Parable of the Sower Paperback – April 30, 2019

The Parable of the Sower is a wonderfully constructed vision of the world following a climate related collapse of western society. I mean wonderful in the sense that this world that Octavia Butler has brought to life inspired in me a genuine sense of wonder. Sci-fi books are supposed to create in the reader a sense of disbelief, a longing for the future and what could come with it, and this book did exactly that, while at the same time attacking and conquering huge themes like religion and racism. Racism in particular is a theme that I would like to spend quite a bit of time addressing, but religion is also something that I will touch on in some detail. There are a variety of other details and issues that could be addressed, but these are the two that stuck out to me like a sore thumb, and also the two that I was most interested in writing about. This book was excellent, compelling, and definitely worth more than one read.The story that Octavia Butler tells is a compelling story of survival and community. The opening of the book starts en medias res, exactly as a good futuristic novel can. I personally feel that telling too much of a back-story can destroy the reader’s ability to concoct one itself, it also takes away from the author’s ability to create suspense and mystery in the novel itself. Butler does a very good job of giving us a gripping story without boring us with the details of the failing of the society that once existed. It is very easy to take on the mindset of a young girl while reading, and that makes digesting all of the new and sometimes confusing information much more easily. The novel then goes on to talk about the sense of community that is felt in the walled “neighborhood” that Lauren, the main character and narrator, lives in. This neighborhood seems to be a well-oiled machine, despite the immediately apparent racial tensions to be found inside of the community. There is a division among the white members of the community and the other racial groups. This makes a lot of sense considering the racial tensions that exist even in the world today, but it was interesting to see that Butler does not envision a post-racial world for our future.One of the bigger themes of this book is “new slavery”; I put this in quotes only because I believe it to be a coined term and not merely an expression that I have made up. “New slavery” was introduced around the same time, as prisons became an industry rather than a place of reform. Butler speaks of this issue in a speech she gave which is the secondary reading for this week, “Every now and then you hear– and I’m not talking about ante-bellum slavery but modern-day slavery–every now and then you hear about some group of homeless people or illegal aliens or other people who have been held in slavery and I sort of combined slavery and throw-away workers and prison problems because in Parable of the Sower there is slavery and it is entirely legal because it isn’t called “slavery.” This quote speaks to her inclusion of the “new slavery” in her novel. This kind of slavery is found encapsulated in the city of Olivar, the fictional city being built where “skilled” workers are needed. The characters in the novel fear that this city is merely an excuse to capture people and indenture them to the larger corporate structure. This is a frightening reality because it is not unrealistic. There are certainly places in this dystopian America where slaves are found. They are people who do not have money and then work for company credit, but they never make quite enough money to afford their living expenses, so they become indebted to the company they work for, and end up owing the company massive amounts of money, and passing that on to their children when they die, creating a system of debt slavery that persists indefinitely.Butler definitely set out to make this a main feature in her book, but what is interesting is that the people of color in the novel feel that the city of Olivar would only want white workers. This is interesting because for as taught as the racial tensions are in the future, there does not seem to be hope for anyone who did not already have money when the country collapsed. Some people are simply “slightly better off”.The effects of this “new slavery” can be found in the people that the characters meet later on in the story; some of the people who they run into like Emery and Tori. They are both escaped slaves who are now dealing with the consequences of living a slave’s existence. They are also both hyper-empathetic, just like our narrator. This means that not only can they see someone in pain and relate, but also they actually feel it, and it is considered to be debilitating. Our narrator does not like to share with people that she has this condition, but she notices that the newer members of the group share her condition and immediately bonds with them over it. This hyper-empathy is a big reason why Lauren makes such an interesting character, because it shows how painful killing is for her, and how everything she does has a reason, and also is in part why she founds her religion, Earthseed.Religion is an interesting topic in any book, especially so in this one, as our character has spread the seeds for her own religion to take root, Earthseed. Earthseed is a new religion that has some elements of a bunch of already existing belief systems worked into it. The basic idea of Earthseed is that “the destiny of mankind is to take root amongst the stars,” this is interesting because it is both a spiritual philosophy, and a very real belief of the narrator. Lauren believes that the discontinuation of the space program is foolish, and that they should abandon the Earth and that they should try again somewhere else.Earthseed fascinates me, and I think I know where it stems from. Lauren lives in a firmly Baptist community, but does not have the faith of her father. Earthseed is a comfort to Lauren, and it is that simple. It is a basic philosophy that has sprung out of her discomfort with the world around her. She is living in a virtual hell, and has had to come up with some way to make her own truth. The truth she chooses to believe rather than a truth that is told to her. This is exactly where all religion stems from. People as a whole would not believe in something and it was not comforting to them. This is why I think the theme of religion is so interesting a Cli-fi book. With or without realizing it, Octavia Butler has created a wonderful comparison between a religion founded by an 18 year old, and hundreds of thousands of scientists’ conclusive evidence that climate change is very, very real. In the secondary reading Butler quotes a cartoon, the interesting part was this, “Make up your own truth and stick to it, no matter how little sense it makes. And sooner or later, you’ll have converts. Trust me.” This rings the truth to me about the world in general. People are so much more likely to believe in and idealize something that comforts them, rather than something that tells them they need to change. This is the whole fundamental issue we have had with the class. Our big question, “what can we do?” is answered by this simple quote. We need to make up a truth that people want to believe in, we cannot keep throwing the discomforting truth in their faces or they will continue to believe their own truths, namely “there is nothing that I can do.” Octavia Butler draws a comparison between a people who are still in disbelief about how broken their world is, and their deep belief that things will return to what they once were. This is a constant theme throughout the beginning of the book. Instead, a new religion is formed, which has the potential to have hundreds of followers, all because it is comforting and simple. This struck me as genius, and I may be reading a little too deeply, but I gleamed from Butler’s speech that this may have been on purpose. I liked that in particular about this book.The Parable of the Sower has struck me in a way that a lot of books have not. I do not however think that this book will make waves in the ocean of denial surrounding climate change. I don’t think that the book deals closely enough with what we, as a species, have done to destroy the planet, and therefore keeps us from feeling particularly guilty. This book is rather a story about survival, friendship, and faith. I liked it immensely and would even consider adding it to my course syllabus when I am finally a teacher rather than a student.

Growing up I had never been exposed to much about religion. To this day my thoughts on religion are never substantial; sometimes I’ll have an occasional deep thought, but a fleeting one at that until I turn back to the life in front of me. Lauren Olamina, the protagonist in Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler, on the other hand was brought up into an intensely religious household that she learned to resent. Lauren’s father was a Baptist minister, raising her and her brothers in an intensely religious fashion in a post-apocalyptic time outside of Los Angeles. The post-apocalyptic America is not one ravaged by supernatural creatures or extreme weather conditions, but an extremely plausible world set into motion by drought and racial tensions. America is at the bottom of a downward spiral with Lauren’s gated California neighborhood being the only thing keeping the drug addled maniacs and thieves from raiding her community on a daily basis. Disaster is constantly right outside of Lauren’s gate causing the extremely bright but mentally damaged young woman to attempt to find her place in collapsing America. Refusing to believe in the religion her father preaches to her daily, Lauren begins establishing her own beliefs in God that translate into what she calls Earthseed. To Lauren, God is change. Earthseed presented through Lauren is Butler’s way of examining our own society. By predicting what will become of our society if it does not overcome individualism, racism, and tendencies towards violence, Butler presents her solution through Earthseed.When society crumbles, so does 99% of the population. Anyone not protected in a gated or guarded society immediately turns towards looting, pillaging, rape, and especially arson. A new drug has been introduced on the streets dubbed “pyro” that makes watching a fire more exhilarating and enjoyable than having sex. Lauren being born in 2009 (the novel was written in 1993) has known only this nightmarish America her entire life. Racial tensions are at an all-time high, water is more expensive than food, and the government has basically collapsed. While the adults are fine with attempting to live life the way it used to be, preaching the same bible verses over again, and still believing things may eventually return to “normal”; Lauren is the next generation learning to live in this new society. Living in this new society and not understanding the old, Lauren rejects her father’s God. Lauren believes in a new religion she has discovered entitled Earthseed. Lauren claim’s she has not invented or made it up, but discovered it. There is no all mighty being or supernatural element to the God in Earthseed, God is only change. The book presents little Earthseed scripture and its beliefs throughout, which later make more sense towards the end of the novel. Earthseed believes that praying does nothing but assist the prayer, and that effort should be put into action to make change. The more the proverbs are read in the book the more the reader is able to comprehend Lauren’s beliefs. Lauren literally believes that God is change. Some of Earthseed’s texts give more insight into her complex thinking “We do not worship God. We perceive and attend God. With forethought and work, we shape God.” And “God is Power- infinite, irresistible, inexorable, indifferent. And yet, God is Pliable- trickster, teacher, chaos, clay. God exists to be shaped. God is Change”. I really loved the thought put into Lauren’s complex world view and it makes complete sense considering the dangerous world she learned to grow up in. Lauren is forced to leave the only home she has ever known when crazy drug addled arsonists come to pillage and destroy her neighborhood. If I grew up in that type of world I am not sure what I would believe in, but Lauren’s views are all justified and change is the belief and system that keeps her alive in post-apocalyptic California. Butler, through Lauren, is expressing that she believes that to get through the hard times any nation is facing, they need to be adaptable, diverse, and learn to embrace change. Another quote from Earthseed demonstrates Butler’s thoughts on diversity, “Embrace diversity. Unite—or be divided, robbed, ruled, killed by those who see you as prey. Embrace diversity, or be destroyed”.My main issue with Butler’s Earthseed is the way that she presents it. At first Earthseed is not exactly referred to as a religion by Lauren until other people she meets on her journey refer to it as such. My problem with Butler deciding to refer to Earthseed as a religion is that it is too distinctly different from any other religion to be classified as such. A religion is classified by most sources as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, purpose, and nature of the universe; and the Gods that preside over it. Earthseed perfectly fits the set of beliefs and practices used and agreed on by a group of people, but when addressing its God of Change, it is not actually referring to a deity as is every other religion. Also converting the people Lauren traveled with to even accept the idea of something they were referring to as a religion would not go as quickly as it did in the book. It is hard enough reaching out to someone without a religion to think about one, but trying to convince a devout religious individual about a new way of thinking seems like it would not be possible.Reading Butler’s essay “Devil Girl From Mars”: Why I Write Science Fiction, made it clear where Lauren’s attitude and beliefs came from. Butler believes in a well-educated, literate, news observing, and accepting society. Butler seems to view society on a macro level more so than a micro one, focusing on big picture issues and the state of the human race as a whole. Butler understands that global warming issue an issue in our society which is why she chose to have that be the cause of the draughts and erratic weather in her novel. From focusing on global warming in many of the novels we have read so far I believe Butler paints the most realistic picture of the consequences of ignoring global warming. I agree with Butler’s focus on the continuing productive existence of the human race. I often also have thoughts about human society as a whole and believe Butler made well educated and productive points, the things that she exaggerated for the sake of her novels are actual issues we need to be focusing on today.Overall Parable of the Sower was one of the more realistic and enjoyable post-apocalyptic books I’ve read. The religious undertone was present but not abrasive, and focused more on religion as a general concept. Instead of focusing on one religion, Butler commented on religion as it fits into society as a whole.