It seems fitting that at the end of such a disastrous year I would subconsciously choose a novel about the end of the world (and how we can survive it). I’d heard of Parable of the Sower by name only, and wanted to explore more Butler after very briefly studying Kindred in undergrad. And just generally speaking I’m curious about all things fantastical and speculative and sci-fi. The Parable of the Sower (PoS from now on- I am lazy) definitely lived up to its hype. Butler’s voice carries misery and suffering with such tenacious grace and wisdom, it’s a meditative yet action-packed novel of discovery and endurance.
The first thing to jump out at me reading PoS was the bleakness, utter desolation in pretty much every section. PoS follows the diaries of Lauren Olamina as she records life in her compound, every day battling with fire-crazed violent drug addicts, police who don’t care (no matter what world you visit, the police never seem to care) and other neighbours scrambling for themselves. A huge tenet throughout Lauren’s diaries is the importance of change relating to her beliefs in God; and this world of wanton cruelty (Trigger warning- this book has a lot of child molestation/rape, murder, drug abuse, gun violence and cannibalism) is certainly a world in which the only truth is that things will go from bad to worse to SHIT. The tone of the novel reminded me heavily of The Road by Cormac McCarthy in how Butler conveys humanity as always cohabiting with violence. The quote on my cover hearkens PoS to The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, and having read both in my opinion this connection is a bit tenuous… it seems more a ploy to try and sell a book by a black author by dressing it up in the names and designs of a white author- not that I don’t want Butler’s work to reach a potentially wider audience, but I think the uniqueness and imaginative integrity of her world-building should be honoured. The books are similar in that they’re both voiced by women living in Americas destroyed by capitalist enterprise and military greed. But, Atwood’s book is more terrifying for its depiction of too much order, too much obedience to religious law and order. Butler’s work is an America with no religion, no crazy tyrant to manipulate carnage to their convenience. Butler’s America is desperate and in self-destruct.
Even though I did find it rather stress inducing and painful to read through certain sections, what makes PoS so beautiful despite the gore is Lauren’s belief in her own capacity to exist with others. How Lauren challenges God and interprets all her experiences into a private religion: Earthseed. The fact that Earthseed beliefs and teachings are communicated through poems at the beginning of each diary entry is something I LOVE from Butler; I love how poetry is used alongside the narrative prose to give spiritual guidance before delving into the material facts that inform and shape how Lauren constructs Earthseed. As Lauren endures the atrocities inflicted upon her and her loved ones, she never stops questioning as a way to survive, to make sense of what is happening. Her theological musings place change as the inevitable God, and the adaptability to this eternal truth as the best way to pray. Make God work for you, shape God with your own hands to suit your own needs.
The other thing I will say is that this book definitely ends more happily than it begins. After the initial horror erupts, Lauren teams up with Harry and Zahra and journeying they come to meet, defend and befriend many other weary travellers. In a world where callousness and cruelty are more likely to help you survive than sharing and caring, Lauren makes it a necessary effort to build trust and community. Earthseed provides a way for characters to bond through conversation and debate, and gives them a higher purpose among the stars (Lauren’s goal is to have Earthseed communities on other planets one day) to lift them out of an otherwise soul-destroying prospect. As PoS draws to a close, I only hope that the relative peace Lauren and her Earthseed comrades find lasts. PoS is the first of a two-part series, followed by Parable of the Talents- which I shall definitely be reading! Maybe things will go to shit again, as Lauren’s god of change would have it. But regardless of potential vicissitudes, Butler’s is a voice that pokes a bright torch into the bear cave of despair. Promising to provide for others without their trust or gratitude secured is always huge risk that could prove fatal, but nobody survives the alternative.