do you think there is a truth to both of these stances?
“I belong to this earth. Soon my bones become earth. My spirit has gone back to my country..my mother.” – Bill Neidjie
For most Americans, to reflect on homeplace in a similar context to Neidjie would be an unfamiliar exercise. Few people today can announce themselves as someone from somewhere, at least not in the same sense Bill Neidjie describes as he speaks to connection to country and place growing up in the east alligator river of Australia. Very few people alive today have spent a lifetime in the same valley, working alongside the people they knew as children, as well as being intimately connected to the soil, plants, and animals both physically and spiritually.
“Now my children hang on to this story. ..I hang on to this story all my life. My children can’t lose it. This is law, this country, these people, all the same… Gagudju.” -Bill Neidjie
I feel what Neidjie describes as “this story”, in a sense, is similar to what we call culture. For the Gagidju I see (at least from Neisjie’s writings) a story that is based on an eternal moment of creating, of being in deep connection to the land and place. If story and culture is an evolutionary adaption we humans have developed for the purpose of survival in our specific environment.. than is this culture (western culture) one that is largely driven by hyperconsumerism what we want to pass down to our descendants?
Can or should we in a socially and ethically minded way learn from peoples in that past who knew how to connect with the land in a “sustainable way” and integrate it into our current modality?
In SD, we are in search of a transitional culture towards a culture that fosters a sense sus. land management practice’s etc, however, is Bill Neidhjie telling us that the spiritual connection to the land of equal or greater importance?
The Parable of Sower is almost journal like in how it is written. Immediately, I recognize the amount of religion and spirituality that takes place in this book. I like how the story starts off with a dream interpretation, because it shows the in-depth personal evaluation Lauren has going on in her mind. She discusses having a God of her own in Chapter 2 “I let my father baptize me in all three names of that God who isn’t mine any more. My God has another name” (Butler, Page 7). Lauren sits back quietly while obeying her father’s religious wishes, but she has her own opinions. Being the preacher’s daughter has its stipulations, especially living in a concentrated area. I think this plays a part into why she argues with her father a bit, also she has a leadership personality that would be one to challenge authority. Butlers fictional painting of the type of characters walking around a post-apocalyptic type America gives a very dark view the possible realistic future, no resources, and humans that become almost zombie-like because of the chaos. Laurens hyper empathy plays a big issue when out and about in this chaos because she can feel these peoples’ pain as if it was her own. Her leadership skills really show when she starts her own religion, Earthseed, intending that you can grow anywhere.
Question: How do the people keep the trusting bonds between everyone living together in the compound walls while amidst chaos?
In Chapter 3 of Parable of the Sower, Lauren writes in her diary about an Alicia Leal who is an astronaut who was killed on the latest mission to Mars. On one side you have the government spending money on things such as space travel. On the other side, you have Lauren and her siblings wearing dirty clothes in order to keep themselves safe outside the wall. Another point that was made in this chapter was that gasoline is cheaper than water and water prices have gone up again. Lauren says that no one uses gasoline but arsonists and the rich. Towards the end of Chapter 3, it is made known that Christopher Donner one the presidency and plans to end the space program and also plans on suspending environmental and labor protection law. In this story, society has shifted to become more primitive in the sense that they don’t use electricity, they eat non-traditional foods, and require protection to go out into the world. On the other hand, the government and technology have continued to advance through space exploration and other means. For example, TVs are considered ancient, but every family still has a radio.
This story made me think of what would happen if events like this come to reality. Do you think the current climate crisis can result in something like this or even something much worse?
Throughout Parable of the Sower, Bulter emphasizes the spirituality of change, even stating that God and change are the same thing multiple times.
“Any Change may bear seeds of benefit. Seek them out. Any Change may bear seeds of harm. Beware. God is infinitely malleable. God is Change” (116).
Change is so important that it is capitalized like the name of God, because it is God. In the beginning of the novel, Lauren is surrounded by her close family as well as a community who believes that their current way of living will continue indefinitely. She alone believes that a change in times is going to occur and begins preparing and teaching students at the school survival methods. I resonate spiritually with Lauren and this entire novel. Our Earth is so powerful, yet is always changing.
“Consider: whether you’re a human being, an insect, a microbe, or a stone, this verse is true. All that you touch, you Change. All that you Change, Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change. God is Change” (79).
If we use the analogy of the history of the Earth in 24 hours, all of the human race would be seen in the last 1.5 seconds, with society as we know it in the last 0.02 seconds. Yet, many people in our society believes our current capitalistic way of living to continue indefinitely.
My questions are with our current world problems being so scarily similar to Octavia Butler’s dystopian timeframe, should we change our way of living before it results in the extreme global crisis she identifies in this novel? How will we prepare for the Change or apocalyptic end of society as we know it?
In Parable of the Sower, one common theme is the desire for things to return how they used to be, basically a return to “the good old days” of 20th century America. This idea, mainly espoused by adults or older people who remember when California was normal, contrasts with Lauren’s exploration of change and how it relates to her life/religion. She is always adapting to new things she notices in her environment, an attribute that is especially apparent when she talks to Joanne about defending themselves and preparing for an emergency. When talking of the new president, Lauren says he’s “like a symbol of the past for us to hold onto as we’re pushed into the future. He’s nothing… But having him there [will] make people feel that the country, the culture that they grew up with is still here” (56). While the youth of Robledo are more willing to change, they find themselves restrained (at least in the beginning) by the confines of socially constructed dynamics and a literal wall. How does this book, while extreme in its setting, relate to other real-life movements instigated by youth? Despite being fiction, what valuable information can we gather from Lauren’s plight to change her society?
Octavia Butler examines several layers of society throughout her plot in “Parable of the Sower”. Some of her major themes are centered around racism, gender roles, environmental degradation, education, classism, violence, and political organization. Many of these themes are observed by Lauren in her journal which is the communicative link between the world Lauren is living in and the audience. Lauren’s main objective in the book is to learn as much as she can in order to survive in the world as well as create, share, and understand her perception of god and what that means to her. The psychological complexities portrayed through a variety of characters, and within the community itself, speak to the destruction of society by humanity itself. Each of the layers that Butler addresses, is acknowledged to be the fruit of human efforts and human conflicts. “Or a victim of god may, through shortsightedness and fear, remain god’s victim, god’s plaything, god’s prey (32).” This quote reflects Lauren perception that people must grip reality and be adaptable in order to move forward and survive in the harsh conditions that her world lives in.
Desperation flourishes amidst the contrasting and paradoxical nature of humanity and becomes exemplified through factors such as environmental degradation, inequality, and social unrest. Knowing the apocalyptic nature of the book, is there one core theme that ought to be considered more closely than others? Despite a lack of explanation of how things began to go wrong in Lauren’s society (there is often mention of “the good ol’ days”), are there particular values addressed or confronted in the book that seem to hold more power/responsibility for the societal outcome?
Parable of the Sower, a novel by Octavia E. Butler, tells the story of Lauren Olamina, a fifteen year old girl who grows in a dystopia set in the near future, where water is more expensive than gasoline and people walk around armed much of the time. She is cynical and doubtful about the religion of her father, a Baptist minister, who insists on her being baptized. Although she consents, she later reflects on the notion of God, who she interprets to be different than that of her father. While she had always been taught that God was an omnipotent. omnipresent being with a master plan for everything in the world, Lauren believes the true God is change, which not only shapes mankind, but is continually molded by humanity’s influence as well. This leads her to forego her father’s religion in favor of one of her own design, one which observes and considers the only truly omnipresent force: change.
Considering Lauren’s views and skepticisms of Christianity, do you think these opinions are fueled by her criticism of a higher, all powerful force, or an underlying suspicion of authority? If raised under a different religion, specifically one that is not monotheistic, how might this affect her opinions?
I’m very interested in Lauren’s hyper-empathy – especially in how it’s dismissed as “fake” or “delusional” emotion, despite the very real emotional and physical impacts that it has on her. There seems to be a pattern with the protagonists of the books that we’re reading – Tayo also seems to be highly empathetic. What can these characteristics and the themes surrounding them say about the “classics” that we’re reading? What do empathy and emotion have to do with sustainable development?
What’s interesting about Octavia Butler’s story parable of the sower is the power of telling a story. This is seemingly the same message that was portrayed in ceremony but for me relies more on individual willpower and self determination. Society tends to look at the bad things or when presented with a situation of non inclusion would retaliate to hate or getting away from this situation. Butler found herself in situations where she wasn’t included. She had no story or character to relate with. Instead of complaining about this I find it both inspiring and refreshing to see she took it upon herself to create a new story and write herself into the plot. To me this is something that can be taken into the future when wanting to change or inspire change. Chapter 7 starts with a quote from lauren, “We are all Godseed, but no more or less so than any other aspect of the universe, Godseed is all there is- all that changes. Earthseed is all that spreads Earthlife to new earths. The universe is Godseed. Only we are Earthseed. And the Destiny of the Earthseed is to take root among the stars.” This is a decentralization of power and its given to all of us. I wonder if this is rooted in Laurens hyperempathy and is it caring to much or is it the caring that’s needed to promote change?
Bruhh this book is absolutely brutal! Especially for us SD students. It’s almost like if we “continue with business as usual” then this is the apocalypse that we will inevitably face. However, it also raises a lot of interesting questions on philosophy, ethics, and religion along the way. Lauren starts the process of creating her own religion throughout the course of the book, and I can’t help but think back at Travis’ line of questions as he tries to understand her main tenants. Specifically the question “A God like yours wouldn’t have a heaven for people to hope for, so what is there?” (pg. 222). Although Lauren’s religion is not about pandering to peoples’ fears and giving them a nice message to comfort them. He religion is only concerned with truth. Honestly, in my opinion, this is an ideology that could very easily be twisted towards a fascist mindset; but what ideology doesn’t have that problem? I’m all for her ideas about change being an inevitable process which you should use as an opportunity to shape what is to come. I only have a problem with her ideas that Earthseed, her religion, “is to take root among the stars” (pg. 222). Lauren is a VERY smart girl, which is why of the only flawed tenants of her new religion is the subject of my weekly question:
Why doesn’t Lauren see that this endless pursuit of development and improving technological capacity is one of the MAIN reasons her society is in its current horrific predicament. Even if her religion catches on like wildfire, it may help people push through and live their lives with more intention, but if Earthseed is aiming for the stars, then the Earth’s resources will still be pumped dry under the hope that humans can find another planet to exploit in the future (and thus continue this horrible cycle until the next apocalypse that is destined to happen).
Like if her religion caught on today, you wouldn’t have people saying stupid stuff like “Make America Great Again”, but you would still have corporate assholes exploiting workers and the environment because it is how they decide to “shape the clay” that is God in the Earthseed religion.
I have always had a fascination with apocalyptic type books and scenarios like the one portrayed in “Parable of the Sower”. I also recently finished the book “One Second After” recently and highly recommend to anyone reading this. I think as an SD student this topic interests me because we realize the Earth is heading in a direction of environmental catastrophe. I like how in this story the United States continues to hang onto the Space Program. Our main character, Lauren, looks up to the astronaut who died on Mars and the Space program itself seems to be the last country wide program to survive the catastrophe. Lauren looks up to the astronauts, partially, because they are able to escape the terrible reality of the United States. Drugs, violence, and robbery are just a few problems plaguing the country and Robledo. The book paints a dark picture of high water prices, suicide, and killings. It describes “last week Mrs Sims son, his five kids, his wife, her brother, and her brothers three kids dies in a house fire- an arson fire” (23). The first few pages definitely paint the near future as a very dark place. The environmental degradation has caused this suffering while Presidential candidates promise to push back already non existent environmental policies. Although this is a work of fiction for me at least I think we see a trend towards lacking resources and the crazy President. To many people this future may seem absurd but is it actually? I believe the environment is exploited immensely and this kind of disaster is possible in our lifetime even if many people do not think so.
The “Parable of the Sower” focuses on the apocalyptic era of the United States. It is told from the perspective of a girl, Lauren, journalling. The story strongly aligns with the ideas of religion and change, with them both overlapping at points. This story highlights how the community she is living in still values religion highly, her dad is a baptist preacher but then Lauren does not align with his values. She creates her own religion, one where her values align better with. In this time of apocalyptic ideas, where no-one is truly safe in any community but she finds her God that she values. In chapter three she writes down what she believes which is “God is power— Infinite, Irresistible, Inexorable, Indifferent. And yet, God is Pliable— Trickster, Teacher, Chaos, Clay. Gos exists to be shaped. God is Change.”. This quote resonates the idea that even with all the change that has occurred in their world people and beliefs have to change to align with the things that are newly prevalent in society.
How can an apocalyptic view of a society invoke the thought of the need for change in todays world? Can this apocalyptic story make people think of the consequences to the actions that they are making?
Reading this book has really visualized to me what a potential threat we actually are on path to that could mimic what we are reading. Our globalized world is growing more numb and passive to visible and invisible violence which hurts the environment and all living beings, especially marginalized populations.
Laura’s environment is filled with violence and the most extreme inhumane tendencies that create a sense of fear that numbs them from questioning the violence, and a subtle acceptance that this is how life is, without considering how things could be different by their own actions.
This mindset embodied by the neighborhood creates hysteria when their current survival system is questioned, by Laura, and the fate of their futures are put into consideration.
When Joanne tattles Laura’s talk with her and she becomes questioned by her father, his lack of acknowledgment to some of her plans for addressing the future shows how he understands Laura more than he is letting on. When he says he wants to show her the hidden spots of resources in the backyard “just in case,” it shows how he respects and understands the pertinence of Laura’s vision and accepts the possible close ending to himself or the neighborhood.
“Another place, another way” (pg. 76)
As Laura continues to grow her vision and destiny for Earthseed, the created name for her way of being/religion, the search and questioning for something more grows. This way of thinking and living is so intangible for others to imagine in Laura’s realm, as well as I can make the connection to the lack of questioning and holistic practices that we currently use in today’s development, education, spirituality, etc. Her idea of “another place, another way”, has me thinking of solutions and routes to take ourselves and to encourage society to envisage. Do the ways in which Laura’s immediate community (the neighborhood) view questioning the norms of society and ignorance towards a transformed way of living reflect the same imposed resistance of our society’s opposition to sustainable and holistic developmental/social/political/economical/etc. practices?
Octavia E. Butler reveals early on in Parable of the Sower how Lauren is critical of organized religion, predominantly Christianity, and how she seeks for something “more” as indicated by the quote, “But what if all that is wrong? What if God is something else altogether” (15)? Lauren also describes the book of Job to be her favorite book of the Bible, and how Job, “Says more about my father’s God in particular and Gods in general than anything else I’ve ever read” (16). Job, the protagonist in the book of Job, underwent just about the most brutal suffering possible for any human through a process of being tested by Satan to see whether or not he truly would be faithful to God until the very end. In congruence, Lauren seems to undergo similar trials with the dying off of her community, family and how she experiences immeasurable pain through her hyper-empathy syndrome. Yet, going much further into the plot, Lauren continues to develop the reader’s understandings of Earthseed, and how the religion aims to succeed in achieving sustainable communities with critical thinking, connection with the land, and self-reliance.
If humans are fundamentally unjust at heart, ultimately fiending for their own survival and selfish desires indicated by Harry questioning the motives of Lauren after she killed an intruder at their campsite by saying, “I feel as though … as though you’re a lie” (195), and with the sheer brutality of Zahra’s daughter being thrown into a burning house and other horrific experiences thereafter on page 168, will the creation of a new free-thinking religion quell issues of violence, climate change, and marginalization of the poor? What is the audience of Lauren’s religion, and how could a religion such as Earthseed shape communities who prioritize sustainability in the real world?
Throughout Parable of the Sower, class divides are greatly emphasized. As Lauren describes the disproportionately of resources it is still evident that there are higher classes in place, even in this futurist apocalyptic setting. It is increasingly becoming more and more difficult for people to afford necessities such as water, food, and shelter. “The cost of water has gone up again… Dad says water now costs several times as much as gasoline. But, except for arsonists and the rich, most people have given up buying gasoline” (18). The strenuous physical and mental pressures this lack of resources is placing on everyone will be exacerbated by the presidential candidate that promises to push back environmental policies, those that do not seem to be in place to begin with. This is eerily similar to our current state as politicians have managed to do away with initiatives that promote environmental conservation. Narratives such as these remind us the urgency and importance to be proactive in our political system, changing it from the inside out. Change itself is Lauren’s god; “God is power— / Infinite / Irresistible / Inexorable / Indifferent. / And yet, God is Pliable— / Trickster / Teacher / Chaos / Clay. God exists to be shaped / God is Change” (25). I can see why in the environment she is growing up in she looks up to Change, the desperate need and want for it. This apocalyptic narrative of the accumulation of environmental degradation by past generations is already showing its nasty face in our current times, as resources are being disproportionately used and abused. Class divides are getting larger and larger in part because of this. The violence shown in this book is also becoming increasingly desensitized today, as the fight for survival ensues. The hysteria described in the book is what we can see being our own future so how can we use narratives such as Parable of the Sower to bring about change in our political systems and powers so that this does not reach this extremity which is already beginning to occur in many parts of the world?
Throughout novel, I have been noticing many subtle references to the media, such as on page 54, “The reports say that it makes watching a fire better than sex. I don’t know whether the reporters are condemning it or advertising it”. Or just in general when they speak about the what the radio has been reporting. It is somewhat unsettling to me how realistic this novel stays to the ‘real world’, where news is still reported and is still regarded as important for everyone to hear. Even among the misery and horror, the news is still listened to and reported on a regular basis. Why do you think this bears significance in Butler’s novel? She represents a world that seems so far away (yet creeping in closer and closer to her representation each day), yet still keeps elements of it so close to our current reality, such as the regularity of news broadcasters. Also, what role does the news have in our current reality and in this dystopia? Especially the quote I noted, where it Lauren questions whether the news is telling stories to warn or inform, or extravagant stories to capture the listener’s fear or entertainment needs of listeners. How important of a role does media play in the telling of stories? In the shaping of history? In the determining of who is marginalized, who is listened to, and whose perspective is most notable?
Burning as growth, god as change (158)
These chapters opened up with the cataclysm and aftermath of the plot picking up-namely, of Lauren’s community burning and shattering. This burning opens her up to some personal growth and community building, and also opens the audience up to the palpability of Earthseed’s core message: that god works as change (158).
This section also shows the importance of keeping your humanity, and the nature of people to take care of each other (despite previous misgivings), and the importance of community. If Lauren or any of the others were by themselves, they probably wouldn’t have lasted long at all. Any of the attackers they’ve encountered were also in groups, solidifying the aspect that “numbers mattered. Friendship mattered” (183) As earthseed, numbers and community matters. “Once or twice each week A gathering of Earthseed is a good and necessary thing. It vents emotion, then quiets the mind. It focuses attention, strengthens purpose, and unifies people.”(214) Much like conventional religions, earthseed is called to congregate. But Lauren’s interpretation breaks down the meaning of congregation down to its core essentials; strengthen yourself, ground your emotions, unify.
God is change, we learn, and change is impersonal “Your stuff isn’t very comforting.” “It is after a while…God isn’t good or evil, doesn’t favor you or hate you, and yet God is better partnered than fought” (221) Here we delve into the inevitability of change, and futility of fighting against that order. “Your God doesn’t care about you at all” “All the more reason to care about myself and others.”
My questions this week are as follows: Can we use the nature of change (for better and for worse) as a catalyst to continue to care for one another, to foster a strengthened community? And can we draw comfort from the impersonal nature of change, knowing that we’re not targeted nor helped by it intentionally?
In Parable of the Sower the town that they live in is surrounded by neighborhood walls that people fear to leave. They don’t like even risking going outside of these walls and think of them as protection. This is not so dissimilar to our society that lives with so many walls and protections around us. There are enormous gated communities were those who think they made it live protected from regular people and the evils of outsiders. Its clear to see these connections in the walls of the book protecting them from the homeless, robbers, and the other evils of their world. But are walls the best way to protect ourselves from these things or are they just a target and a symbol of isolation? In the ancient times city walls were used for protection but all of those cities have fallen. Is there a better way to protect ourselves through cooperation rather than banding into tribes and protecting ourselves with walls?
“The Parable of the Sower” is a journal written by the narrator Lauren which tells the story of a possible apocalyptic future in the United States. This future is scary, violent, bleak and disintegrating for the United States and people are looking even as far as Mars to get away. One thing that is very evident in this book is that Lauren is a deeply religious person. For being so young, she is very devoted to her spirituality and is strong in her beliefs, maybe because she was raised by a Baptist minister. She actually feels so strongly that she created her very own religion! This belief system is called Earthseed and is centered around the idea that “God is change”. This religion is curious because it sort of provides a more tangible way to look at change than other religions. It is about accepting that change will come, and that it will not always be kind, but working to shape our world and through that, shaping change. This system of belief creates a situation where instead of putting faith into “God”, people are encouraged to put faith into eachother and themselves. Their faith comes from the sense of community surrounding their shared commitment to live a life committed to positive, compassionate and constructive change.
My question is, do you believe religion should require a more active role of it’s participants to prove commitment? Should religion be about shaping change and having faith in community/self? Or is religion a place that should be reserved for putting faith into something far less tangible?
Parable of the Sower explores many themes and motifs: race, class, climate catastrophe, politics, and poverty (among many others). One of the most prominent is religion/spirituality. Lauren, daughter of a preacher, struggles in the beginning with her own religious identity. She doesn’t quite subscribe to the Baptist was in which she was raised, but cannot tell her family, especially her father, for fear of how they would react. She quietly forms her own religion of sorts– Earthseed. Throughout the course of the novel, as Lauren navigates the tragedies around her, Earthseed develops and becomes stronger, even more important to her. It becomes all she has, eventually.
On pages 195 and 196, she shares passages from her journal with Harry, and introduces him to Earthseed. Later on, on page 221, she is sharing with Travis. One thing she says stands out to me: “He had asked me what the point of Earthseed is. Why personify change by calling it God? Since change is just an idea, why not call it that? Just say change is important. “Because after a while, it won’t be important!” I told him. “People forget ideas. They’re more likely to remember God–especially when they’re scared or desperate.” I find this interesting in the context that in times of desperation, disaster or crisis, people are very quick to go to religion. Certain traumas can strengthen one’s religion or even make them lose it completely. Especially in the United States, religion can be as polarizing as politics; it can be used to justify or explain acts of immorality or it is what we turn to in times of need.
How is Lauren’s relationship with religion reminiscent of maybe your own? Of that of society? Do you think she would ever lose touch with it if the crisis she lives in becomes terrible enough?
Spirituality seems to be a major theme of Parable of The Sower. Lauren not only references her own God that she believes in, but emphasizes other’s beliefs as well. In chapter 3 she makes her first explanation of her spiritual beliefs that she has previously referenced. From my understanding, she believes God is just our reality which we have a prominent role in shaping. She constantly references God as Change and says that this is also apparent in every other God that people around her are worshiping. She references Ecclesiastes, a book of the Bible that emphasizes the idea of seasonality. She also references Buddhism and the emphasis of suffering is only our delusions of permanence. In some ways I think she views herself as chosen or prophetic because of how she sees things that others do not see. In a society that appears to literally be dying and hopeless, it seems a lot of people rely on their spirituality for guidance. It seems though that maybe this is an act of complacency to not deal with the state of how screwed up everything actually is. Although Lauren’s family is baptist and the Bible teaches compassion, they discourage her hyper empathy. Lauren is afraid because she sees her God as change and feels physically moved to act and be apart of this change in someway.
Spirituality/religion has driven individuals and therefore society in many different directions, positive and negative. In our society, where climate change, mental illness, poverty, ect are plaguing humans and the environment, how can belief systems be a positive or negative influence? How have they already played a role in these issues? Can the notion of constant acceptance of change drive those to complacency or action?
When Lauren and her father have the conversation about what she said to Joanna, the following exchange happens. “If you can think of ways to entertain them and teach them at the same time, you’ll get your information out. And all without making anyone look down. Look down….? Into the abyss Daughter. But I wasn’t in trouble anymore. Not at the moment. You’ve just noticed the abyss, he continued. The adults in this community have been balancing at the edge of it for more years than you’ve been alive. I got up went over to him and took his hand. It’s getting worse, Dad. I know. Maybe it’s time to look down. Time to get some hand and foot holds before we just get pushed in.”
I can relate to Lauren’s eye-opening, as I have progressed through college I (and my classmates) have begun to see the abyss. Whether it is fascism or climate change, there seems to be an abyss right around the corner, waiting to happened upon. But like Lauren’s father said it is hard to talk to people about it without them losing themselves to fear. Is this fall inevitable, is it the mentality of preparing for the end unjust? Would that be redirecting and wasting precious energy and will marginalized communities get left behind in the absence of resources that allow them to prepare for some crazy event?
I would venture to say that Parable of the Sower has to be one of the most interesting books that we’ve read this semester. What is so particularly interesting is the very clear discussion and evaluation of religion and the creation of a new religion by our main protagonist, Lauren, as a result of being raised in a Baptist environment. It’s not difficult to observe Lauren’s skepticism of Christianity and this can be exemplified by one of the verses of Earthseed placed at the beginning of chapter 4 on pg. 31 which states “A victim of God may, Through learning adaptation, Become a partner of God, A victim of God may, Through forethought and planning, Become a shaper of God. Or a victim of God may, Through shortsightedness and fear, Remain God’s victim, God’s plaything, God’s prey.” This verse isn’t necessarily damning Christianity as a religion, but it holds conflicting teachings to the religion. I find myself more set on discussion of religion in the book because of my own faith in Christianity and how that plays into my reading of the book. This leads into my question of how would the devoutly religious go about reading this book? Can the Earthseed teachings be telling or reveal something of your own religious beliefs?
Many feminist theorists write theory through their own personal experiences- people like Audre Lorde and Gloria Anzaldua. The popular phrase “the personal is political” comes up for me when reading Parable of the Sower as I hear so many points of identity for Butler come through her work when she talks about gender, race, and class. I read it as almost a journal of her most sacred thoughts, and as her thinking through what she wants to see in community, while also addressing the complexities of community. Her voice comes through especially on page 125: “Clarity and truth will be plenty, if I can only achieve them. If it happens that there are other people outside somewhere preaching my truth, I’ll join them. Otherwise, I’ll adapt where I must, take what opportunities I can find or make, hang on, gather students, and teach”. Here is sounds like she is calling for people to take her ideas up and expand on them.
In what ways can writing about politics through fiction and/or personal experience by strategic or not? What effects can science fiction in particular achieve as opposed to other fictions?
Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” is such a powerful book. When I picture a real post-apocalyptic scenario, I imagine a world much like the setting of this book. Water is a rare and expensive commodity that can only be accessed mainly by the rich and powerful. Rain is also rare, and some people’s only source of water. Governments are spending billions of dollars on missions to Mars that are not only unsuccessful, but fatal as well. Television is no longer accessible on a broad scale, so most people get their news from radio. People are dependent on drugs that make them want to light fires, and destruction by fire is all too common. There’s some sort of political campaign approaching, but no one really bothers to vote anymore since both parties promote slavery (in one way or another) and the fact that day to day struggles have become much harder than they used to be. As a result of the lack of police presence in the town, civilians must arm themselves and practice shooting regularly since conditions in their neighborhoods have turned violent. Although this novel is filled with depressing stories, I’ve enjoyed reading it so far because of how interesting and unique Octavia Butler’s science fiction is.
Question: Lauren’s hyper empathy syndrome causes her to feel pain when she sees other people or animals in pain. Why do you think this is the case? What causes her to feel physical pain?
Parable of the Sower describes a feeling of security within a wall, a security that is brought on by fear. Much like our society today, fear is a key element in what the government uses to drive people behind barriers and promote the idea that we need walls to prevent exposure to outside influence and danger. Preparation and acknowledgment of dangers and possibilities is a reasonable fear, but cutting ourselves off from the outside is not a reasonable solution. Understanding the possibilities of danger and the effects of outside influence is more useful than hiding from it.
Does our society compare to the group of people in the parable? How does fear of danger and other people influence our solutions to that fear? Are we less connected as a whole because of our ability to cut off from one another?
In Chapter 10 of Parable of the Sower, Lauren’s brother, Keith, was brutally murdered after he moved out of his family’s home. He chose to move out because he felt as though he was not allowed to be the man he so desperately wanted to be, even though he was only thirteen. He left the gated community after stealing Cory’s key and gun and was living in an abandoned building with other people who were thieves. He was allowed to stay with them because he was teaching them how to read and how to use the technology they had stolen from others. One scene in the book that left its mark on me was the story of Keith murdering the man who was trying to walk to Alaska and stealing all of his money and belongings. Personally, I had so skip the rest of that segment of the chapter, I felt as though I related to Lauren’s hyperempathy.
My question is, do you agree with Keith running away from his family to be on his own? Are his actions justified because of his need to “survive?”
In Laurens small community there’s very little religious diversity. aside from one other family that practices polygamy. Lauren’s rejection of her fathers religion and her concepts of god as change and not a guardian or punisher. Her view takes the locus of control away from an outside source and moves it to herself. she sees god as growth and the only constant is change.
How do your views of god as change or god as guardian, impact your outlook on our current environmental and social crisis? which view gives you more comfort? Is making positive change in the world right now a greater act of spirituality than just prayer?
Lauren’s personal struggle with what makes a religion true or valid resonates with my own religious experience in many ways. My family is also very involved in the christian church and I have always struggled with what aspects of their faith I see as true and valid and would like to carry into my own life, and what components are harmful and I need to leave behind. On page twenty six, Lauren asks herself, “Is any of this real?” although she is sure of her view of God as a constantly changing, powerful, not necessarily benevolent force she wonders why no one else believes what she does because to her it is so clear. For some reason, we believe that for our religious or spiritual views to be “real” they must be shared with others. As I have gotten older, I do not believe this is the case. Because all of our lived experiences vary so much and these experiences inform our worldview and mindset and consequentially what we think about spirituality and the divine. I think that Lauren’s religious views make a lot of sense because of the type of life she has lived. She sees god as ever changing because there has been so much change in her life, she sees god as a force capable of victimization because she herself has felt victimized by aspects of her life, etc. I think that this is what makes her religion valid, it is birthed out of careful consideration of the things she has seen in her own life, it is a tool used to make sense of her world. This is why she does not connect with her fathers religion, because it does not resonate with her lived experience.
In Chapter 2 of Parable of the Sower, Lauren talks about the day she was baptized. She gives us her thoughts on her fathers god and describes in detail what the journey is like on the way to the church she will be baptized at. Butler gives us a scary look at what the future could potentially hold for the world. Outside the walls of Lauren’s neighborhood, we get detailed descriptions of what life and the people are like. “We rode past people stretched out, sleeping on the sidewalks, and a few just waking up, but they paid no attention to us. I saw at least three people who weren’t going to wake up again, ever. One of them was headless. I caught myself looking around for the head. After that, I tried not to look around at all” (page 9) Lauren also describes the families and neighborhoods that aren’t walled off. Many of the houses were vandalized or burned down. Her hyper empathy makes it especially hard on her to see these people in such pain, but it isn’t safe to stop and try to help these people. The chapter ends with Lauren thinking about faith. She wonders if people can still have faith after all the death and pain, specifically after the storm in the gulf that killed more than 700 people. She is very independent of her thoughts on God. She ends chapter 2 by saying, “What if God is something else altogether?” (page 16), conforming that the god she believes in is very different then the god her father believes in.
Question: Is this an accurate description of what our future could be? Would we handle it better than what is described in chapter 2, or could it be worse? Are there steps we can take as a society today to prevent such a divide between people if society falls apart?
“Parable of the Sower” takes place in 2024 in which Lauren narrates life on an earth ravaged by climate change and corporate greed. Through several years of journal entries, Lauren sheds light on a multitude of issues in this future society, including vast wealth disparities, crime and violence, sexism, racism, extreme weather, disease, and politics. In this world, water is more expensive than gasoline, anyone who must venture outside of their gates goes in armed groups, and the roads are scattered with corpses. Olivia Butler is extremely successful in painting a dreary and simply terrifying future on the assumption that we continue business as usual today. I relate strongly to Lauren’s frustration upon learning the “truth” and wanting to warn others to prepare, as well as the typical response of ignorance and impossibility from others. Between her own experiences and what others tell her, Lauren struggles to accept her father’s God and instead creates her own religion, Earthseed, that is her truth for how the world works. The philosophy of Earthseed is idyllic and optimistic, but I’m skeptical of her belief that “the destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the stars” (77). I find this to be similar to a new, perhaps slightly abstracted, version of historical and contemporary colonialism–the belief that we, as humans, have the natural right to go to and claim what isn’t ours. I do like her idea of God being change, because that truly is the only constant.
This story makes me feel pessimistic about the future, to be honest, possibly because I find it to be extremely plausible. When the world finally succumbs to the pressures of climate change, those who are already struggling in our system will be the most affected, and wealth disparities will continue to increase. Are humans inherently fatally damaging to themselves? If we persist in ignoring the implications of climate change, will we ever be able to come together in a world full of hatred and violence as depicted in this story? Since climate refugee stories and scientific facts are largely ignored or dismissed, could this novel be effective in inspiring the sense of urgency that we feel as environmentalists among the general public? Does the novels critique of Christianity risk its effectiveness, particularly among older conservatives, and does that matter? What role does religion (any) have in the fight against climate change? Can we, and is it necessary, to separate the two?
In this section of Parable of the Sower, Lauren focuses on religion and questions the beliefs of her community. She is terrified to speak about her own beliefs, which demonstrates how her community’s fears are suppressed by their religion. This is typical even today, people turn to religion for comfort all the time. The difference in this universe is how afraid the people in Parable of the Sower are; the only way they know how to cope is to cling even more tightly to the image of God. They use their belief in God to build a barrier between themselves and the horrors that exist beyond their gates. How does Octavia Butler critique religion – specifically Christianity – in Parable of the Sower? What point is she making about the correlation between attachment to religion and the inability to progress?
“In order to rise // From its own ashes // A phoenix // First // Must // Burn.”
This verse from Earthseed: The Books of the Living precedes Chapter 14, the chapter in which Lauren sees her old life in her neighborhood go up in literal flames. This verse seems to foreshadow the chapter well, with the metaphor of the phoenix representing Lauren. The phoenix, as a metaphor for the cycle of life and death, and creation and destruction also ties in well with the book’s theme of fire as a catalyst for change. With that being said, how does the drug Pyro, and its users fit into this metaphor? With one of the tenets of Earthseed being “God is Change”, and fire representing change, how do the users of Pyro, and their obsession, and arguable worship, of fire fit into Butlers critiques of religion?
Beautifully written throughout this novel are poignant aspects about where current aspects of our culture lead us, and how societal change is much more complex than technological change. Lauren shows us the violence of her world, economic peril, resource degradation, classism, and religious spirituality. A perfect plot choice made by Octavia Butler is Lauren’s hyper-empathy, in that readers themselves must also experience her influx of feelings, both physical and mental, drawing the reader to care for this world in a way that often is not felt in most stories. The destructive cycle of humanity is shown through the architecture and community structure of this world; walls, social unrest, slums, violence, factories, desperation, etc. A large issue found in the story as well as in our current world is a sense of powerlessness that comes with the control of basic human necessities and the control of our vision of the world (through governmental institutions and the monetary investment of institutions that do not speak for our needs). With the lack of power comes fear, and with fear comes hatred. So continues the cycle that reinforce a failing society. As she states in chapter 13, “People are setting fires to get rid of whomever they dislike from personal enemies to anyone who looks or sounds foreign or racially different. People are setting fires because they’re frustrated, angry, hopeless. They have no power to improve their lives, but they have the power to make others even more miserable. And the only way to prove to yourself that you have power is to use it.” (Butler 143).
I am particularly interested in the elements of religion in relation to societal structure and connectedness to the environment. The views which Earthseed procure are starkly different from orthodox religion. For example, repeatedly, Lauren states that God is change, the unfolding of ecological relationships, the butterfly effect of each action, the symbiosis of countless beings cohabiting a world of chaos. Rather than a human entity bearing a constitution of rights and wrongs and creating a plan of damnation or salvation, this is a God of impartial power; this salvation can be found in underlying the balance between global understanding, empathy, and conscious actions. When we forget that the power within us is the power found naturally within the world, when we see that it is the same and that we can care for it as we do ourselves, is when we can reach God.
How important is spirituality for the efficacy of our development goals? Should this be incorporated more in our classes and studies? How could Earthseed go wrong for the society we see in this story?
Octavia Butler’s novel intrigued me, made me feel unsettled, scared me and inspired me. Parable of the Sower holds the balance of “not too far in the distance” with “out of this world” fears.
The first half of the book held so much of the chaos, fear and tragedy of a world riddled by climate disaster, privatization of public spaces, and corrupt governments. It made me look at the real world around myself in a new lense. The raging California wildfires and the distribution of who was impacted most severely, the sight of inmates cleaning up trash on the highway,the current administration’s initiatives, in a vastly different, and more skeptic way. How far off of this twisted world are we?
Octavia Butler’s cautionary tale rings so deeply true. The second half of the novel felt full of progress, and less carnage. The latter chapters looked at Earthseed in more depth, and the vision of Lauren Oya’s community.
What would the second half of the book looked like if Lauren’s family would have moved to Olivar? Would she have been able to gain an Earthseed following, due to desperation? Would her family have survived, therefore stifling her religious freedom? How would Lauren have reacted for trading in her freedom for her safety?
SD 3800 Voices in Sustainable Development 
Throughout “Parable of the Sower” Lauren and her father are constantly batting between being prepared for disaster and not wanting to stir fear and panic. Lauren, being a realist and seeing where the country lies in peril wants to be prepared for the worst. She also sees the benefit in preparing others for the worst, when it comes. Her father understands the situation that they are living in but for fear of scaring the community stays silent on pressing issues. During a conversation about preparing for disaster, Lauren’s father explains “These things frighten people. It’s best not to talk about them.” And Lauren responds with “But, Dad, that’s like…like ignoring a fire in the living room because we’re all in the kitchen, and, besides house fires are too scary to talk about.” p. 63
Do you think that in today’s political climate (and environmentally changing climate) that some people are Laurens and others are her father? Meaning that do you think some people face these challenging, pressing issues head on and others ignore them for fear of causing a panic? Do you think there is a truth to both of these stances?
“I belong to this earth. Soon my bones become earth. My spirit has gone back to my country..my mother.” – Bill Neidjie
For most Americans, to reflect on homeplace in a similar context to Neidjie would be an unfamiliar exercise. Few people today can announce themselves as someone from somewhere, at least not in the same sense Bill Neidjie describes as he speaks to connection to country and place growing up in the east alligator river of Australia. Very few people alive today have spent a lifetime in the same valley, working alongside the people they knew as children, as well as being intimately connected to the soil, plants, and animals both physically and spiritually.
“Now my children hang on to this story. ..I hang on to this story all my life. My children can’t lose it. This is law, this country, these people, all the same… Gagudju.” -Bill Neidjie
I feel what Neidjie describes as “this story”, in a sense, is similar to what we call culture. For the Gagidju I see (at least from Neisjie’s writings) a story that is based on an eternal moment of creating, of being in deep connection to the land and place. If story and culture is an evolutionary adaption we humans have developed for the purpose of survival in our specific environment.. than is this culture (western culture) one that is largely driven by hyperconsumerism what we want to pass down to our descendants?
Can or should we in a socially and ethically minded way learn from peoples in that past who knew how to connect with the land in a “sustainable way” and integrate it into our current modality?
In SD, we are in search of a transitional culture towards a culture that fosters a sense sus. land management practice’s etc, however, is Bill Neidhjie telling us that the spiritual connection to the land of equal or greater importance?
The Parable of Sower is almost journal like in how it is written. Immediately, I recognize the amount of religion and spirituality that takes place in this book. I like how the story starts off with a dream interpretation, because it shows the in-depth personal evaluation Lauren has going on in her mind. She discusses having a God of her own in Chapter 2 “I let my father baptize me in all three names of that God who isn’t mine any more. My God has another name” (Butler, Page 7). Lauren sits back quietly while obeying her father’s religious wishes, but she has her own opinions. Being the preacher’s daughter has its stipulations, especially living in a concentrated area. I think this plays a part into why she argues with her father a bit, also she has a leadership personality that would be one to challenge authority. Butlers fictional painting of the type of characters walking around a post-apocalyptic type America gives a very dark view the possible realistic future, no resources, and humans that become almost zombie-like because of the chaos. Laurens hyper empathy plays a big issue when out and about in this chaos because she can feel these peoples’ pain as if it was her own. Her leadership skills really show when she starts her own religion, Earthseed, intending that you can grow anywhere.
Question: How do the people keep the trusting bonds between everyone living together in the compound walls while amidst chaos?
In Chapter 3 of Parable of the Sower, Lauren writes in her diary about an Alicia Leal who is an astronaut who was killed on the latest mission to Mars. On one side you have the government spending money on things such as space travel. On the other side, you have Lauren and her siblings wearing dirty clothes in order to keep themselves safe outside the wall. Another point that was made in this chapter was that gasoline is cheaper than water and water prices have gone up again. Lauren says that no one uses gasoline but arsonists and the rich. Towards the end of Chapter 3, it is made known that Christopher Donner one the presidency and plans to end the space program and also plans on suspending environmental and labor protection law. In this story, society has shifted to become more primitive in the sense that they don’t use electricity, they eat non-traditional foods, and require protection to go out into the world. On the other hand, the government and technology have continued to advance through space exploration and other means. For example, TVs are considered ancient, but every family still has a radio.
This story made me think of what would happen if events like this come to reality. Do you think the current climate crisis can result in something like this or even something much worse?
Throughout Parable of the Sower, Bulter emphasizes the spirituality of change, even stating that God and change are the same thing multiple times.
“Any Change may bear seeds of benefit. Seek them out. Any Change may bear seeds of harm. Beware. God is infinitely malleable. God is Change” (116).
Change is so important that it is capitalized like the name of God, because it is God. In the beginning of the novel, Lauren is surrounded by her close family as well as a community who believes that their current way of living will continue indefinitely. She alone believes that a change in times is going to occur and begins preparing and teaching students at the school survival methods. I resonate spiritually with Lauren and this entire novel. Our Earth is so powerful, yet is always changing.
“Consider: whether you’re a human being, an insect, a microbe, or a stone, this verse is true. All that you touch, you Change. All that you Change, Changes you. The only lasting truth is Change. God is Change” (79).
If we use the analogy of the history of the Earth in 24 hours, all of the human race would be seen in the last 1.5 seconds, with society as we know it in the last 0.02 seconds. Yet, many people in our society believes our current capitalistic way of living to continue indefinitely.
My questions are with our current world problems being so scarily similar to Octavia Butler’s dystopian timeframe, should we change our way of living before it results in the extreme global crisis she identifies in this novel? How will we prepare for the Change or apocalyptic end of society as we know it?
In Parable of the Sower, one common theme is the desire for things to return how they used to be, basically a return to “the good old days” of 20th century America. This idea, mainly espoused by adults or older people who remember when California was normal, contrasts with Lauren’s exploration of change and how it relates to her life/religion. She is always adapting to new things she notices in her environment, an attribute that is especially apparent when she talks to Joanne about defending themselves and preparing for an emergency. When talking of the new president, Lauren says he’s “like a symbol of the past for us to hold onto as we’re pushed into the future. He’s nothing… But having him there [will] make people feel that the country, the culture that they grew up with is still here” (56). While the youth of Robledo are more willing to change, they find themselves restrained (at least in the beginning) by the confines of socially constructed dynamics and a literal wall. How does this book, while extreme in its setting, relate to other real-life movements instigated by youth? Despite being fiction, what valuable information can we gather from Lauren’s plight to change her society?
Octavia Butler examines several layers of society throughout her plot in “Parable of the Sower”. Some of her major themes are centered around racism, gender roles, environmental degradation, education, classism, violence, and political organization. Many of these themes are observed by Lauren in her journal which is the communicative link between the world Lauren is living in and the audience. Lauren’s main objective in the book is to learn as much as she can in order to survive in the world as well as create, share, and understand her perception of god and what that means to her. The psychological complexities portrayed through a variety of characters, and within the community itself, speak to the destruction of society by humanity itself. Each of the layers that Butler addresses, is acknowledged to be the fruit of human efforts and human conflicts. “Or a victim of god may, through shortsightedness and fear, remain god’s victim, god’s plaything, god’s prey (32).” This quote reflects Lauren perception that people must grip reality and be adaptable in order to move forward and survive in the harsh conditions that her world lives in.
Desperation flourishes amidst the contrasting and paradoxical nature of humanity and becomes exemplified through factors such as environmental degradation, inequality, and social unrest. Knowing the apocalyptic nature of the book, is there one core theme that ought to be considered more closely than others? Despite a lack of explanation of how things began to go wrong in Lauren’s society (there is often mention of “the good ol’ days”), are there particular values addressed or confronted in the book that seem to hold more power/responsibility for the societal outcome?
Parable of the Sower, a novel by Octavia E. Butler, tells the story of Lauren Olamina, a fifteen year old girl who grows in a dystopia set in the near future, where water is more expensive than gasoline and people walk around armed much of the time. She is cynical and doubtful about the religion of her father, a Baptist minister, who insists on her being baptized. Although she consents, she later reflects on the notion of God, who she interprets to be different than that of her father. While she had always been taught that God was an omnipotent. omnipresent being with a master plan for everything in the world, Lauren believes the true God is change, which not only shapes mankind, but is continually molded by humanity’s influence as well. This leads her to forego her father’s religion in favor of one of her own design, one which observes and considers the only truly omnipresent force: change.
Considering Lauren’s views and skepticisms of Christianity, do you think these opinions are fueled by her criticism of a higher, all powerful force, or an underlying suspicion of authority? If raised under a different religion, specifically one that is not monotheistic, how might this affect her opinions?
I’m very interested in Lauren’s hyper-empathy – especially in how it’s dismissed as “fake” or “delusional” emotion, despite the very real emotional and physical impacts that it has on her. There seems to be a pattern with the protagonists of the books that we’re reading – Tayo also seems to be highly empathetic. What can these characteristics and the themes surrounding them say about the “classics” that we’re reading? What do empathy and emotion have to do with sustainable development?
What’s interesting about Octavia Butler’s story parable of the sower is the power of telling a story. This is seemingly the same message that was portrayed in ceremony but for me relies more on individual willpower and self determination. Society tends to look at the bad things or when presented with a situation of non inclusion would retaliate to hate or getting away from this situation. Butler found herself in situations where she wasn’t included. She had no story or character to relate with. Instead of complaining about this I find it both inspiring and refreshing to see she took it upon herself to create a new story and write herself into the plot. To me this is something that can be taken into the future when wanting to change or inspire change. Chapter 7 starts with a quote from lauren, “We are all Godseed, but no more or less so than any other aspect of the universe, Godseed is all there is- all that changes. Earthseed is all that spreads Earthlife to new earths. The universe is Godseed. Only we are Earthseed. And the Destiny of the Earthseed is to take root among the stars.” This is a decentralization of power and its given to all of us. I wonder if this is rooted in Laurens hyperempathy and is it caring to much or is it the caring that’s needed to promote change?
Bruhh this book is absolutely brutal! Especially for us SD students. It’s almost like if we “continue with business as usual” then this is the apocalypse that we will inevitably face. However, it also raises a lot of interesting questions on philosophy, ethics, and religion along the way. Lauren starts the process of creating her own religion throughout the course of the book, and I can’t help but think back at Travis’ line of questions as he tries to understand her main tenants. Specifically the question “A God like yours wouldn’t have a heaven for people to hope for, so what is there?” (pg. 222). Although Lauren’s religion is not about pandering to peoples’ fears and giving them a nice message to comfort them. He religion is only concerned with truth. Honestly, in my opinion, this is an ideology that could very easily be twisted towards a fascist mindset; but what ideology doesn’t have that problem? I’m all for her ideas about change being an inevitable process which you should use as an opportunity to shape what is to come. I only have a problem with her ideas that Earthseed, her religion, “is to take root among the stars” (pg. 222). Lauren is a VERY smart girl, which is why of the only flawed tenants of her new religion is the subject of my weekly question:
Why doesn’t Lauren see that this endless pursuit of development and improving technological capacity is one of the MAIN reasons her society is in its current horrific predicament. Even if her religion catches on like wildfire, it may help people push through and live their lives with more intention, but if Earthseed is aiming for the stars, then the Earth’s resources will still be pumped dry under the hope that humans can find another planet to exploit in the future (and thus continue this horrible cycle until the next apocalypse that is destined to happen).
Like if her religion caught on today, you wouldn’t have people saying stupid stuff like “Make America Great Again”, but you would still have corporate assholes exploiting workers and the environment because it is how they decide to “shape the clay” that is God in the Earthseed religion.
I have always had a fascination with apocalyptic type books and scenarios like the one portrayed in “Parable of the Sower”. I also recently finished the book “One Second After” recently and highly recommend to anyone reading this. I think as an SD student this topic interests me because we realize the Earth is heading in a direction of environmental catastrophe. I like how in this story the United States continues to hang onto the Space Program. Our main character, Lauren, looks up to the astronaut who died on Mars and the Space program itself seems to be the last country wide program to survive the catastrophe. Lauren looks up to the astronauts, partially, because they are able to escape the terrible reality of the United States. Drugs, violence, and robbery are just a few problems plaguing the country and Robledo. The book paints a dark picture of high water prices, suicide, and killings. It describes “last week Mrs Sims son, his five kids, his wife, her brother, and her brothers three kids dies in a house fire- an arson fire” (23). The first few pages definitely paint the near future as a very dark place. The environmental degradation has caused this suffering while Presidential candidates promise to push back already non existent environmental policies. Although this is a work of fiction for me at least I think we see a trend towards lacking resources and the crazy President. To many people this future may seem absurd but is it actually? I believe the environment is exploited immensely and this kind of disaster is possible in our lifetime even if many people do not think so.
The “Parable of the Sower” focuses on the apocalyptic era of the United States. It is told from the perspective of a girl, Lauren, journalling. The story strongly aligns with the ideas of religion and change, with them both overlapping at points. This story highlights how the community she is living in still values religion highly, her dad is a baptist preacher but then Lauren does not align with his values. She creates her own religion, one where her values align better with. In this time of apocalyptic ideas, where no-one is truly safe in any community but she finds her God that she values. In chapter three she writes down what she believes which is “God is power— Infinite, Irresistible, Inexorable, Indifferent. And yet, God is Pliable— Trickster, Teacher, Chaos, Clay. Gos exists to be shaped. God is Change.”. This quote resonates the idea that even with all the change that has occurred in their world people and beliefs have to change to align with the things that are newly prevalent in society.
How can an apocalyptic view of a society invoke the thought of the need for change in todays world? Can this apocalyptic story make people think of the consequences to the actions that they are making?
Reading this book has really visualized to me what a potential threat we actually are on path to that could mimic what we are reading. Our globalized world is growing more numb and passive to visible and invisible violence which hurts the environment and all living beings, especially marginalized populations.
Laura’s environment is filled with violence and the most extreme inhumane tendencies that create a sense of fear that numbs them from questioning the violence, and a subtle acceptance that this is how life is, without considering how things could be different by their own actions.
This mindset embodied by the neighborhood creates hysteria when their current survival system is questioned, by Laura, and the fate of their futures are put into consideration.
When Joanne tattles Laura’s talk with her and she becomes questioned by her father, his lack of acknowledgment to some of her plans for addressing the future shows how he understands Laura more than he is letting on. When he says he wants to show her the hidden spots of resources in the backyard “just in case,” it shows how he respects and understands the pertinence of Laura’s vision and accepts the possible close ending to himself or the neighborhood.
“Another place, another way” (pg. 76)
As Laura continues to grow her vision and destiny for Earthseed, the created name for her way of being/religion, the search and questioning for something more grows. This way of thinking and living is so intangible for others to imagine in Laura’s realm, as well as I can make the connection to the lack of questioning and holistic practices that we currently use in today’s development, education, spirituality, etc. Her idea of “another place, another way”, has me thinking of solutions and routes to take ourselves and to encourage society to envisage. Do the ways in which Laura’s immediate community (the neighborhood) view questioning the norms of society and ignorance towards a transformed way of living reflect the same imposed resistance of our society’s opposition to sustainable and holistic developmental/social/political/economical/etc. practices?
Octavia E. Butler reveals early on in Parable of the Sower how Lauren is critical of organized religion, predominantly Christianity, and how she seeks for something “more” as indicated by the quote, “But what if all that is wrong? What if God is something else altogether” (15)? Lauren also describes the book of Job to be her favorite book of the Bible, and how Job, “Says more about my father’s God in particular and Gods in general than anything else I’ve ever read” (16). Job, the protagonist in the book of Job, underwent just about the most brutal suffering possible for any human through a process of being tested by Satan to see whether or not he truly would be faithful to God until the very end. In congruence, Lauren seems to undergo similar trials with the dying off of her community, family and how she experiences immeasurable pain through her hyper-empathy syndrome. Yet, going much further into the plot, Lauren continues to develop the reader’s understandings of Earthseed, and how the religion aims to succeed in achieving sustainable communities with critical thinking, connection with the land, and self-reliance.
If humans are fundamentally unjust at heart, ultimately fiending for their own survival and selfish desires indicated by Harry questioning the motives of Lauren after she killed an intruder at their campsite by saying, “I feel as though … as though you’re a lie” (195), and with the sheer brutality of Zahra’s daughter being thrown into a burning house and other horrific experiences thereafter on page 168, will the creation of a new free-thinking religion quell issues of violence, climate change, and marginalization of the poor? What is the audience of Lauren’s religion, and how could a religion such as Earthseed shape communities who prioritize sustainability in the real world?
Throughout Parable of the Sower, class divides are greatly emphasized. As Lauren describes the disproportionately of resources it is still evident that there are higher classes in place, even in this futurist apocalyptic setting. It is increasingly becoming more and more difficult for people to afford necessities such as water, food, and shelter. “The cost of water has gone up again… Dad says water now costs several times as much as gasoline. But, except for arsonists and the rich, most people have given up buying gasoline” (18). The strenuous physical and mental pressures this lack of resources is placing on everyone will be exacerbated by the presidential candidate that promises to push back environmental policies, those that do not seem to be in place to begin with. This is eerily similar to our current state as politicians have managed to do away with initiatives that promote environmental conservation. Narratives such as these remind us the urgency and importance to be proactive in our political system, changing it from the inside out. Change itself is Lauren’s god; “God is power— / Infinite / Irresistible / Inexorable / Indifferent. / And yet, God is Pliable— / Trickster / Teacher / Chaos / Clay. God exists to be shaped / God is Change” (25). I can see why in the environment she is growing up in she looks up to Change, the desperate need and want for it. This apocalyptic narrative of the accumulation of environmental degradation by past generations is already showing its nasty face in our current times, as resources are being disproportionately used and abused. Class divides are getting larger and larger in part because of this. The violence shown in this book is also becoming increasingly desensitized today, as the fight for survival ensues. The hysteria described in the book is what we can see being our own future so how can we use narratives such as Parable of the Sower to bring about change in our political systems and powers so that this does not reach this extremity which is already beginning to occur in many parts of the world?
Throughout novel, I have been noticing many subtle references to the media, such as on page 54, “The reports say that it makes watching a fire better than sex. I don’t know whether the reporters are condemning it or advertising it”. Or just in general when they speak about the what the radio has been reporting. It is somewhat unsettling to me how realistic this novel stays to the ‘real world’, where news is still reported and is still regarded as important for everyone to hear. Even among the misery and horror, the news is still listened to and reported on a regular basis. Why do you think this bears significance in Butler’s novel? She represents a world that seems so far away (yet creeping in closer and closer to her representation each day), yet still keeps elements of it so close to our current reality, such as the regularity of news broadcasters. Also, what role does the news have in our current reality and in this dystopia? Especially the quote I noted, where it Lauren questions whether the news is telling stories to warn or inform, or extravagant stories to capture the listener’s fear or entertainment needs of listeners. How important of a role does media play in the telling of stories? In the shaping of history? In the determining of who is marginalized, who is listened to, and whose perspective is most notable?
Burning as growth, god as change (158)
These chapters opened up with the cataclysm and aftermath of the plot picking up-namely, of Lauren’s community burning and shattering. This burning opens her up to some personal growth and community building, and also opens the audience up to the palpability of Earthseed’s core message: that god works as change (158).
This section also shows the importance of keeping your humanity, and the nature of people to take care of each other (despite previous misgivings), and the importance of community. If Lauren or any of the others were by themselves, they probably wouldn’t have lasted long at all. Any of the attackers they’ve encountered were also in groups, solidifying the aspect that “numbers mattered. Friendship mattered” (183) As earthseed, numbers and community matters. “Once or twice each week A gathering of Earthseed is a good and necessary thing. It vents emotion, then quiets the mind. It focuses attention, strengthens purpose, and unifies people.”(214) Much like conventional religions, earthseed is called to congregate. But Lauren’s interpretation breaks down the meaning of congregation down to its core essentials; strengthen yourself, ground your emotions, unify.
God is change, we learn, and change is impersonal “Your stuff isn’t very comforting.” “It is after a while…God isn’t good or evil, doesn’t favor you or hate you, and yet God is better partnered than fought” (221) Here we delve into the inevitability of change, and futility of fighting against that order. “Your God doesn’t care about you at all” “All the more reason to care about myself and others.”
My questions this week are as follows: Can we use the nature of change (for better and for worse) as a catalyst to continue to care for one another, to foster a strengthened community? And can we draw comfort from the impersonal nature of change, knowing that we’re not targeted nor helped by it intentionally?
In Parable of the Sower the town that they live in is surrounded by neighborhood walls that people fear to leave. They don’t like even risking going outside of these walls and think of them as protection. This is not so dissimilar to our society that lives with so many walls and protections around us. There are enormous gated communities were those who think they made it live protected from regular people and the evils of outsiders. Its clear to see these connections in the walls of the book protecting them from the homeless, robbers, and the other evils of their world. But are walls the best way to protect ourselves from these things or are they just a target and a symbol of isolation? In the ancient times city walls were used for protection but all of those cities have fallen. Is there a better way to protect ourselves through cooperation rather than banding into tribes and protecting ourselves with walls?
“The Parable of the Sower” is a journal written by the narrator Lauren which tells the story of a possible apocalyptic future in the United States. This future is scary, violent, bleak and disintegrating for the United States and people are looking even as far as Mars to get away. One thing that is very evident in this book is that Lauren is a deeply religious person. For being so young, she is very devoted to her spirituality and is strong in her beliefs, maybe because she was raised by a Baptist minister. She actually feels so strongly that she created her very own religion! This belief system is called Earthseed and is centered around the idea that “God is change”. This religion is curious because it sort of provides a more tangible way to look at change than other religions. It is about accepting that change will come, and that it will not always be kind, but working to shape our world and through that, shaping change. This system of belief creates a situation where instead of putting faith into “God”, people are encouraged to put faith into eachother and themselves. Their faith comes from the sense of community surrounding their shared commitment to live a life committed to positive, compassionate and constructive change.
My question is, do you believe religion should require a more active role of it’s participants to prove commitment? Should religion be about shaping change and having faith in community/self? Or is religion a place that should be reserved for putting faith into something far less tangible?
Parable of the Sower explores many themes and motifs: race, class, climate catastrophe, politics, and poverty (among many others). One of the most prominent is religion/spirituality. Lauren, daughter of a preacher, struggles in the beginning with her own religious identity. She doesn’t quite subscribe to the Baptist was in which she was raised, but cannot tell her family, especially her father, for fear of how they would react. She quietly forms her own religion of sorts– Earthseed. Throughout the course of the novel, as Lauren navigates the tragedies around her, Earthseed develops and becomes stronger, even more important to her. It becomes all she has, eventually.
On pages 195 and 196, she shares passages from her journal with Harry, and introduces him to Earthseed. Later on, on page 221, she is sharing with Travis. One thing she says stands out to me: “He had asked me what the point of Earthseed is. Why personify change by calling it God? Since change is just an idea, why not call it that? Just say change is important. “Because after a while, it won’t be important!” I told him. “People forget ideas. They’re more likely to remember God–especially when they’re scared or desperate.” I find this interesting in the context that in times of desperation, disaster or crisis, people are very quick to go to religion. Certain traumas can strengthen one’s religion or even make them lose it completely. Especially in the United States, religion can be as polarizing as politics; it can be used to justify or explain acts of immorality or it is what we turn to in times of need.
How is Lauren’s relationship with religion reminiscent of maybe your own? Of that of society? Do you think she would ever lose touch with it if the crisis she lives in becomes terrible enough?
Spirituality seems to be a major theme of Parable of The Sower. Lauren not only references her own God that she believes in, but emphasizes other’s beliefs as well. In chapter 3 she makes her first explanation of her spiritual beliefs that she has previously referenced. From my understanding, she believes God is just our reality which we have a prominent role in shaping. She constantly references God as Change and says that this is also apparent in every other God that people around her are worshiping. She references Ecclesiastes, a book of the Bible that emphasizes the idea of seasonality. She also references Buddhism and the emphasis of suffering is only our delusions of permanence. In some ways I think she views herself as chosen or prophetic because of how she sees things that others do not see. In a society that appears to literally be dying and hopeless, it seems a lot of people rely on their spirituality for guidance. It seems though that maybe this is an act of complacency to not deal with the state of how screwed up everything actually is. Although Lauren’s family is baptist and the Bible teaches compassion, they discourage her hyper empathy. Lauren is afraid because she sees her God as change and feels physically moved to act and be apart of this change in someway.
Spirituality/religion has driven individuals and therefore society in many different directions, positive and negative. In our society, where climate change, mental illness, poverty, ect are plaguing humans and the environment, how can belief systems be a positive or negative influence? How have they already played a role in these issues? Can the notion of constant acceptance of change drive those to complacency or action?
When Lauren and her father have the conversation about what she said to Joanna, the following exchange happens. “If you can think of ways to entertain them and teach them at the same time, you’ll get your information out. And all without making anyone look down. Look down….? Into the abyss Daughter. But I wasn’t in trouble anymore. Not at the moment. You’ve just noticed the abyss, he continued. The adults in this community have been balancing at the edge of it for more years than you’ve been alive. I got up went over to him and took his hand. It’s getting worse, Dad. I know. Maybe it’s time to look down. Time to get some hand and foot holds before we just get pushed in.”
I can relate to Lauren’s eye-opening, as I have progressed through college I (and my classmates) have begun to see the abyss. Whether it is fascism or climate change, there seems to be an abyss right around the corner, waiting to happened upon. But like Lauren’s father said it is hard to talk to people about it without them losing themselves to fear. Is this fall inevitable, is it the mentality of preparing for the end unjust? Would that be redirecting and wasting precious energy and will marginalized communities get left behind in the absence of resources that allow them to prepare for some crazy event?
I would venture to say that Parable of the Sower has to be one of the most interesting books that we’ve read this semester. What is so particularly interesting is the very clear discussion and evaluation of religion and the creation of a new religion by our main protagonist, Lauren, as a result of being raised in a Baptist environment. It’s not difficult to observe Lauren’s skepticism of Christianity and this can be exemplified by one of the verses of Earthseed placed at the beginning of chapter 4 on pg. 31 which states “A victim of God may, Through learning adaptation, Become a partner of God, A victim of God may, Through forethought and planning, Become a shaper of God. Or a victim of God may, Through shortsightedness and fear, Remain God’s victim, God’s plaything, God’s prey.” This verse isn’t necessarily damning Christianity as a religion, but it holds conflicting teachings to the religion. I find myself more set on discussion of religion in the book because of my own faith in Christianity and how that plays into my reading of the book. This leads into my question of how would the devoutly religious go about reading this book? Can the Earthseed teachings be telling or reveal something of your own religious beliefs?
Many feminist theorists write theory through their own personal experiences- people like Audre Lorde and Gloria Anzaldua. The popular phrase “the personal is political” comes up for me when reading Parable of the Sower as I hear so many points of identity for Butler come through her work when she talks about gender, race, and class. I read it as almost a journal of her most sacred thoughts, and as her thinking through what she wants to see in community, while also addressing the complexities of community. Her voice comes through especially on page 125: “Clarity and truth will be plenty, if I can only achieve them. If it happens that there are other people outside somewhere preaching my truth, I’ll join them. Otherwise, I’ll adapt where I must, take what opportunities I can find or make, hang on, gather students, and teach”. Here is sounds like she is calling for people to take her ideas up and expand on them.
In what ways can writing about politics through fiction and/or personal experience by strategic or not? What effects can science fiction in particular achieve as opposed to other fictions?
Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” is such a powerful book. When I picture a real post-apocalyptic scenario, I imagine a world much like the setting of this book. Water is a rare and expensive commodity that can only be accessed mainly by the rich and powerful. Rain is also rare, and some people’s only source of water. Governments are spending billions of dollars on missions to Mars that are not only unsuccessful, but fatal as well. Television is no longer accessible on a broad scale, so most people get their news from radio. People are dependent on drugs that make them want to light fires, and destruction by fire is all too common. There’s some sort of political campaign approaching, but no one really bothers to vote anymore since both parties promote slavery (in one way or another) and the fact that day to day struggles have become much harder than they used to be. As a result of the lack of police presence in the town, civilians must arm themselves and practice shooting regularly since conditions in their neighborhoods have turned violent. Although this novel is filled with depressing stories, I’ve enjoyed reading it so far because of how interesting and unique Octavia Butler’s science fiction is.
Question: Lauren’s hyper empathy syndrome causes her to feel pain when she sees other people or animals in pain. Why do you think this is the case? What causes her to feel physical pain?
Parable of the Sower describes a feeling of security within a wall, a security that is brought on by fear. Much like our society today, fear is a key element in what the government uses to drive people behind barriers and promote the idea that we need walls to prevent exposure to outside influence and danger. Preparation and acknowledgment of dangers and possibilities is a reasonable fear, but cutting ourselves off from the outside is not a reasonable solution. Understanding the possibilities of danger and the effects of outside influence is more useful than hiding from it.
Does our society compare to the group of people in the parable? How does fear of danger and other people influence our solutions to that fear? Are we less connected as a whole because of our ability to cut off from one another?
In Chapter 10 of Parable of the Sower, Lauren’s brother, Keith, was brutally murdered after he moved out of his family’s home. He chose to move out because he felt as though he was not allowed to be the man he so desperately wanted to be, even though he was only thirteen. He left the gated community after stealing Cory’s key and gun and was living in an abandoned building with other people who were thieves. He was allowed to stay with them because he was teaching them how to read and how to use the technology they had stolen from others. One scene in the book that left its mark on me was the story of Keith murdering the man who was trying to walk to Alaska and stealing all of his money and belongings. Personally, I had so skip the rest of that segment of the chapter, I felt as though I related to Lauren’s hyperempathy.
My question is, do you agree with Keith running away from his family to be on his own? Are his actions justified because of his need to “survive?”
In Laurens small community there’s very little religious diversity. aside from one other family that practices polygamy. Lauren’s rejection of her fathers religion and her concepts of god as change and not a guardian or punisher. Her view takes the locus of control away from an outside source and moves it to herself. she sees god as growth and the only constant is change.
How do your views of god as change or god as guardian, impact your outlook on our current environmental and social crisis? which view gives you more comfort? Is making positive change in the world right now a greater act of spirituality than just prayer?
Lauren’s personal struggle with what makes a religion true or valid resonates with my own religious experience in many ways. My family is also very involved in the christian church and I have always struggled with what aspects of their faith I see as true and valid and would like to carry into my own life, and what components are harmful and I need to leave behind. On page twenty six, Lauren asks herself, “Is any of this real?” although she is sure of her view of God as a constantly changing, powerful, not necessarily benevolent force she wonders why no one else believes what she does because to her it is so clear. For some reason, we believe that for our religious or spiritual views to be “real” they must be shared with others. As I have gotten older, I do not believe this is the case. Because all of our lived experiences vary so much and these experiences inform our worldview and mindset and consequentially what we think about spirituality and the divine. I think that Lauren’s religious views make a lot of sense because of the type of life she has lived. She sees god as ever changing because there has been so much change in her life, she sees god as a force capable of victimization because she herself has felt victimized by aspects of her life, etc. I think that this is what makes her religion valid, it is birthed out of careful consideration of the things she has seen in her own life, it is a tool used to make sense of her world. This is why she does not connect with her fathers religion, because it does not resonate with her lived experience.
In Chapter 2 of Parable of the Sower, Lauren talks about the day she was baptized. She gives us her thoughts on her fathers god and describes in detail what the journey is like on the way to the church she will be baptized at. Butler gives us a scary look at what the future could potentially hold for the world. Outside the walls of Lauren’s neighborhood, we get detailed descriptions of what life and the people are like. “We rode past people stretched out, sleeping on the sidewalks, and a few just waking up, but they paid no attention to us. I saw at least three people who weren’t going to wake up again, ever. One of them was headless. I caught myself looking around for the head. After that, I tried not to look around at all” (page 9) Lauren also describes the families and neighborhoods that aren’t walled off. Many of the houses were vandalized or burned down. Her hyper empathy makes it especially hard on her to see these people in such pain, but it isn’t safe to stop and try to help these people. The chapter ends with Lauren thinking about faith. She wonders if people can still have faith after all the death and pain, specifically after the storm in the gulf that killed more than 700 people. She is very independent of her thoughts on God. She ends chapter 2 by saying, “What if God is something else altogether?” (page 16), conforming that the god she believes in is very different then the god her father believes in.
Question: Is this an accurate description of what our future could be? Would we handle it better than what is described in chapter 2, or could it be worse? Are there steps we can take as a society today to prevent such a divide between people if society falls apart?
“Parable of the Sower” takes place in 2024 in which Lauren narrates life on an earth ravaged by climate change and corporate greed. Through several years of journal entries, Lauren sheds light on a multitude of issues in this future society, including vast wealth disparities, crime and violence, sexism, racism, extreme weather, disease, and politics. In this world, water is more expensive than gasoline, anyone who must venture outside of their gates goes in armed groups, and the roads are scattered with corpses. Olivia Butler is extremely successful in painting a dreary and simply terrifying future on the assumption that we continue business as usual today. I relate strongly to Lauren’s frustration upon learning the “truth” and wanting to warn others to prepare, as well as the typical response of ignorance and impossibility from others. Between her own experiences and what others tell her, Lauren struggles to accept her father’s God and instead creates her own religion, Earthseed, that is her truth for how the world works. The philosophy of Earthseed is idyllic and optimistic, but I’m skeptical of her belief that “the destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the stars” (77). I find this to be similar to a new, perhaps slightly abstracted, version of historical and contemporary colonialism–the belief that we, as humans, have the natural right to go to and claim what isn’t ours. I do like her idea of God being change, because that truly is the only constant.
This story makes me feel pessimistic about the future, to be honest, possibly because I find it to be extremely plausible. When the world finally succumbs to the pressures of climate change, those who are already struggling in our system will be the most affected, and wealth disparities will continue to increase. Are humans inherently fatally damaging to themselves? If we persist in ignoring the implications of climate change, will we ever be able to come together in a world full of hatred and violence as depicted in this story? Since climate refugee stories and scientific facts are largely ignored or dismissed, could this novel be effective in inspiring the sense of urgency that we feel as environmentalists among the general public? Does the novels critique of Christianity risk its effectiveness, particularly among older conservatives, and does that matter? What role does religion (any) have in the fight against climate change? Can we, and is it necessary, to separate the two?
In this section of Parable of the Sower, Lauren focuses on religion and questions the beliefs of her community. She is terrified to speak about her own beliefs, which demonstrates how her community’s fears are suppressed by their religion. This is typical even today, people turn to religion for comfort all the time. The difference in this universe is how afraid the people in Parable of the Sower are; the only way they know how to cope is to cling even more tightly to the image of God. They use their belief in God to build a barrier between themselves and the horrors that exist beyond their gates. How does Octavia Butler critique religion – specifically Christianity – in Parable of the Sower? What point is she making about the correlation between attachment to religion and the inability to progress?
“In order to rise // From its own ashes // A phoenix // First // Must // Burn.”
This verse from Earthseed: The Books of the Living precedes Chapter 14, the chapter in which Lauren sees her old life in her neighborhood go up in literal flames. This verse seems to foreshadow the chapter well, with the metaphor of the phoenix representing Lauren. The phoenix, as a metaphor for the cycle of life and death, and creation and destruction also ties in well with the book’s theme of fire as a catalyst for change. With that being said, how does the drug Pyro, and its users fit into this metaphor? With one of the tenets of Earthseed being “God is Change”, and fire representing change, how do the users of Pyro, and their obsession, and arguable worship, of fire fit into Butlers critiques of religion?
Beautifully written throughout this novel are poignant aspects about where current aspects of our culture lead us, and how societal change is much more complex than technological change. Lauren shows us the violence of her world, economic peril, resource degradation, classism, and religious spirituality. A perfect plot choice made by Octavia Butler is Lauren’s hyper-empathy, in that readers themselves must also experience her influx of feelings, both physical and mental, drawing the reader to care for this world in a way that often is not felt in most stories. The destructive cycle of humanity is shown through the architecture and community structure of this world; walls, social unrest, slums, violence, factories, desperation, etc. A large issue found in the story as well as in our current world is a sense of powerlessness that comes with the control of basic human necessities and the control of our vision of the world (through governmental institutions and the monetary investment of institutions that do not speak for our needs). With the lack of power comes fear, and with fear comes hatred. So continues the cycle that reinforce a failing society. As she states in chapter 13, “People are setting fires to get rid of whomever they dislike from personal enemies to anyone who looks or sounds foreign or racially different. People are setting fires because they’re frustrated, angry, hopeless. They have no power to improve their lives, but they have the power to make others even more miserable. And the only way to prove to yourself that you have power is to use it.” (Butler 143).
I am particularly interested in the elements of religion in relation to societal structure and connectedness to the environment. The views which Earthseed procure are starkly different from orthodox religion. For example, repeatedly, Lauren states that God is change, the unfolding of ecological relationships, the butterfly effect of each action, the symbiosis of countless beings cohabiting a world of chaos. Rather than a human entity bearing a constitution of rights and wrongs and creating a plan of damnation or salvation, this is a God of impartial power; this salvation can be found in underlying the balance between global understanding, empathy, and conscious actions. When we forget that the power within us is the power found naturally within the world, when we see that it is the same and that we can care for it as we do ourselves, is when we can reach God.
How important is spirituality for the efficacy of our development goals? Should this be incorporated more in our classes and studies? How could Earthseed go wrong for the society we see in this story?
Octavia Butler’s novel intrigued me, made me feel unsettled, scared me and inspired me. Parable of the Sower holds the balance of “not too far in the distance” with “out of this world” fears.
The first half of the book held so much of the chaos, fear and tragedy of a world riddled by climate disaster, privatization of public spaces, and corrupt governments. It made me look at the real world around myself in a new lense. The raging California wildfires and the distribution of who was impacted most severely, the sight of inmates cleaning up trash on the highway,the current administration’s initiatives, in a vastly different, and more skeptic way. How far off of this twisted world are we?
Octavia Butler’s cautionary tale rings so deeply true. The second half of the novel felt full of progress, and less carnage. The latter chapters looked at Earthseed in more depth, and the vision of Lauren Oya’s community.
What would the second half of the book looked like if Lauren’s family would have moved to Olivar? Would she have been able to gain an Earthseed following, due to desperation? Would her family have survived, therefore stifling her religious freedom? How would Lauren have reacted for trading in her freedom for her safety?