Parable of the Sower

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993) Considered a science fiction novel, it happens to be set in 2024 and a few years beyond that—so that’s interesting—and can feel terrifying, in that the world portrayed seems more possible with each passing year. If I’d have read this when it came out, in the early 1990s, I’d probably have thought the same thing, though, as it’s about society collapsing, and that’s what the world has looked like my whole life. As graphic and brutal as it is, I found it to be hopeful in a lot of ways, and that’s necessary to not just feel depressed. I was immediately drawn to the narrator, a 15-year-old (at the start of the book) girl named Lauren who suffers from hyper-empathy syndrome, so that she acutely feels the pain of others. This is a great device, as it makes it almost impossible for her to protect herself in a world in which she might need to use violence just to survive. After her family is killed, she heads north, hoping to reach a place where the social structure might still be intact, if only because of more space, more clean water, and the promise of paid work—though no one really knows. As she travels with the couple of survivors from her community, they pick up fellow travelers on the way. Lauren is somewhat of a visionary, as she is developing a particular religions philosophy based on the idea that God is change. You have to think that this is what must keep her going—along with a natural skill for survival—in spite of the incredible grief she must feel, after losing her family, and the seemingly hopelessness of the world around them. The clear, observant voice of her narration feels as positive and hopeful as could possibly emerge from such dire situations, and I found myself less freaked out, eventually, and more calmed—with faith that she might survive and even start over somewhere, sometime.