Parable (second half)–Group 4

In the slides, I try to suggest that Butler’s book has, at the end of the day, profoundly utopian urges, the proposition that alternatives to late capitalism and its many problems might exist.  What do you think?  Do you see anything hopeful in the book? If so, what?  Is it possible to feel any drive toward something better after all of the brutality?

6 thoughts on “Parable (second half)–Group 4

  1. William Koch

    I do think the reader receives a hopeful ending by the end of the novel, or, if not hope, then resolution (e.g. when Bankole finally gets to have a funeral for his sister and his family). I’ve been comparing this novel to Fahrenheit 451 just in the sense that both approach apocalypses in different ways. Ultimately, I think that Parable offers an extremely more hopeful ending despite more visible and realized destruction throughout. Where at the end of Fahrenheit 451 Montag tries to preserve an old way of living in the midst of nuclear destruction, Lauren embraces and advocates for change. There is a sort of rebirth at the end of the novel. Yes, there is an acknowledgement that things will still be a struggle, that things will not be entirely resolved, but the burial of the dead, the planting of trees, and the naming of the new community “Acorn” to me represents a closure on the past and a readiness for the future. This further differentiates Parable from Fahrenheit in that there is certainly more closure after the destruction that Lauren and Montag have endured, respectively. Montag tries to revive a lost way of living. Lauren knows that a new way of living is necessary in order to survive. And while the term “survival” is not necessarily a hopeful one, the tone at the end of the novel that survival is possible after so much destruction feels rather optimistic.

  2. Jacob Morton

    It is interesting to compare Parable to Johnny Mnemonic as both tell blatantly futuristic, ostensibly dystopian tales which feature protagonists with special abilities. Johnny Mnemonic is much more cynical to me–its perception of society is on a downwards spiral. By the end of it, the only hope Johnny has is to undo the cybernetic surgery–devolve into a former, more primal state. His enhancement is wholly intertwined with the overwhelming technology of the dystopia he lives in. This is why it seems so bleak to me–Mnemonic’s one glimmer of hope is losing the gift that defines him–becoming blissfully naive. Parable, on the other hand, embraces change/progress. For Lauren, that change is divine. “God is Change.” Unlike Johnny, her gift is organic; it is innately human and pertains to human connection. It didn’t come from technological implants–it came from her own mother. Unlike Johnny, she doesn’t want society to devolve into what it was–she wants it to advance. She doesn’t yearn for the early days like her father or Johnny does; she sees a future on other planets. Ignorance is not bliss for Lauren. Parable’s reliance on religion emphasizes a timelessness of faith. In Butler’s dystopia, no matter how much change endures, some semblance of theology will always exist. In Johnny, religion would seem out of place; it’s almost as if technology is its substitute. This timeless reliance on human faith definitely contributes to the optimism of the novel.

  3. Chase Royer

    In the novel Parable of the Sower, Butler sets up a threatening dystopian society based off of a collapsing United States. The country has become destroyed by the crippling effects of climate change, wealth inequality, and capitalistic greed. When her gated neighborhood is destroyed, Lauren is abruptly immersed into the complete dystopia of the world around her. The only chance of enduring these circumstances’ rests on her strong will to survive and her vision towards Earthseed. With Lauren’s mindset of cultivating Earthseed despite a horrifying external reality, Butler is able to challenge the fundamentals of a utopian society, despite Lauren’s experience living in an unforgiving environment.
    Despite the cruel reality in which she lives in, Lauren is able to maintain a sense of hope that stems from the utopian ideals associated with Earthseed. Her religion embraces the inescapability and ongoing reality of change, and further, inspires followers to yield to it when necessary. At the same time, this mentality creates and shapes change in a positive way; when she first opens up to Zahra and Harry with her created set of beliefs, she begins by sharing what she chose to be the opening lines of the first book of Earthseed: She claims that “These lines say everything. Everything… All that you touch You change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth Is Change. God Is Change” (Butler 195). Lauren’s belief challenges the common notion of God as a superior, all-powerful being rather, it teaches simply that God is change, because change is a powerful, ever-present, and inevitable force that cannot be stopped. She also implies the ability of all individuals to create change, thus having the ability to make a world of their own. This allows them to maintain hope of creating a better life as they navigate the dystopia they find themselves in. With this, Octavia Butler challenges readers by presenting Earthseed as a set of utopian beliefs, which opposes the customary view of utopia being an instance of physical, organized, and superficially perfected state of society.
    Earthseed is essentially a state of mind, allowing Lauren, and eventually other characters, to ground themselves in the hope of creating positive change and bettering their own lives, even while facing a starkly contrasting dystopian reality. I agree with Elise that Earthseed is not the saving grace, however I argue it represents the ideals of utopia through hope and change for the better.

  4. Natalie Meyer

    I agree that Butler’s book offers an alternative to capitalism in that Earthseed as a community represents a more significant change in the ideology of what matters in life. A “socialist” society of some sort. Yet, as Elise said, the specific Earthseed communities are not the “saving grace,” but they offer a glimpse at a communal tribe of people with higher morals and aspirations. The book is filled with gruesome violence and bloodshed, yet Lauren leads the reader and her followers on a journey filled with aspirations. The story does not have a black and white narrative between hope and despair. It is a story of humanity and the desire that there is more than just “you” to care for. To want and to believe in fundamental change, you must have a higher power in yourself to guide you to make the world a better place. Earthseed’s form of religion is more than just handing yourself over to God’s mercy; you must manifest your reality and invest (literally and figuratively). This humanistic side of the “religion of Earthseed” is exemplified further when she helps people along the way, doing things to protect herself and her cohort that she brings along with her. She does not indoctrinate everyone like we so often see with religious groups but rather shares her beliefs and everyone eventually became on board with her. Finally, naming the community “Acorn” in of itself is a side of hope with acorns falling on the ground in the hopes of germinating a forest. Acorns are an actual Earthseed and represent the hope of what a beautiful future could be—rising from the ashes. Whether or not this will be the alternative to capitalism is another story. I agree that capitalism will need to change and adapt, but there is no way that all forms of capitalism will cease to exist as we know it, and we will all live together in harmony in a community. It is an excellent idea, but unfortunately unrealistic.

  5. Colin Paskewitz

    Throughout all of the violence and conflict that Lauren and the Earthseed community face, there are definitely some hopeful components to the plot. Most of the people they see or have conflicts with throughout the book are focused on surviving by any means necessary without regard for the wellbeing of anyone else. The Earthseed community for the most part is the opposite. Through all of the turmoil they go through they become a family who cares for each other in the same way they would care for themselves. While others see weakness and look to use violence and even cannibalism to survive, the Earthseed community only uses violence to protect their own and innocent people who cannot protect themselves. In a time where capitalism has taken over and people are expected to act in the interest of their own survival, Earthseed is a socialist counternarrative where the groups safety is of the highest importance. The Earthseed community gives hope that people still care for one another. Another hopeful component to the plot is the relationship between Bankole and Lauren. Despite all the chaos going on around them they are still able to fall in love symbolizing some of the good that’s still left in this dystopian society. The premise behind Acorn and Earthseed if applied to society as a whole would solve the problems associated with this broken form of capitalism. However, I don’t think this is possible. This group is too isolated and weak to spread these ideas even if they manage to survive and build the utopia they speak of.

  6. Elise Park

    I certainly agree that throughout the book, despite all the violence and bloodshed, there is something hopeful that prevents the characters and the reader from utterly despairing. There exists no utopia in the state of America; it is unsalvageable, as Bankole states (310), but that is not necessarily a bad thing. The utopia lies in Lauren’s newly discovered way of thinking, which comforts and brings her hope throughout all of the tragedy. Religion often serves to comfort people through hardship, yet worshiping a God that seems indifferent yet can easily destroy lives is destined to fail. With Earthseed, people will “learn to shape God with forethought, care and work” (246), instead of praying and hoping for the best. In this way, people have the ability to comprehend what is within their control and what isn’t. Stressing eternally about all that could go wrong and depending on a God like the Christian God for salvation is the dystopia, while the mindset behind Earthseed presents a refuge.

    I don’t think that Earthseed and Earthseed communities themselves are the saving grace necessarily. As in, a community does not need to subscribe to Earthseed explicitly to be utopic in this world. The characteristics of Earthseed communities are antithetical to the society built by evil corporations and increased privatization. Communities will work for each other, “to educate and benefit their community” (246), in order to create heaven for themselves, instead of walling themselves in and shutting everyone else out. As she travels north, Lauren is unable to turn away Bankole, the Douglases, the Gilchrists, etc. because she understands their stories and their potential as human beings, though she is not, at the same time, careless about her safety. Whether or not everyone decided to convert to Earthseed in her group, they were already an inherently Earthseed-abiding entity.

Leave a Reply