Parable of the Sower PDF LitChart

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Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com Parable of the Sower The Parable of the Talents, a new presidential candidate, Andrew INTR INTRODUCTION ODUCTION Steele Jarret, sparks a violent movement centering around his promise to “Make America great again.” BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF OCTAVIA E. BUTLER Octavia E. Butler was an only child. Her mother was a maid and RELATED LITERARY WORKS her father was a shoeshine man who died when Butler was seven. Her family were devout Baptists, and were very poor. The Parable of the Sower is one of many science fiction novels Butler showed an early interest in science fiction and began that explores the possibility of what life would be like in an writing in childhood. She attended Pasadena City College at apocalyptic landscape. One of the most similar texts to Parable night, graduating with an associate of arts degree in History. is Nalo Hopkinson’s Brown Girl in the Ring, which—like Butler’s She later enrolled in writing classes at Cal State LA, UCLA novel—tells the story of a young black girl living in a dangerous, extension school, and the Clarion Science Fiction Writers barren landscape, and who possesses a powerful religious Workshop. In 1984, Butler’s short story “Speech Sounds” won intuition. Other science fiction texts that explore life in an the Hugo Short Story Award, and the following year her apocalyptic environment include Samuel R. Delany’s Dhalgren, collection of short stories, Bloodchild Bloodchild, won the Nebula and Walter Mosley’s Futureland, and Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Hugo Awards as well as other prizes. In 1995, Butler won a Death. Marge Piercy’s He, She and It depicts a future in which MacArthur Fellowship. Many of Butler’s novels—including The corrupt corporations have taken over cities; it is plausible that Parable of the Sower, its sequel The Parable of the Talents, and the this novel could be among the old science fiction books that neo-slave narrative Kindr Kindreded—are considered to be among the Lauren discusses when she learns about the KSF takeover of most important works of 20th century American literature. Olivar. Despite this, Butler spent most of her life in poverty and was forced to work several jobs in order to survive, waking up to KEY FACTS write in the middle of the night. She also suffered from Full Title: The Parable of the Sower depression. She died suddenly from a fall at only 58; it is not clear whether the cause of her death was a stroke, whether she When Written: 1989-1993 died as a result of head injuries from the fall, or whether it was Where Written: California, USA a combination of both. When Published: 1993 Literary Period: 20th century American Fiction HISTORICAL CONTEXT Genre: Apocalyptic Science Fiction The Parable of the Sower is set between the years 2025-27, and Setting: Robeldo, a fictional city in California; various thus the world events that occur in the novel range from the locations along the coast of California; Mendocino, historically accurate to the speculative. One of the most California important historical events in the novel is the system of chattel Climax: When Lauren’s neighborhood is set on fire and its slavery that existed in America between the 17th-19th residents massacred; the mass funeral at the end of the centuries. Lauren makes many references to slavery novel throughout the novel, noting that several elements of society in Antagonist: To some extent, the many different violent the antebellum era (such as anti-literacy rules) have returned in groups of people who repeatedly attack Lauren and her the 21st century United States. The book also highlights the group—in particular pyro addicts—are the antagonists of the fact that even after the formal abolition of slavery in the United novel States in 1863, various forms of legalized or unofficial slavery Point of View: Lauren Olamina (writing in her diary) continued to be in operation. For example, Bankole mentions the fact that debt slavery—which is widespread at the time the EXTRA CREDIT narrative is set—also existed in the 1990s (when Butler was writing the novel). One of the most fascinating things about Unfinished business. The Parable of the Sower was supposed to reading The Parable of the Sower in the present is the be the first book in a trilogy. However, after publishing the extraordinary extent to which Butler predicted many of the second book in the series, The Parable of the Talents, Butler issues afflicting the contemporary United States. In the novel, found the research for the final one so demoralizing that she the US is struck by extreme weather events induced by climate abandoned the project altogether. change, as well as corresponding outbreaks of disease. And in ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 1  Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com Lone wolf. Butler was extremely shy as a child, and as an adult eventually agrees to make emergency “earthquake” packs and described herself as “solitary” and “a hermit.” set up a nightly neighborhood watch. Lauren has devised a name for her own religious beliefs: Earthseed. She believes that the future of this religion is to PL PLO OT SUMMARY spread human life throughout the universe. She collects her It is the year 2024, the night before Lauren Olamina’s 15th writings about Earthseed into a single notebook and hopes that birthday (and Lauren’s father’s 55th). Lauren has a dream in one day she will use this to teach others. The day before which she is teaching herself to fly, but ends up flying into a wall Lauren’s 16th birthday, Tracy walks out of the neighborhood of fire. Later, she and her stepmother, Cory, discuss the fact gate and never returns. Lauren knows that people in the that now there is no light pollution, and people can see the stars neighborhood expect Lauren to marry her boyfriend Curtis and again. Although Lauren has stopped believing in her father’s have children, but this is not the future she wants for herself. religion, she is about to let herself be baptized. Lauren and the Lauren’s 12-year-old brother Keith steals Cory’s key and leaves other kids being baptized are making a special trip beyond their the neighborhood. When he eventually returns, he is wounded neighbor wall to a real church for the occasion. They live in and filthy, and some of his clothes have been stolen. Lauren’s Robledo, a city 20 miles outside Los Angeles. The people living father is furious; Keith sulks. Some time later, Lauren’s father outside their neighborhood wall are homeless, mutilated, and and Cory give Keith a BB gun for his birthday. Keith disappears, wounded, which makes it difficult for Lauren to be around and comes back two days later with new clothes and shoes. He them. She suffers from hyperempathy as a result of her then goes out and returns again with a roll of cash. mother’s drug abuse during pregnancy, a condition that means A year later, in 2026, Keith is almost 14 and very tall. He is she feels other people’s pleasure and pain. living in a building outside the neighborhood. He and Lauren Meanwhile, an astronaut named Alicia Leal has died on a have a friendly conversation while she is making dinner; even mission to Mars. One of the presidential candidates, though she knows he is hiding the fact that he is involved in Christopher Donner, has vowed to eradicate the space illegal activity, their relationship is closer than before. Keith program in order to save money, but Lauren believes that space tells Lauren about a drug called pyro that makes people set is the future. Mrs. Sims, a devoutly Christian woman in Lauren’s fires. Two days later, Keith is found dead. His body has been neighborhood, has killed herself even though she believes mutilated, which suggests he was killed by drug dealers. Cory suicide is punished by hell. Christopher Donner wins the can’t stop crying, but neither Lauren nor her father cry. election. Meanwhile a company called KSF has taken over the coastal A year later, in 2025, a three-year-old girl in the neighborhood city of Olivar and is inviting people to come and live there. called Amy Dunn sets fire to her family’s garage. Amy is the Lauren’s father is skeptical about this scheme, but Cory product of incestuous rape; her mother, Tracy, was only 12 expresses interest in moving there. Lauren decides to call her when she became pregnant with her. Mrs. Sims’ cousins book of Earthseed scripture Earthseed: The Book of the Living. Wardell Parrish and Rosalee Payne move into her empty house. Joanne and her family are accepted by KSF to move to Olivar. A Lauren doesn’t trust the Payne-Parrish family. Lauren goes to few days later, Lauren’s father doesn’t come home from work. target practice along with her boyfriend Curtis Talcott and his Lauren and other neighborhood residents search for him, but brother Michael, as well as Peter Moss. Peter is the son of find nothing. Lauren preaches at the Sunday church service in Richard Moss, a “total shit” with three wives who practices his place of her father. own highly patriarchal religion, a mix of West African traditions Lauren’s family hold a funeral for her father even though they and Old Testament teachings. The group encounter a feral dog; still don’t know what happened to him. Lauren and Curtis have Lauren’s best friend, Joanne Garfield, panics. Lauren shoots the sex and discuss going north together. A few days later, someone dog and almost collapses from the pain. sets fire to the Payne-Parrish house, and all the Paynes die in It rains for the first time in 6 years. The next day, Lauren learns the blaze. Wardell stays at Lauren’s house, where he refuses to that Amy has been shot dead by someone shooting through the eat and behaves erratically. neighborhood gate. Joanne comes over for lunch in Lauren’s Seven months later, Lauren wakes to the smell of burning. room, and the two discuss the future of the neighborhood. Intruders have driven a truck through the neighborhood gate Lauren admits that she doesn’t think the neighborhood will be and pyro addicts with their skin painted bright colors have set secure for much longer and that she has been reading books to fire to the buildings. Lauren runs through the neighborhood, help her prepare for survival. Joanne is skeptical and accuses past dead bodies. She hides in an abandoned garage outside the Lauren of reading “too many adventure stories.” Joanne tells neighborhood gate. her mother about this conversation, which causes Lauren’s father to have a stern conversation with her. However, he In the morning, Lauren returns to find the neighborhood destroyed. She goes into her house and takes essential supplies ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 2  Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com including clothes, bathroom items, money, and her emergency Allie and Jill Gilchrist, sisters who are on the run from an pack. She sees the bodies of Richard Moss and Michael Talcott abusive father who forced them into prostitution. Harry lying on the street. She is approached by Zahra Moss, Richard’s introduces the group as Earthseed. Lauren reflects that she youngest wife, and Harry Balter. Zahra tells Lauren that Cory likes Bankole too much and must be cautious. and her brothers are all dead. Lauren tells Zahra that Richard is Days later, Bankole rescues a three-year-old child, Justin Rohr, dead, and Zahra bursts into tears. Zahra explains that Richard who has just been orphaned. That night, Bankole and Lauren “bought” her from her mother when she was 15 and homeless. kiss before Lauren goes on her watch. Allie forms a bond with Lauren tells Zahra and Harry that she is planning on going Justin, and Jill explains that Allie had a baby son but their father north. Harry agrees to come along, and Lauren decides to dress killed him. in drag in order to attract less attention. Zahra eventually The group stops at the San Luis Reservoir, which has not yet agrees to come too. totally dried up. Bankole and Lauren spend time alone Lauren, Harry, and Zahra stock up on essential supplies at a discussing Earthseed. Bankole explains that he is a widower nearby mall. They then journey to the 101, where there are and a doctor and that, like Lauren, he used to live in a gated hundreds of other people walking north. They are careful not to community. They spend the next day talking, reading, writing, trust the people around them, knowing that even those who and having sex. Lauren spends time teaching Jill, Allie, and look harmless can be secretly dangerous. At night, they take Zahra to read and write. turns keeping watch. During Harry’s turn, a man attacks him, The group spend a week walking up the I-5. Bankole tells trying to steal his gun. Lauren cracks the man’s skull with a rock, Lauren that he has property in Mendocino, a farmhouse with then slits his throat in order not to feel his pain. This upsets 300 acres of land. His sister Alexandra is currently living there Harry, but Lauren insists that she wouldn’t have killed him with her husband, Don, and their three children. Bankole insists unless she knew he would die anyway. She also tells Harry and that Lauren joins him there, but Lauren replies that she is Zahra about her hyperempathy, and Zahra notes that where committed to Earthseed. Lauren then tells Bankole about her she comes from, most babies were born with drug-related hyperempathy. abnormalities. Later, Lauren shows Harry the first lines of Earthseed scripture: “All that You touch / You change, / All that In the night, two intruders enter the group and sleep alongside you Change / Changes you… God is Change.” them: a woman and her young daughter. The group decide to let the intruders join them, and the woman introduces herself The trio see another enormous fire as they walk north. That as Emery Solis and her daughter as Tori. Emery and Tori were night, Harry and Zahra have sex during Harry’s watch. Lauren enslaved on a farm along with Emery’s husband and two sons; sternly urges Harry to be more careful. Back on the road, they however, Emery’s husband grew sick and died, and shortly after intervene in the attempted robbery of a young interracial her sons were kidnapped. A few days later, two more formerly family: two parents and their baby. Lauren believes the family enslaved people join the group: Grayson Mora and his daughter will join them, as they are natural “allies.” They reach the ocean, Doe. Bankole notes that there is something strange about and Lauren manages to set up a water filtration system to make Emery, Tori, Grayson, and Doe. the ocean water drinkable. A dog approaches the interracial family, who have camped nearby, and Lauren shoots it. The Days later, the group are attacked again. Lauren is shot and Jill family come over and introduce themselves: the man is called is killed trying to save Tori. After regaining consciousness, Travis, the woman Natividad, and their baby Dominic. Lauren Lauren realizes that the four new members of the group all reads them some Earthseed verses. have hyperempathy as well. She discusses the condition with Grayson, and he formally agrees to join the Earthseed Later, the group are camping on a new beach in Santa Barbara community. Emery explains that the slave “bosses” like it when County, and Travis and Lauren are discussing Earthseed. Travis enslaved people have hyperempathy. The group walk through is skeptical, but curious. Lauren explains that Earthseed’s the smoke from a large fire and Lauren becomes convinced that “Destiny” is to “take root among the stars”—to colonize other they will die. However, they survive, and soon after reach planets—and that this is Earthseed’s version of “heaven.” A Bankole’s property. They arrive to find that the farmhouse has week later, she writes that Travis is her first convert, and Zahra been burned to the ground. her second. She resolves to stay on lookout for new people to join the growing Earthseed community, as the more people in The group find five skulls, although at first Bankole refuses to the group, the safer they will be. believe that Alexandra and her family are dead. The group argue over whether they should stay on the property or keep A few days later, there is an earthquake. Lauren befriends a moving north. Eventually, the group decide to stay, and hold a handsome 57-year-old black man named Bankole. The group mass funeral for all the loved ones they have lost. They plant rescue two young white women from a semi-collapsed house, acorns for each dead person and read a mix of Bible passages, and immediately after are attacked by four men. They manage Eathseed verses, poems, and songs. They decide to call their to fight the men off. The white women introduce themselves as ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 3  Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com new home “Acorn.” The book ends with the Parable of the her children, Keith is Cory’s favorite, which Lauren finds Sower from the Bible, a verse about the importance of sowing surprising. Cory and Lauren get along well, but after Keith seeds on “good ground.” begins leaving the neighborhood their relationship becomes somewhat strained. Cory is kind, but more anxious and perhaps less intelligent than Lauren and her father. She likes the idea of CHARA CHARACTERS CTERS moving to Olivar, even though Lauren’s father warns her about the danger of giving up one’s freedom to live in a corporate- MAJOR CHARACTERS owned city. Cory is killed along with her three youngest sons Lauren Olamina – Lauren is the main character of the novel, during the destruction of the neighborhood. which is told through her perspective in the form of her diary Taylor FFrranklin Bank Bankole ole – Bankole is a 57-year-old African- entries. At the beginning of the narrative she is 15, and in the American man who joins Lauren’s group on the road north. final chapter she is 18. Raised in a gated community in Robledo, Trained as a medical doctor, he is a widower who is on his way California, Lauren is African-American, the daughter of to Mendocino, where he owns a 300-acre farm. Bankole’s Reverend Olamina and an unnamed mother who died in sister, Alexandra, lives on the farm with her husband and childbirth. Lauren’s mother was a drug addict, and as a result children. Bankole is handsome, with a beard that reminds Lauren was born with a neurological condition called Lauren of Frederick Douglass. He and Lauren become lovers; hyperempathy, which means she experiences the pleasure and although Bankole is disturbed by Lauren’s young age, they get pain of those around her. Although several people (such as along extremely well and discuss marrying. Bankole is Lauren’s father and her brother Keith) consider hyperempathy devastated by the discovery that his sister and her family were to be shameful or a liability, it is shown to have both good and likely killed on the farm; however, he is consoled by the bad sides, allowing Lauren to develop a special and unusual founding of the new Earthseed community on his property. relationship to the world around her. Indeed, as Bankole later Zahr Zahraa Moss – Zahra Moss was born outside the neighborhood remarks, Lauren is “a very unusual young woman.” She is and was homeless until Richard Moss “bought” her from her remarkably intelligent and well-read, with a relentless appetite mother. Although Richard was sexist and his other wives for the truth in the face of widespread denial and delusion. treated Zahra cruelly, she still liked living in the Moss Lauren is also exceptionally brave, which allows her to survive household simply because of the security it provided. Along the extreme circumstances into which she is thrust after her with Lauren and Harry, Zahra is one of the only survivors of the neighborhood is set on fire and her family killed. Lauren is the neighborhood massacre. She is tough as a result of having creator of a new religion called Earthseed, which she bases on grown up on the streets, yet also kind. She is illiterate, but is her own beliefs and observations about the world. Through taught by Lauren how to read and write. She and Lauren talking to people she meets on the walk north through develop a close friendship, and Zahra is supportive of Lauren’s California from her neighborhood, Lauren founds the first leadership of the group. Earthseed community, which eventually settles on the property of Lauren’s lover, Bankole, in Mendocino. Keith Olamina – Keith is Lauren’s brother, the eldest son of Reverend Olamina and Cory. He is 12 when the book starts Lauren Lauren’s’s Father (Re (Revverend Olamina) – Lauren’s father is rarely and is stubborn, reckless, and often cruel. He is desperate to referred to by name, and we never learn his first name. He is an grow up quickly and dreams of moving to Los Angeles. After African-American Baptist minister, college professor, and dean, being given a BB gun for his 13th birthday, he begins to leave who works at a college near his gated community in Robledo, the neighborhood and earn money of his own accord, California. He is a leader of the community and is ashamed of assumedly by dealing drugs. Before long, he is tortured and the fact that his ex-wife, Lauren’s mother, was a drug addict. His killed. second wife, Cory, is a teacher. Together, they have four sons: Keith, Marcus, Gregory, and Bennett. Reverend Olamina is a Joanne Garfield – Joanne is Lauren’s best friend in the wise, kind, and fair person. He has an exceptionally close neighborhood. The two are close, but a rift forms between relationship with Lauren, who calls him “the best man I know.” them when Lauren tries to tell Joanne about her fears for the However, he also has limitations, which mainly lie in his future. Joanne is less courageous than Lauren and more resistance to confronting reality and wishful thinking about the inclined to share the adults’ tendency of being in denial about world going back to the way it once was. One day, the reverend the state of the world. She leaves the neighborhood to move to goes to work and never comes back. After a week of searching, Olivar, the city controlled by the KSF corporation. he is presumed dead. Lauren’s mourning is made worse by the Travis Charles Douglas – Travis is an African-American man uncertainty of not knowing what happened to him. who Lauren meets while on the walk north. He the husband of Cor Corazon azon ((Cory) Cory) Olamina – Cory is Lauren’s stepmother. She is Natividad and father of Dominic. He was taught to read by his Mexican-American, and runs the neighborhood school. Of all mother, a maid who would sneak him books from her employer’s library. He is a loving father and very protective of ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 4  Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com his family. He expresses interest in Earthseed, and after many killed in a fire in the neighborhood, he lapses into insanity. hours of debate with Lauren becomes her first “convert.” Curtis T Talcott alcott – Curtis is Lauren’s boyfriend in the Gloria Natividad Douglas – Natividad is Travis’s wife and the neighborhood. His exact age is not specified, though he seems mother of Dominic. She worked as a maid for the same to be roughly the same age as Lauren, and he is also African- employer as Travis and his mother, until the employer began American. He expresses hopes of marrying Lauren and going sexually harassing her and they decided to escape. She and north with her; however, he is killed during the destruction of Travis join the growing Earthseed community and eventually the neighborhood. settle with the community at Acorn. Richard Moss – Richard Moss is an African-American man who President Christopher Donner – Christopher Charles lives in Lauren’s neighborhood. He practices his own, deeply Morpeth Donner is a presidential candidate at the beginning of sexist religion—an amalgamation of traditional West African the book, and is elected while Lauren is still living in the beliefs and Old Testament teachings. He works for a water neighborhood. Some characters hope that Donner will deliver company, which provides him enough income to have three on his promise to return the country to its former state, while wives, including Zahra (who was homeless when he “bought” many others—including Lauren and her father—remain her). Lauren sees his dead body during the neighborhood skeptical. Lauren especially dislikes Donner’s opposition to the massacre. space program, which he plans to dismantle. Emery T Tanaka anaka Solis – Emery is a 23-year-old woman who joins Harry Balter – Harry is a white man from Lauren’s Lauren’s group on the road. She is half African-American, half neighborhood who was Joanne’s boyfriend, and is one of the Japanese, and was formerly married to a Mexican man, with only people who survives the massacre. He joins Lauren and whom she has three children: Tori and two unnamed boys. The Zahra on the walk north, eventually becoming part of the first family lived in debt slavery, and one day Emery’s sons were Earthseed community. Harry is sensitive and stubborn, with a taken away—presumably sold into prostitution. Like Lauren, strong sense of moral principles. While this is positive in some Emery and Tori have hyperempathy, and are extremely skittish ways, it is also evidence of Harry’s comparatively sheltered and based on their traumatic past. Emery becomes close to privileged background. As he spends more time on the road, he Grayson, who was also formerly enslaved. comes to accept that flexibility is necessary in order to adapt to Ale Alexandr xandraa Case Caseyy – Alexandra is Bankole’s sister. She is 40 the “crazy time” in which the characters are living. years old and is married to Don Casey, with whom she has Allison (Allie (Allie)) Gilchrist – Allie is a 24-year-old white woman three children. They live on Bankole’s property in Mendocino, rescued from a collapsed building by Lauren and her group. although by the time the Earthseed group arrive there, only the Allie and her sister, Jill, ran away from their father, who forced charred ashes of the house remain. The group conclude that them into prostitution and killed Allie’s baby son. Allie later Alexandra and her family must be dead and hold a funeral for develops a close bond with Justin, the three-year-old orphan them at the end of the novel. who the group take in after his mother is killed. Allie is Alicia LLeal eal – Alicia Catalina Godinez Leal is an astronaut who suspicious of Earthseed (and indeed of all religion), but dies on a mission to Mars. Lauren learns that Leal had eventually comes round to the idea of living with the newly- expressed a wish for her body to be left on Mars, but that the formed Earthseed community at Acorn. American Secretary of Astronautics defied this wish, bringing Mrs. Sims – Mrs. Sims is an elderly white woman in Lauren’s her body home on the grounds that it might be a “contaminant.” neighborhood. Deeply religious and openly racist, Mrs. Sims is rude to the non-white residents of the community. After MINOR CHARACTERS suffering a series of traumatic events, Mrs. Sims commits Lauren Lauren’s’s Mother – We learn very little about Lauren’s mother suicide, which Lauren finds shocking because Mrs. Sims other than the fact that she was a drug addict who died giving believed suicide was punishable by hell. birth to Lauren. Tracy Dunn – Tracy Dunn is Amy Dunn’s mother. She was Marcus Olamina – Marcus is Lauren’s second-oldest brother. raped for years by her uncle, resulting in her becoming He and Lauren get on well, and Lauren describes him as very pregnant at 12 with Amy. Tracy has difficulty expressing love handsome. He is killed at the age of the 11 when the for Amy, but after Amy dies Tracy is inconsolable, and neighborhood is destroyed. eventually walks out of the neighborhood gate without returning—effectively a form of suicide. Bennett Olamina – Bennett is another of Lauren’s younger brothers. He is killed at the age of 9 when the neighborhood is Wardell PParrish arrish – Wardell Parrish is a relative of Mrs. Sims destroyed. who moves into her house after she dies. He is a widower. He is an unkind and suspicious person who tries to get the police to Gregory Olamina – Gregory is Lauren’s youngest brother. He arrest Lauren’s father after Keith’s death. After his children are is killed at the age of 8 when the neighborhood is destroyed. ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 5  Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com Am Amyy Dunn – Amy Dunn is a three-year-old girl living in RELIGION, HOPE, AND CHANGE Lauren’s neighborhood. Her mother, Tracy, was only 13 when The book’s heroine, Lauren Olamina, is the Amy was born, and Lauren writes that Amy was unloved. Amy is daughter of a Baptist minister who founds her own killed by accident when someone from outside shoots through religion, Earthseed, in the midst of the apocalyptic the neighborhood gate. disintegration of the United States. The novel begins with Rosalee PPaayne – Rosalee Payne is Wardell’s sister. She is a Lauren’s conflicted feelings about Christianity on the eve of her widow who moves into Mrs. Sims’ house. She is killed along baptism, and ends with a mass funeral service in which pieces of with her children when the house is set on fire. Christian and Earthseed scripture are read side by side. One of Peter Moss – Peter Moss is one of Richard Moss’s sons. Lauren the most important aspects of the narrative arc of the novel is dislikes him because he tries to be like his father. thus Lauren’s journey to take Earthseed seriously and reconcile her commitment to Earthseed with the experience of being Michael TTalcott alcott – Michael is Curtis’s brother. Lauren finds him raised in a Baptist family. In the latter half of the novel, lying dead after the neighborhood massacre. Earthseed begins to attract converts, and in doing so grows Bianca Monto Montoya ya – Bianca is a 17-year-old Latina girl in organically from a set of ideas and observations within Lauren’s Lauren’s neighborhood who gets pregnant and decides to mind into a real religious community. Throughout this process, marry her boyfriend. Lauren cannot decide whether this Earthseed is also contrasted with Christianity, and the most decision is “stupid” or “brave”; in any case, Bianca represents a important aspect of this contrast emerges from the way in foil (contrast) to Lauren’s decision to not get married or have which each religion addresses hope and change. children. Whereas Christianity is depicted as providing a (false) sense of Dominic “Domingo “Domingo”” Douglas – Dominic is a baby, the son of hope against a brutal and chaotic reality, Earthseed’s central Travis and Natividad. principle is simply that “God is change.” Followers of Earthseed Jillian (Jill) Gilchrist – Jill is Allie’s 25-year-old sister. Like Allie, must accept that change is inevitable, that it is often she was forced into prostitution by their father before running destructive, and that they have the power to “shape God.” As a away, and joins Lauren’s group after being rescued from the result, Earthseed provides a more real, tangible sense of hope collapsed building. Jill is shot by an unknown attacker while than Christianity. Rather than praying to God for mercy and carrying Tori to safety. justice, followers of Earthseed work to change the world themselves. Shortly after befriending Travis on the walk north, Justin Rohr – Justin is a three-year-old white boy who Bankole Lauren explains the principles of Earthseed to him, at which finds when Justin’s mother is killed in an attack. He was born in point Travis objects: “Your God doesn’t care about you at all,” to Riverside, California, and is adopted into the Earthseed which Lauren replies: “All the more reason to care about myself community after Bankole discovers him. and others. All the more reason to create Earthseed Don Case Caseyy – Don is Alexandra’s husband, and Bankole’s communities and shape God together.” Within Earthseed, the brother-in-law. source of hope does not come from God directly, but rather Tori Solis – Tori is Emery’s 9-year-old daughter. Like her from people, and specifically people who accept the mother, she also has hyperempathy. inevitability of change and choose to pursue a constructive, Gr Graayson Mor Moraa – Grayson is an Afro-Latino man who joins compassionate way of life. Lauren’s group after Emery’s daughter Tori befriends his The novel points out that one of the main reasons why people daughter, Doe. Grayson and Doe were both formerly enslaved are attracted to Christianity and other mainstream religions is and both have hyperempathy. They settle on Acorn with the because they provide hope in the form of the afterlife. There is rest of the group. little hope left within the daily reality of the characters in the Doe Mor Moraa – Doe is Grayson’s daughter. She is 8 years old. novel, and thus many characters focus on the afterlife as the only possible source of redemption from the horror of their mortal existence. However, belief in heaven is—like belief in THEMES divine intervention—shown to often be an insufficient source of hope in the face of earthly brutality. This is tragically illustrated In LitCharts literature guides, each theme gets its own color- in the case of Mrs. Sims, a devoutly Christian member of coded icon. These icons make it easy to track where the themes Lauren’s neighborhood who kills herself despite believing that occur most prominently throughout the work. If you don't have people who commit suicide will go to hell. Lauren notes: “She a color printer, you can still use the icons to track themes in believed in a literal acceptance of everything in the Bible. Yet, black and white. when things got to be too much for her, she decided to trade pain for eternal pain in the hereafter.” This observation emphasizes that even the most deeply-held religious belief (and ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 6  Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com hope) is often not enough to console people against the apocalyptic state also emphasizes the connection between suffering that exists in the world. exclusion and destruction. Lauren indicates that the history of When it comes to the matter of heaven, Earthseed is once racial and socioeconomic inequality in the US led directly to the again shown to offer a more real and substantial form of hope dystopia of the 2020s, suggesting that excluding groups of in comparison to other religions. While some characters (such people based on their race, gender, and class from mainstream as Travis and Bankole) object that Earthseed will not be able to society creates a climate of violence and destruction. gain followers because it does not provide the promise of Despite the problems associated with exclusion, however, the heaven, Lauren disputes this. Belief in heaven is a central part book also suggests that exclusion is often necessary—both as of Earthseed’s ideology, but—in Lauren’s words—“My heaven an essential (if unreliable) way of staying safe, and as a way of really exists. And you don’t have to die to reach it.” Earthseed building community. Exclusion and inclusion—rather than posits that “The Destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the cancelling one another out—work together in order to form stars.” Lauren explains that humanity’s only hope of survival is social units such as Lauren’s family, her neighborhood, and the to colonize space, and that this will be the equivalent of going to Earthseed community. Throughout the narrative, Lauren heaven for Earthseed followers. When Bankole asks Lauren describes the difficulty of navigating the line between exclusion what Earthseed offers, she replies: “A unifying, purposeful life and inclusion in order to form bonds and stay safe. In the here on Earth, and the hope of heaven for themselves and their neighborhood in which Lauren lives at the beginning of the children.” Note that in Lauren’s use of words, Earthseed does novel, the residents support one another and share resources, not offer the guarantee of heaven but rather the “hope” of it. At thus helping each other to survive through a structure of the same time, this hope is more tangible than the hope of a mutual dependence. Christian afterlife, and is more closely tied to the hope of a However, this policy of inclusion and support is flawed by the better life within the post-apocalyptic earthly world. fact that not everyone in the neighborhood is trustworthy. Lauren admits: “There are other people in the neighborhood INCLUSION VS. EXCLUSION whom I don't like. But I don't trust the Payne-Parrishes. The The first half of the book takes place within kids seem all right, but the adults.... I wouldn't want to have to Lauren’s gated community, and this immediately depend on them. Not even for little things.” Even within the brings to light the importance of exclusion. As the hyper-inclusive environment of her gated community, Lauren United States becomes increasingly brutal and apocalyptic, maintains a carefully exclusionary attitude in order to keep people are more and more desperate to close themselves off herself (and the people she does trust) safe. She carries this from the violence and destruction taking over the country. same attitude forward after the neighborhood is destroyed, Whereas the very rich are able to live safely within highly- using it to decide who to trust on the walk north and who to securitized communities and can flee dangerous areas via include in the growing Earthseed community. helicopter, middle-class people like Lauren and her family Themes of inclusion and exclusion are also explored through attempt to secure themselves within gated communities. Lauren’s hyperempathy, a condition that means she feels other However, it is made clear throughout the book that these people’s pleasure and pain. As a result, Lauren does not have attempts are inevitably futile. Part of the reason for this futility the same psychological and bodily boundaries that naturally is practical; people like Lauren’s family simply do not have the separate people from one another. This forces her to be resources to effectively secure and defend themselves from especially vigilant about who she excludes and includes—both the violence that exists beyond the neighborhood gate. in the sense of building the Earthseed community and in her The other reason why attempts to find safety through exclusion personal proximity to other people. However, as much as are doomed to failure is because, as Lauren points out in her having hyperempathy can be dangerous for Lauren, it is also diary, excluding people from a community breeds violent part of what makes her such a strong and exceptional person. resentment among the excluded. Simply the fact that Lauren’s She is (literally) personally implicated in other people’s neighborhood exists puts the neighborhood in danger. wellbeing, and is automatically disinclined from violence. For Although the reality is that almost everyone in the gated this reason, early in the novel Lauren mentions that she wishes community is poor and unemployed, the fact that the she could live in a community among other people with community is sequestered off from the outside world creates hyperempathy. This dream in part becomes a reality when the the impression that the people living within it have wealth or formerly enslaved Emery, Tori, Grayson, and Doe join the resources that they want to safeguard. The violent destruction Earthseed community, as all four of these characters also have of Lauren’s neighborhood—and the massacre of its hyperempathy. residents—is thus presented as an inevitable (if deeply tragic) event. The book’s account of how the United States descended into an ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 7  Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com CREATION, DESTRUCTION, AND a metaphorical level the group of people who become the first REBIRTH Earthseed congregation are the equivalent of this fertile earth. On the walk north, Lauren carefully chooses people she can The book is set in a climate of extreme destruction. trust and who appreciate Earthseed’s message. It is also Struck by environmental and political disaster, the significant that when the community decide to stop walking and United States has descended into an apocalyptic landscape, settle, it is to begin a farm—another connection to the practice which—despite the promises of President Donner—seems of sowing seeds, and thus to the themes of creation and rebirth largely unsalvageable. This absolute sense of destruction is amidst destruction. encapsulated by the fires that rage across the country, which are propelled in part by a new drug most commonly known as “pyro.” The drug leads people to arson and causes them to TRUTH VS. DENIAL experience a powerful sense of desire and satisfaction when Throughout the novel Lauren presents herself as watching fire burn. Several characters in the novel compare this someone who seeks truth while those around her desire to sexual lust, suggesting that in the doom-laden world remain in a state of denial. Indeed, this is part of of 2020s America people have come to have a visceral appetite what marks her out as different from those around her, for destruction. allowing her to survive the horror of her conditions and work to At the same time, one of the most important thematic elements build a better future. of the book is the idea that the seemingly unstoppable Ideas about truth and denial are introduced right at the destruction is not necessarily absolute or permanent. While beginning of the book, when Lauren is preparing to be baptized. one world is certainly ending before the characters’ eyes, Lauren is reluctant for the baptism to take place for multiple others are being created. There are many examples of different reasons, all of which stem from commitment to (what she ways in which the characters cling to a sense of hope for believes to be) the truth. She admits that she no longer believes creation in the midst of destruction. For example, Lauren notes in the Christian God, saying: “My God has another name.” She is that in her neighborhood there is a strong pressure for young also reluctant to attend her father’s friend’s church for the people to marry and have children. Although Lauren herself baptism, pointing out that it would be safer to simply be deliberately avoids this fate, choosing not to marry Curtis and baptized in her own bathtub. However, she notes that using contraception when she has sex with both him and journeying to the church—which is the only actual church Bankole, there are other reminders of the ongoing creation of building left in the area—reminds the adults of “the good old new life, such as the children Lauren helps to teach in her days when there were churches all over the place and too many neighborhood or Travis and Natividad’s baby, Dominic. While lights and gasoline was for fueling cars and trucks instead of for dystopian science fiction often depicts an end to human torching things.” She adds that “they never miss a chance to reproduction (either by necessity or choice), babies and relive the good old days or to tell kids how great it's going to be children remain a central part of the world of the novel. when the country gets back on its feet and good times come Where destruction is symbolized by fire, the creation of new back.” Clearly, the adults are in a state of denial about the world life is symbolized by acorns. There are several scenes in which in which they live and the possibility of this world returning to Lauren eats acorn bread, a type of food which her father notes its former state. As a young person who never properly was previously only consumed by Native Americans. Similarly, experienced “the good old days” for herself, Lauren is not when the Earthseed community hosts the mass funeral at the susceptible to this kind of nostalgia; furthermore, she is less end of the book, Lauren comes up with the idea that each wedded to existing religious tradition, and as a result has come person should plant an acorn, which will grow into “live oak up with her own ideas about God, which differ significantly trees [dedicated] to our dead.” Indeed, planting an acorn—a from the Christian view. In this sense, Lauren’s youth enables symbol of new life—in honor of the dead highlights the her to access the truth in a way that older people cannot—a significance of rebirth. Of course, the notion of planting the reversal of the conventional idea that wisdom comes with age. seed of new life is also at play in the book’s title and the name On the other hand, the book also features young people who “Earthseed.” The Biblical Parable of the Sower—which is quoted are in a similar state of denial to the adults around them, thus at the end of the novel—emphasizes the importance of planting indicating that youth does not inherently encourage people to seeds in “good ground,” as this is the only way to ensure that see the truth. This idea is most clearly conveyed during new life will spring forth from them. Lauren’s conversation with her friend Joanne. The two girls are The Parable of the Sower is thus directly related to Lauren’s the same age, and share suspicions about certain elements of plan of founding “Earthseed Communities” that will eventually the adults’ tendency for denial, such as the notion that grow into a new population of people who “take root among the President Donner will make the country go back to “normal.” stars.” Although it may appear that there is very little “good However, when Lauren argues that they should act on their ground” left in which to plant the seeds of a new community, on understanding of the truth and make preparations to leave the ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 8  Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com gated community, Joanne is resistant and rejects their admits: “I haven’t been able to write a word since Wednesday.” discussion entirely, asking Lauren: “Why do you want to talk Sentences like these remind the reader that although Lauren about this stuff?” makes an effort to accurately capture the world around her, her For the novel’s adults and teenagers alike, the truth of their writing will never provide a truly objective picture. reality is so painful and frightening that they cannot help but One of the most important thematic questions in the narrative embrace denial. After Joanne tells her mother about her concerns the extent of the power of writing, books, and conversation with Lauren, Lauren’s father scolds his daughter, scripture, particularly in the context of a chaotic, brutal saying: “These things frighten people. It’s best not to talk about environment. What is the place of the written word in a world them.” When Joanne eventually decides to move with her where most people must focus all their energy on surviving family to the corporate-owned city of Olivar, Lauren accuses each day? Can writing and literature have any impact on such a her of giving into her denial by saying: “I see what’s out there. world? For Lauren, the act of writing helps her to make sense of You see it too. You just deny it.” Unlike Joanne, Lauren’s the world around her. After Keith dies, she writes: “I don't want decisions about her future are grounded in a firm rejection of to write about this. But I need to. Sometimes writing about a fantasy and an embrace of truth, no matter how frightening this thing makes it easier to understand.” truth might be. Reading literature also helps Lauren and other characters The question of truth and denial is also important in relation to navigate their way through the horrifying and often bizarre Lauren’s observations about God and her development of reality in which they live. Lauren notes that her grandmother Earthseed. When characters such as Travis suggest that left a bookcase of science fiction novels when she died, Earthseed is simply something Lauren has invented, she explaining that these novels help her to understand certain compares the process of conceptualizing Earthseed to a aspects of 2020s America, such as the “company-city.” Of scientific discovery: “I reached down, picked up a small stone, course, this passage contains a clever twist, as The Parable of the and put it on the table between us. ‘If I could analyze this and Sower is itself a science fiction novel which in reality was tell you all that it was made of, would that mean I’d made up its written during the time Lauren’s grandmother is supposed to contents?’” Throughout the book, Lauren asserts that have lived. Through meta-fictional gestures and references to Earthseed consists of true observations about the world; real works of literature, Butler blurs the line between fiction indeed, this is what makes it different from other religions. and reality. The world in which Lauren lives was considered to Under one of the passages of Earthseed scripture Lauren be the stuff of fantasy by the generations preceding her, and quotes in her diary, she writes: “This is the literal truth.” Her use this acts as a warning that the real world could in turn come to of the word “literal” draws an important contrast between resemble the dystopia depicted in the novel. Earthseed scripture and other religious texts such as the Bible. Scripture also plays an important role in the novel, and is There is much within the Bible that is difficult to accept as the particularly relevant to the question of the power of the literal truth, due to the fact that it contradicts other parts of the written word. Although Lauren has renounced Christian belief, Bible, common sense, and scientific observations about the Biblical passages feature prominently in her thoughts, world. Interpreting the Bible as literally true thus requires a conversations, and diary entries. The most obvious example of denial of scientific facts, and as a result, Lauren is disdainful of this is Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, which appears in both the people (such as Mrs. Sims) who subscribe to Biblical literalism. title of the novel and on the last page. There are many other Earthseed scripture, on the other hand, emerges from Biblical references scattered throughout the narrative, observations about the world, and as such there is no suggesting that even as Christianity becomes less and less contradiction. For this reason, Lauren is able to assert that relevant to the characters’ lives, the Bible continues to play an Earthseed is “literally true” even though it is the product of her important role in how they understand themselves and the own mind; indeed, she presents Earthseed as not only true but world around them. In this sense, the Bible appears as a cultural a powerful barrier against the forces of fear, fantasy, and denial. object as much as a religious one, and Biblical references help illustrate the way the dystopia of 2020s America came to exist. WRITING, BOOKS, AND SCRIPTURE Even more important than Biblical passages, however, are the The novel consists of a series of diary entries by Earthseed scriptures which Lauren composes herself and Lauren, and thus the entire narrative is mediated eventually decides to call Earthseed: The Book of the Living. The by the act of writing. Although her diary entries are fact that Lauren scatters passages from the Book of the Living highly detailed and seemingly comprehensive, Lauren draws throughout her diary entries gives this book a sense of attention to the gaps and biases within them. For example, the authority, despite the fact that Lauren wrote it herself. Just as entry for Wednesday 26th August 2026 is only one line long: people quote Biblical passages in other pieces of writing, so “Today, my parents had to go downtown to identify the body of does Lauren quote her own words as a kind of counterpoint to my brother Keith,” and in the next entry four days later Lauren her diary entries. ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 9  Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com At the same time, Earthseed scripture also differs significantly FIRE from the Bible and sacred texts of other religions. Whereas sacred texts tend to prominently feature stories, Earthseed Fire is the most prominent force of destruction in scripture has no narrative elements. It is written in the style of the novel. All over the country, communities are poetry and is straightforward in both its informational and destroyed by fires—including, eventually, Lauren’s instructive aspects. Another distinction between the Book of neighborhood. Part of the significance of fire is that it can be the Living and mainstream religious texts is that Earthseed both a natural and man-made force. Many of the fires raging scripture is notably abstract. While this at times makes it seem across the country occur naturally, as a result of climate vague and confusing, it also means that Earthseed scripture can changed-induced drought, storms, and extreme heat waves. be considered “literally true” in a way that is not possible for However, others are started on purpose by arsonists, including other religious texts. In this sense, the novel suggests that addicts of the drug known as pyro. This drug, which is there is a kind of higher truth to poetry and literature that is mentioned frequently throughout the book, makes the not the case for other forms of communication. Writing, books, experience of watching a fire burn “better than sex” and thus and scripture help people to access the truth not through their encourages addicts to burn everything in sight. The comparison comprehensiveness or detail, but rather through an abstract between arson—an act of destruction—and sex, which (at least and poetic form of honesty. in a biological sense) is an act of creation, is testament to the perversion of humanity in the world of the novel. The destruction caused by fire is generally shown to be total SYMBOLS and irrevocable—as soon as Lauren’s neighborhood burns down, for example, she, Harry, and Zahra flee, knowing that the Symbols appear in teal text throughout the Summary and community in which they once lived will never exist again. On Analysis sections of this LitChart. the other hand, there are also references to the idea of the “phoenix”: new life rising from the ashes of fire. This is ACORNS especially true on Acorn, the Earthseed community formed on the remains of Bankole’s farmland at the end of the novel. Acorns feature throughout the book as a symbol of Although Bankole’s farmhouse and family have been destroyed new life, hope, and possibility. When Lauren is living by fire, the community plant seeds in the land that remains, a with her family in the neighborhood, they regularly eat acorn reminder that even ash can provide the “good ground” evoked bread. It is only later that Lauren’s father explains that they in the Parable of the Sower. make and consume acorn bread because he read in a book that Native Americans used acorns in this manner. This demonstrates Lauren’s father’s belief in innovatively creating HEAVEN (or recreating) new ways of living, a principle he passed onto his Religion plays a very prominent role in the novel, daughter. Acorns are also important at the very end of the and so do ideas about heaven. This is particularly novel, when the group of people who settle on Bankole’s true because there is so much death in the narrative, and property decide to ritualistically plant oak trees using acorns as because the world of the novel is so miserable. An important part of their mass funeral. Again, this emphasizes the extent to question the novel asks is whether or not the characters—who which acorns symbolize the rebirth that is inherent within the suffer so much in the mortal world—have any hope of finding natural world. Acorns fall from grown trees and are planted in relief and joy in the afterlife. Raised as a Baptist, Lauren is soil, feeding on the nutrients provided by dead plants in order taught to believe in the traditional Christian version of heaven. to grow into new trees. Fittingly, the new community decide to Theoretically, the promise of the Christian heaven gives call their home “Acorn” as a tribute to this sense of new life in believers hope and motivation to adhere to moral principles the midst of death and destruction. This also links the during their time on earth. However, it is clear that in the community’s home base to the religious principles around apocalyptic climate of the novel, the abstract promise of a which they have congregated: Earthseed. Acorns are, after all, a Christian heaven is not enough in the face of the immense type of seed, and the Biblical Parable of the Sower after which suffering and destruction that occurs in the mortal world. This the book is named—and which is included in full at the very end is evidenced when the deeply religious Mrs. Sims chooses to of the narrative—focuses on the importance of planting seeds commit suicide even though she believes that this will mean she in “good ground” in order for those seeds to grow and flourish. is sent to hell. It is also revealed when Lauren hopes that her Despite the apocalyptic landscape in which the characters live, brother Keith will “rest in peace—in his ashes, in his urn, they can plant acorns both metaphorically and literally in the wherever.” Lauren’s ambivalence about the afterlife shapes the “good ground” of their community and thereby find hope in a development of the Earthseed concept of heaven. Within new, better way of life. Earthseed, heaven is literalized in time and space—Lauren ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 10  Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com writes that it is Earthseed’s “destiny” to “take root among the stars.” Lauren hopes that Earthseed communities will Change” is perhaps deceptively simple. Lauren’s eventually be able to exist in the literal heavens—outer space. understanding of God is in fact a rather radical rejection of She argues that the promise of this real, physical heaven is the God evoked by existing religions. better than the abstract promise of a Christian heaven, which does not arrive until after death and which no human can be sure even exists. To the adults, going outside to a real church was like stepping back into the good old days when there were churches all over the place and too many lights and gasoline QUO QUOTES TES was for fueling cars and trucks instead of for torching things. Note: all page numbers for the quotes below refer to the Grand They never miss a chance to relive the good old days or to tell Central Publishing edition of The Parable of the Sower kids how great it's going to be when the country gets back on published in 2000. its feet and good times come back. Yeah. To us kids––most of us––the trip was just an adventure, an Chapter 1 Quotes excuse to go outside the wall. We would be baptized out of duty All that you touch or as a kind of insurance, but most of us aren't that much You Change. concerned with religion. I am, but then I have a different All that you Change religion. Changes you. The only lasting truth Related Characters: Lauren Olamina (speaker) Is Change. God Related Themes: Is Change. Related Symbols: Related Characters: Lauren Olamina (speaker) Page Number: 8 Related Themes: Explanation and Analysis Page Number: 3 Lauren is traveling to her father’s friend’s church in order to be baptized. The church is beyond her neighborhood wall, Explanation and Analysis and is the only church she knows of that still has a physical These verses, taken from Earthseed: The Book of the Living, building. This quotation is filled with oppositions: between appear above the first chapter of the novel. Although it is adults and kids, past and present, faith and lack of faith, and not yet clear to the reader what Earthseed is, the verses are the neighborhood and the world outside. These oppositions written in a style that is simple, unambiguous, and easy to stand in tension with one another; the adults’ view of the understand. This is a distinct contrast to many other forms world is drastically different from that of the kids, and of religious scripture, which often employs technical people long for the past in a present that is violently vocabulary, poetic language, and complex symbolic different. references. As Bankole later points out, Earthseed is This passage also introduces the theme of truth versus remarkably devoid of mysticism, and this is evident in the denial. Lauren notes that the adults choose to place false very first lines of Earthseed scripture quoted at the hope in religion and in the idea of the world returning back beginning of the novel. to the way it once was. The kids, however, are thoroughly These lines contain the most important principles of focused on the reality around them. They have little interest Earthseed. On one level, they are radical and filled with in religion, do not believe that the world will go back to its meaning; in another sense, they are rather neutral. It is, former state, and are mostly just excited by the “adventure” after all, not particularly controversial to state that “the only of going out beyond the neighborhood wall. They live in the lasting truth is Change.” Regardless of one’s scientific or present even though the present has little to offer them. religious understanding of the world, the cycle of creation and destruction proves the cliché that the only guarantee in life is change. On the other hand, the statement “God Is ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 11  Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com Chapter 4 Quotes between Lauren and Joanne epitomizes the theme of truth The Garfields and the Balters are white, and the rest of us versus denial. Lauren acknowledges the fact that the are black. That can be dangerous these days. On the street, neighborhood is insecure and the world outside violent, and people are expected to fear and hate everyone but their own that an impending disaster is therefore likely; Joanne kind, but with all of us armed and watchful, people stared, but chooses to ignore this fact. they let us alone. Our neighborhood is too small for us to play However, this passage also touches on other issues related those kinds of games. to Lauren’s understanding of the world and Earthseed in particular. In a certain sense, Lauren can be seen as a Related Characters: Lauren Olamina (speaker) prophet: someone with a unique insight into God and who sparks a new religious faith. However, unlike traditional Related Themes: prophets, Lauren does not have extraordinary abilities and has not received a message directly from God. Rather, she Page Number: 36 develops her ideas about God simply through observation Explanation and Analysis of the world around her. Lauren is not a supernatural figure, and cannot “read the future” any more than she can Lauren has gone out with a group of adults and kids from communicate directly with God. Her ability to predict future her neighborhood to practice shooting. She has explained events is simply rooted in her willingness to embrace the that the group generally gets along, but adds that issues can truth, rather than live in a state of denial. arise from the fact that some of them are white and others are black. Clearly, the United States of the 2020s suffers from the same issues that afflict the country in the present, even if these issues are compounded by the apocalyptic Well, today, I found the name, found it while I was weeding nature of the 2020s American landscape. In fact, the the back garden and thinking about the way plants seed country seems to be regressing when it comes to the themselves, windborne, animalborne, waterborne, far from problem of racial prejudice. Whereas toward the end of the their parent plants. They have no ability at all to travel great 20th century expressing prejudiced ideas at least carried distances under their own power, and yet, they do travel. Even some stigma, in Butler’s vision of the 21st century, racism is they don't have to just sit in one place and wait to be wiped out. again becoming accepted as normal. There are islands thousands of miles from anywhere––the Hawaiian Islands, for example, and Easter Island––where plants seeded themselves and grew long before any humans Chapter 5 Quotes arrived. Earthseed. "You don't know that! You can't read the future. No one I am Earthseed. Anyone can be. Someday, I think there will be a can." lot of us. And I think we'll have to seed ourselves farther and "You can," I said, "if you want to. It's scary but once you get past farther from this dying place. the fear, it's easy.” Related Characters: Lauren Olamina (speaker) Related Characters: Lauren Olamina , Joanne Garfield (speaker) Related Themes: Related Themes: Page Number: 77-78 Page Number: 55 Explanation and Analysis Explanation and Analysis Lauren has written that naming something “helps one to begin to understand it.” She has just invented the name for Joanne and Lauren are eating lunch together and have been her ideas about religion: Earthseed. In this passage, she discussing recent waves of disease, drug epidemics, and explains that she thought up the name while gardening. The natural disasters that are devastating the country. Lauren process of coming up with the name “Earthseed” mirrors has pointed out that at some point someone is inevitably the process that Lauren uses to develop all her ideas. She going to break down the walls of the neighborhood; takes inspiration from the natural world (in this case, however, Joanne refuses to believe this. Clearly, the conflict gardening), her education and reading (as evidenced by her knowledge of the Hawaiian Islands and Easter Island), and ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 12  Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com Chapter 11 Quotes from her own reasoning about what will happen in the future (her prediction that Earthseed will have to leave There was another robbery last night––or an attempted Earth). robbery. I wish that was all. No garden theft this time. Three guys came over the wall and crowbarred their way into the This passage also emphasizes the importance of seeds in Cruz house. The Cruz family, of course, has loud burglar alarms, relation to the theme of creation, destruction, and rebirth. barred windows, and security gates at all the doors just like the In the midst of immense destruction—in a “dying rest of us, but that doesn't seem to matter. When people want place”––Lauren is creating something new. Although there to come in, they come in. may be no hope left for life on Earth, that does not mean that this dying planet cannot bring forth new life and possibilities. Just as the soil in which seeds grow is made up Related Characters: Lauren Olamina (speaker) of dead plants and animals, so is Earthseed a kind of (re)birth made possible through death and destruction. Related Themes: Page Number: 116 Chapter 10 Quotes Explanation and Analysis May he rest in peace––in his urn, in heaven, wherever. At the beginning of Chapter 11, Lauren writes that the neighborhood community is “coming apart”––that they are Related Characters: Lauren Olamina (speaker), Keith like a rope breaking one strand at a time. In this passage, she Olamina explains that there was another robbery, and that no matter how much the neighborhood residents try to secure Related Themes: themselves against the world outside, there is ultimately nothing they can do to stop people coming in. This passage Related Symbols: thus mirrors Lauren’s earlier conversation with Joanne in which she stressed the inevitability of intruders entering Page Number: 115 the neighborhood and eventually destroying it. Again, Lauren is certain that this will happen—not because she can Explanation and Analysis truly predict the future, but rather because she knows that Lauren’s brother Keith has been viciously tortured and exclusion breeds violence and that securing oneself against killed. At the funeral, Lauren has noticed that her father isn’t the outside world is inherently unsustainable. crying, and Lauren’s boyfriend Curtis points out that Lauren hasn’t cried either. Lauren admits that she has mixed feelings about Keith and doesn’t feel bad about the fact that Maybe Olivar is the future––one face of it. Cities she has not cried for him. However, in this quotation she controlled by big companies are old hat in science fiction. expresses hope that he rests in peace. Note that while My grandmother left a whole bookcase of old science fiction Lauren usually writes in a confident and decisive novels. The company-city subgenre always seemed to star a manner—particularly when it comes to the topic of hero who outsmarted, overthrew, or escaped "the company." religion—in this quotation she speaks about death and the I've never seen one where the hero fought like hell to get taken afterlife in an ambiguous way. Is she simply feeling in and underpaid by the company. In real life, that's the way it depressed and defeated after the death of Keith? Or does will be. That's the way it is. she truly feel ambivalent about the matter of heaven? Both of these explanations are valid, but as becomes clear Related Characters: Lauren Olamina (speaker) later in the book, life after death is not an important part of Earthseed. Lauren does emphasize the importance of Related Themes: heaven within Earthseed teachings; however, she also points out that this version of heaven is a mortal experience, Related Symbols: and “you don’t have to die to reach it.” While Lauren is unequivocally clear about God and “heaven,” she does not Page Number: 124 place particular importance on life after death, preferring to focus on the more immediate, tangible, and knowable Explanation and Analysis elements of life in the mortal world. ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 13  Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com A corporation called KSF has taken over the coastal city of “fancy” or “original,” just clear and true. This distinguishes Olivar, and offered jobs in exchange for room and board. Lauren’s Earthseed writings from many other forms of There has been an argument in Lauren’s family about religious scripture, which are often rather complex, poetic, whether moving to Olivar would be a good idea, and Lauren mystical, or self-contradictory. As Lauren’s plans for the has just learned that there are other families in the future of Earthseed make clear, she wants her scripture to neighborhood who want to move, too. Lauren is opposed to be clear in order to help her gain students and converts. In the idea of moving to Olivar in part because she has read this sense, Earthseed is a highly inclusive religion, designed her grandmother’s old science fiction novels about to be as accessible as possible. company-cities. This is a meta-fictional moment in the novel wherein Butler gestures toward the fact that The Parable of the Sower is itself a science fiction novel (and one that would Chapter 14 Quotes be considered “old” in the time at which Lauren is writing). In order to rise This passage also contains a subtle critique of the depiction From its own ashes of company cities within the science fiction genre. As Lauren A phoenix points out, stories of company cities often focus on a hero First who manages to overcome the system and escape. Must However, this narrative ignores both the reality of what it is Burn. like to live under the control of a corporation and the suffering of all those left behind within the corporation’s Related Characters: Lauren Olamina (speaker) grip. Unlike other science fiction novels, The Parable of the Sower is focused on depicting social problems and the plight Related Themes: of the masses, rather than the story of a single hero. Although Lauren is in many ways a heroic character, her Related Symbols: journey is rooted in family and community, rather than her individual prowess. Page Number: 153 Explanation and Analysis I'm trying to speak––to write––the truth. I'm trying to be This is the quote that precedes Chapter 14, which is set in clear. I'm not interested in being fancy, or even original. the year 2027, after a 7-month gap from the previous Clarity and truth will be plenty, if I can only achieve them. If it chapter. At the end of the last chapter, Lauren’s father was happens that there are other people outside somewhere missing and presumed dead, the neighborhood was being preaching my truth, I'll join them. Otherwise, I'll adapt where I struck by repeated arson attacks and robberies, and Lauren must, take what opportunities I can find or make, hang on, was secretly harboring a plan to leave and go north as soon gather students, and teach. as she turned 18. This passage from Earthseed emphasizes the idea that destruction is sometimes necessary for creation and rebirth. The phoenix—a mythical bird that Related Characters: Lauren Olamina (speaker) would burst into flame and be reborn from the ashes—also plays an important role here due to the fact that fire is the Related Themes: most important symbol of destruction in the novel. Lauren’s mention of the phoenix points to the idea that although fire Related Symbols: can seem like a force of total and irrevocable destruction, new life can also be born in its wake. Page Number: 125 Explanation and Analysis Lauren has been thinking about her future, and has decided I have to write. There's nothing familiar left to me but the that as soon as she turns 18 she will leave the writing. God is Change. I hate God. I have to write. neighborhood, go north, and try to survive by teaching literacy. She has also decided on a name for her Earthseed Related Characters: Lauren Olamina (speaker) scripture: Earthseed: The Book of the Living. In this passage, she explains that she is not trying to make the scripture ©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 14