Review: Parable of the Sower

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (1993)

I’ve been meaning to read Parable of the Sower for about a decade — I’m ashamed to admit that I didn’t know this book even existed until I heard it recommended multiple times across various panels at my first Balticon. Parable of the Sower is commonly recommended by mainstream readers as a read-alike for George Orwell’s 1984 (1949), but now that I’ve read both, I’d say Parable of the Sower #1) is *WAY* better than 1984 and #2) has far more in common with other books like George R. Stewart’s Earth Abides (1949), Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (1953), Monica Byrne’s The Girl in the Road (2014), and Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Water Knife (2015).

Parable of the Sower is delivered in a diary format, making the reader privy to the innermost thoughts of the protagonist, a girl named Lauren Olamina. The diary entries date from 20 July 2024 through 10 October 2027 and chronicle Lauren’s first-hand experiences and ensuing journey in a dystopian California.

Lauren is a “sharer” — an empath who experiences the pain and pleasure of other people — but she initially keeps her ability secret because, as she writes, children can be jerks. Being a sharer is a disability, and other people might take advantage of the ability to cripple her further by causing pain to themselves or others. When Parable of the Sower opens, Lauren is living with her family in a walled neighborhood as society falls apart. A drug that gives people the same pleasure as sex when they watch fire is everywhere, which means arson is, too.

In Lauren’s world, the US government still exists, but it has limited impact on the everyday lives of the average person. Municipal and state governments still exist, too, but the firefighters only service wealthier communities and company towns, and the cops are almost always useless when someone needs a murder or theft investigated. Speaking of company towns, they are the new norm: move to a company town on promises of steady work, housing, and food — stay because you’re now trapped in indentured servitude and will never be able to pay off the debts you accrue. Slavery is rampant, too, especially as poor folk sell their children or themselves in hopes of having a steady meal. Racism is prominent, and after a turning point in the story, Lauren opts to disguise herself as a Black man rather than travel openly as a Black woman because mixed couples draw too much ire and prejudice, and she would be an easy target due to her empathy disability.

Lauren’s community isn’t idyllic, but the neighbors help one another survive. Her father is a pastor and a voice of authority in the community, which places Lauren in a situation where she knows all of her neighbors pretty well. It also means she has access to lots of books, including books about foraging and other survival skills that she and her community might need if they ever have to flee.

Lauren is prescient and pragmatic. She anticipates that her walled neighborhood will some day be the target of the thieves and arsonist addicts outside, so she prepares a quasi go-bag, stashing seeds, food, and other essentials in a bundle that she can take with her if she ever has to flee in an emergency. Lauren doesn’t share her father’s faith, so she takes to jotting down her own personal beliefs (namely, God is Change, and that one can find God in other people and by learning from those people and experiences that one encounters in life), eventually dubbing her faith “Earthseed”. Lauren’s ultimate vision for Earthseed is that humanity belongs among the stars, and she realizes that while this may not be possible during her lifetime, she wants to plant the positive, inclusive community that will one day be able to build the technology necessary to achieve

Realizing that she will outgrow her community, Lauren makes plans to leave once she is a year or two older, but finds those plans accelerated when her community is attacked and her family murdered. This tragedy is a turning point in the story, as Lauren clings to her faith and begins journeying north up the West Coast of the United States with one of her other neighborhood survivors, a boy named Harry. Over time, Lauren and Harry encounter more people and slowly, carefully expand their circle of trusted travel companions as they evade gang wars, druggie-arsonists, cannibal children, fires, and more until they finally reach a place where they can safely settle and help the Earthseed community take root.

I found Parable of the Sower to be an enjoyable, uplifting dystopian read. Butler’s prose is accessible and engaging, her pacing relaxed, and her characters multi-layered. Lauren’s underlying optimism and persistence in the face of serious adversity and trauma is inspirational — she’s not an alarmist, just a practical and strategic thinker. She anticipates potential trouble, prepares herself and her companions for it as best she can, and holds firm in her belief that she will be able to plant the seeds of a community that will lead humanity to a brighter tomorrow.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I really enjoyed seeing a kickass sci-fi protagonist with a disability. Not all disabilities are visible, and Lauren keeps hers secret for as long as she possibly can because of the prejudices she knows she will encounter (on top of the racism she already faces). I don’t think I’ve read any other “classic” works of speculative fiction with a disabled protagonist—if you have any other recommendations, please send them my way!

I’d recommend Parable of the Sower to anyone who wants to dip their toes into a dystopia that doesn’t despair about the state of the world. Instead of explicating and expounding on how miserable life is, Butler shows her readers how keeping a level head and being part of communities (or even creating new ones) is key to surviving and thriving in the face of adversity. When everything around us is constantly changing, we can find solace, support, and inspiration by connecting with, trusting in, and learning from the people around us.

Life is a journey with many daunting obstacles, but through Parable of the Sower‘s persistent heroine, Butler gives us coping mechanisms and strategies to help us overcome adversity in our own lives.

Some Earthseed quotes from Parable of the Sower that resonated with me:

• “There is no end / to what a living world / will demand of you.”
  
• “Embrace diversity. / Unite— / or be divided, / robbed, / ruled, / killed / by those who see you as prey. / Embrace diversity / or be destroyed.”
  
• “When apparent stability disintegrates, / as it must— / God is Change— / People tend to give in / to fear and depression, / to need and greed. / When no influence is strong enough / to unify people / they divide. / They struggle, / one against one, / group against group / for survival, position, power. / They remember old hates and generate new ones, / they create chaos and nurture it. / They kill and kill and kill, / until they are exhausted and destroyed, / until they are conquered by outside forces, / or until one of them becomes / a leader / most will follow, / or a tyrant / most fear.”