For our third essay, you will read Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower (1993) and argue for the ways this work of speculative fiction anticipates or provides insights into the issues facing our world (21st century) today. You are expected to present at least four reasons for the novel’s currency (that is, relevance) to our world.
Your argument will rely on using specific examples from the novel to illustrate the issues, themes, and concerns put forth by the author that resonate with your world today. To do this, you will need to quote passages from the novel and describe story points as evidence.
You will also need to exemplify the issues in our world with evidence from news and other sources. In fact, for each claim you make, you should cite a recent source that establishes the currency of that theme/issue/concern in our world today. For example, if you are making a claim about gun violence, you need a source that establishes that gun violence is pervasive in our world.
How you order the evidence is up to you, but it is probably easier to provide from the secondary source that establishes the issue’s currency before you get into presenting evidence from the text of the novel.
Each reason will be taken up independently, which means this part of the essay will be a minimum of four paragraphs. It may take you a couple paragraphs to present a single reason though.
In addition, you will be incorporating into your essay a review of recent scholarship (that is, writing by reputable sources) on Butler’s novel in the form of source summaries OR presenting summaries of articles and reviews of the book when it appeared in the 1990s. You are required to select and present three sources. The purpose of presenting these sources is for you to enter an ongoing conversation about the book and demonstrate that you have considered what others think about the novel as part of writing about it yourself. Be sure that when you select a source they are worthy of inclusion in an academic essay. Avoid random internet source, particularly those without an author. Also beware of “clickbait” blog-type sources. If you have any questions about a particular source, just ask me.
Essay Introduction
Your introduction needs to introduce the novel by author, title, and year and provide a brief (3-4 sentence) description of what the novel is about. Unlike our first essay assignment, I’m not looking for a full summary here.
Your thesis statement will assert a claim about the novel’s currency/relevance/or resonance with our world today or how you think the novel predicts or anticipates aspects of our world.
Essay Organization
This essay will have an introduction, no less than seven body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Citation Guidelines
When working with secondary sources, those that you summarize and those you use to provide evidence of current issues, I do not want you to use parenthetical citations. Instead, when you cite an author, whether you quote them or summarize their ideas, you need to use in-text attribution phrases. These include phrases like
“According to…” or “Merrill Jackson of the New York Times reports that..” The idea is to identify the source of your information in a sentence, giving credit BEFORE you quote or paraphrase them. When you name the author, you should also indicate who they are writing for or otherwise indicate their credentials for being taken serious as an expert.
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The only time you should use parenthetical citations here is when citing the novel. You should indicate page numbers in parenthesis, and when you quote a passage in the novel or summarize a point of action, you may also include the author’s last name. It would look like this:
The narrator’s father works as a professor at a local university, a job that provides the family a relative degree of “middle class” comfort (Butler 37).
Quotations of characters, including the narrator herself, should also include page numbers, but remember that in these cases your attribution phrases will reflect that you are quoting a character rather than the author herself.
Formatting
Your essay needs to be double spaced. It also must have a works cited page that follows MLA citation guidelines.
Based on the source requirements, your works cited page will have at least eight source entries, including the novel itself. If you don’t know how to format an MLA works cited page, there are many online resources that cover it.
Name
Proff. Name
English 1B
Date
“Parable of The Sower”
Octavia Butler is one of the first African American female science fiction writers and published the novel “Parable of the Sower” in 1993. Th novel is set in the future of the 21st Century that has Climate change, Homeless, Death, Murder, and more Chaos. The novel is about a young girl named Lauren Olamina, Lauren lives in a walled community in Southern California, trying to survive widespread violence and death of her family during the process. While trying to survive and understand herself Lauren develops a new belief system called Earthseed that is religion based and embarks on a journey to make her own community based on being free. As Lauren navigates the dangerous landscape, she finds followers who share her vision of a better future and the Earthseed religion based on the thought of “God is Change”. Butler also wrote this novel to show or explain that the world Lauren lives in might eventually be the world in many years from now that being completely change with low living or lots of violence and death.
Melissa Vargas, a writer from Boise State University, writes “Confronting Environmental and Social Crises: Octavia E. Butler’s Critique of the Spiritual Roots of Environmental Injustice in Her Parable Novel”. Vargas goes in depth about the novel Parable of the Sower and gives a discussion of how it relates to the world. She explains that Lauren must go through harsh and violent communities that affect the way she lives. She writes “They cut off each other’s ears, arms, legs….They carry untreated diseases and festering wounds. They have no money to spend on water to wash with so even the unwounded have sores. These people are a danger to Lauren and her family, both directly in terms of violence and indirectly in terms of lost resources by theft” (Pg. 14). This part of the article helps us understand how Lauren had to adapt to a world where basic human decency and hygiene are the best things for life that many cannot afford. It highlights the desperate conditions and the constant threat of violence that is Lauren’s reality. This environment forces her to be vigilant, resourceful, and resilient in order to protect herself and her community to stay alive.
Gender in Dystopia: The Persistence of Essentialist Ideologies in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower By: Elijah Drzata Faculty Mentor: Farrah Cato UCF Department of English (Published June 21, 2019). An article about Drzata examining the novel Parable Sower and the way Lauren had to deal with the gender roles of the community and be able to provide for herself be able to live with no male role models like her dad. He explains the role of Lauren being a female in a community that is overpowered by males who are on drugs, stealing, killing, and trying to survive with a brutal aspect of being a man doing whatever they want. Drzata writes “Lauren’s performance is not disrupting these accepted roles, behaviors, and presentations, but submitting to them, as doing anything else would put her life in danger.” (Pg.5) By explaining Laurens female role in the novel shows that females can provide for themselves and be able to survive without a male figure pushing them around or providing for them. The world is normally on the concept of a male providing for the family by working and earning money for the household and the female staying home to take care of children and the house. Laurens community is set where everyone is trying to survive for their own and killing or stealing on the way.
Roz Dineen On the Simple Prophecy of Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower Roz Dineen on the Book Everyone Should Read Now (July 22, 2024). Dineen explains the mindset of people reading the novel and explains why it’s a good novel and relates to today. There are a lot of people today that are shocked to hear what happens in Laurens community when we have similar issues happening in theirs. Dineen adds “The issues that seem to have caused the breakdown of society in the world of the book climate warming, scarcer natural resources, violence, extreme poverty, regressive labor laws feel only more likely to crumble us every day.” (Pg.1) This statement that Dineen states help readers understand the elements of Lauren’s world are not far from reality but real, pressing concerns that compares to our own challenges. She puts this in there to help us understand that the novel is harsh and has many brutal aspects but in reality, our world is the same way and has them in real life. Dineen article helps people understand the way Laurens community and life had issues that seemed very bad but then we realize that we live in a similar life and or can eventually be the same if our communities and lifestyles don’t change with the world itself.
Throughout the novel Bulter wanted to knowledge the readers about the issues in the world that we encounter in our world the 21st Century also a glimpse of what the world could look like in the future. Lauren undergoes a lot of Natural Disasters such as severe droughts and lack of resources, which makes the real-world impacts of climate change. Lauren must deal with lots of crime and violence as communities break down under the pressure of valance and the increasing crime rates seen in many parts of the world today. Lauren can grasp ineffective and corrupt government systems that fail to protect their citizens, and with political governments failures. Through her journey, Lauren embodies the adaptability needed to survive and thrive with these very intense challenges. Butler uses Lauren’s experiences to help show the importance of community-building and leadership that is needed to be able to thrive as a community or world. Lauren’s ability to inspire her followers shows the power of being able act of being strong and supportive homes in times of crisis. The novel explains that strong communities can build a better lifestyle and a great place to live which builds a better world. That being said, this novel talks about Lauren’s world but also shows a glimpse of what the world can turn out to be in the future.
Natural Disasters is a main part of the issue that Lauren had to deal with throughout the novel. In the novel climate change has led to severe environmental issues that causes landslides and death to many people. These disasters cause the communities to fear the terrain they live in to just mover from under their feet as they are fearing for their life from other people. “The climate has changed. Years of drought and the misuse of water have led to a world where water is more precious than gold.”(Ch.2) The Natural Disasters in the novel does not help the present issues that Lauren and her communities must deal with already as in trying to survive with no drinkable water, people on drugs, and other street walkers trying to stay alive. Lauren’s ability to withstand this kind of pressure in these natural disasters highlights the novel’s ability to show how not only Lauren can survive but others can to. This aspect of the novel helps address climate change and its impacts on our own world to prevent similar outcomes and our faith that we can live through it as Lauren did this illustrates how global warming and Natural Disasters have made the collapse shown in the novel.
One of Lauren’s issues during the novel is dealing with and trying to survive the crime in her world. The breakdown of her community has led to lots of violence and lawlessness, making everyday life incredibly dangerous. Lauren sees many brutal acts of theft, assault, and murder that was often forced by people that are under a lot of stress and even drugs causing chaos. This environment that Lauren must overcome is a good example of what criminal actions causes in the community if not stopped it will take over communities and people will not be able to live a healthy life if being threatened by men and woman on the streets committing crimes. “People are desperate. They steal, they kill, they do whatever they have to do to survive.” (Ch.1) “It’s not safe to go out alone. You have to be armed and ready to defend yourself at all times. Even children carry guns.” (Ch. 7) The novels explain the failure of effective law enforcement causes the situation to rise. In the community the police are either corrupt or not there, leaving communities to fend for themselves. Lauren’s journey had lots of consequences for a society where it has collapsed, and the government fails to protect its citizens. Her experiences found the importance of community and the need for strong leadership to rebuild and save the communities. Crime in the novel is a great look at how our world is turning out to be by the increase of prisons to be made and the big newsletters talking about crime every day of our lives.
Laurens community has a lot of Crime throughout the novel because the government and police were not doing much to help her and the people with the issue. The authorities are largely not able to do much to help and often corrupt, failing to provide the necessary protection and support that the citizens desperately needed from the men and woman on drugs, steeling, and killing. Instead of maintaining order and safety, the government prioritizes its own interests, leaving communities like Lauren’s to fend for themselves. “No one trusts the police. They show up late, if at all, and usually make things worse. We’re better off handling problems on our own” (Ch.10). Lauren and her neighbors had to create their own systems of defense because of the lack of government and police in the areas trying to help them. The novel shows the consequences of governmental neglect and corruption and issues where communities often face similar struggles. This relates to our world today because we see similar issues where communities are left vulnerable due to corrupt government. In many places, people feel that the government and police are not doing enough to protect them, leading to a lack of trust and a sense of abandonment. This can result in communities having to take matters into their own hands, much like Lauren and her neighbors did. If not stopped or helped these things can and will start to happen in today’s world.
Brutality and murder are also a part of today’s world and Laurens main issue with hers. Lauren’s gated community is attacked by arsonists and looters throughout the novel and shows how people do anything to survive. Lauren and her neighbors witnessed the looting right in from our them. Butler writes “The gate was down. The neighborhood was on fire. There were bodies in the street, and people running, screaming, shooting, throwing things, burning…” This scene marks a pivotal moment in the novel, illustrating the breakdown of societal order and the pervasive violence (Ch.14). Lauren’s community and the random acts of violence she encounters illustrate how societal collapse can lead to widespread brutality and lawlessness. Butler explains in detail the brutality and murder through various scenes and events in the novel. Lauren’s gated community is attacked by arsonists and looters, resulting in the brutal murder of many residents, including Lauren’s family. “We came upon the remains of a family—two adults and a child—who had been murdered and left to rot in the sun” (Ch. 17). Lauren finds dead bodies that are just left there, and she understand that it could be her family and the realization of how many other families killed in the process. The violence in the novel reflects real-world issues by drawing a picture for use that explains all what happens when there are increasing crime rates, societal breakdowns, and other failures we see today. Butler does her best to tell us that the attacks are almost a mirror to our world in the future where communities are desperate because of economic hardships, climate change, and bad police, resulting in increased violence and crime.
In conclusion, the novel “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler is not just a science fiction novel but a compelling story that shows the potential future of our world if current trends of climate change, governmental aspects, police, and murder continues. Through the life of Lauren, Butler presents a great and very good vision of communities collapsing and highlighting the adaptability needed to survive and thrive in such a harsh environment. Lauren’s creation of the Earthseed belief system and her journey to build a new community based on the principle that “God is Change” serves as hope and a call to action for readers. Butler’s work challenges us to confront the environmental and social crises of our time and to envision and work toward a better, more realistic future. The novel’s is a good calling to the communities and the people of our wolrd to do better and help each other out for us to be able live a happy life.
Work Cited
Vargas, Melissa. “Confronting Environmental and Social Crises: Octavia E. Butler’s Critique of the Spiritual Roots of Environmental Injustice in Her parable Novels.” ScholarWorks, scholarworks.boisestate.edu/td/18/. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024.
Confronting Environmental and Social Crises: Octavia E. Butlerâ•Žs Critique of the Spiritual Roots of Environmental Injustice in Her Parable Novels
Drzata, Elijah. “Gender in Dystopia: The Persistence of Essentialist Ideologies in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower.” STARS, stars.library.ucf.edu/urj/vol11/iss1/3/. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024.
Gender in Dystopia: The Persistence of Essentialist Ideologies in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower
22, Roz Dineen July. “On the Simple Prophecy of Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower.” Literary Hub, 10 Oct. 2024, lithub.com/on-the-simple-prophecy-of-octavia-butlers-parable-of-the-sower/.
On the Simple Prophecy of Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower ‹ Literary Hub