It’s no secret that our current society aspires to have racially diverse neighborhoods, schools and workplaces. In Butler’s cautionary tale, does Lauren continue to hope for this? If so, how does racial diversity play into the Earthseed verse, “Embrace diversity. / Unite– / Or be divided, / robbed, / ruled, / killed / By those… Continue reading Embrace diversity / Or be destroyed
Category: Reflections
A Simple Parable
Parable of the Sower was a quick and simple read, perhaps too simple. The parallels which Butler drew between slavery and her near-future society were alarmingly obvious. It didn’t seem to me to be so much a parallel as it was a re-telling, set in a different time. I also had issues with the whole… Continue reading A Simple Parable
“the road” so far
Currently, I have read the first 55 pages of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”, and I am finding that I am left with only questions so far. I wonder what caused McCarthy to wait so long to explain what has happened to civilization. There are ravaging fires and frequent earthquakes, but I don’t yet know why.… Continue reading “the road” so far
The Self-Empowerment of the Masses
I was thinking more about our discussion of Earthseed and my topic for this optional blog post coalesced from there. Why religion? Why do people turn to deities and mystical powers to tell them how to act in extreme situations where moral action becomes ambiguous and survival becomes paramount? Why do these people not gravitate… Continue reading The Self-Empowerment of the Masses
The Parable of “Sharing” (Optional)
“Sharing would be harder on a man” (Butler 324). It is factual information—dare I say it—that women clearly have higher thresholds for pain when it comes to life-shattering experiences. I could imagine that if the main character of this novel had been a man, a lot more people probably would have been dead, not to… Continue reading The Parable of “Sharing” (Optional)
Optional Blog on Parable of the Sower
When I first started reading Parable of the Sower, I was very interested in how Butler presented the future. I brought this point up in class as well, but thought it would be interesting to talk about it on the blog. Usually, we see futuristic novels or movies as highly advanced in technology. There are flying… Continue reading Optional Blog on Parable of the Sower
Embrace Your Inner Cannibal! or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Eat Dead People
For my optional blog post make up extravaganza, (one post can be an extravaganza), I am going to look forward to The Road while also looking back (a smidge) at Parable of the Sower. I actually read the entirety of The Road last night, but there shouldn’t be any spoilers in here. I want to… Continue reading Embrace Your Inner Cannibal! or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Eat Dead People
Optional makeup blog
I think it’s interesting that Parable of the Sower chose to end on a verse from the Bible, when Lauren’s Earthseed is so prominent in the rest of the book. I mean, Lauren’s father is a minister, her family is steeped in Babtist origin, and Lauren admits that she has a hard time believing the… Continue reading Optional makeup blog
Suffering: of God, of Lauren
Is it Lauren’s hyperempathy that inspires the renaming of her father’s god? Without saying it outright, is she asking: Does my father’s god share the joys and suffer the pains of human beings like I do? And if this god is filled with the same debilitating fear and misery that I feel – infinityfold –… Continue reading Suffering: of God, of Lauren
Hyperempathy: The Reason to Unite
We talked some in class about the definitions of sympathy, empathy, and hyperempathy; however, we seemed to have avoided a discussion on the function of this “delusion,” in the novel. Whether or not Lauren’s condition is plausible or correctly labeled, I think the existence of the condition at all is extremely important. Could Butler have… Continue reading Hyperempathy: The Reason to Unite
The Innate Scientist in All of Us
We live. We search. We constantly strive to become something more, something new, or simply just something better than what we may be at the time. It’s human nature to wish for change, let alone to justly understand that change is an inevitable thing that comes to all human beings, much like death. The character… Continue reading The Innate Scientist in All of Us
God and God
Initially, I was confused at Lauren’s Earthseed God; I just couldn’t understand what made her God a god. It seems as though Earthseed religion is a proactive, existential philosophy and/or way of life and the God part is there only to contrast her upbringing with a Baptist father. Granted, creating Earthseed helps/helped her cope with… Continue reading God and God
Pyromania
Lauren has a fascination with fire as do many of the other people living in Parable of the Sower. Beginning with her dream in the very beginning of the book and continuing through several manifestations, fire plays and ever increasing role in her thoughts and life. Humans have always had a primal fear and fascination… Continue reading Pyromania
Hyperempathy?
So unnaturalising the “natural”. We touched on this in class for probably more than half an hour if any of you remember. And also hyperempathy. I don’t see it necessarily as a “delusion” although it’s been described as one by Butler, herself. I see it as part of Lauren’s strength. I don’t see it as… Continue reading Hyperempathy?
Hyperempathy, Religion and Community
Lauren’s hyperempathy is something that could be glossed over, potentially, as a means of establishing reader sympathy, and furthering Lauren’s strength and vulnerability as a protagonist. However, this “delusion” of hers begs further inquiry, in light of the seriousness of the novel’s other themes. Lauren is gifted with a level of foresight which allows her… Continue reading Hyperempathy, Religion and Community