The Parable of the Sower and the Future of the Society, Essay Example

In this narrative, Butler (2010) describes not only a utopia that is grounded in environmental change, but also conveys the importance of community involvement in rebuilding society through collaborative means.

Butler’s vision is clear as it describes the future of society ten years into the future, where it is created using the following cause-effect narrative: the main character’s illness is the primary consequence of her mother’s addiction. In this context, the reason for the existence of social problems, poverty, and lack of order is humanity itself. From this perspective, all persons were given the seeds to work with, but they were used in haste. The author clearly describes the conditions only a few miles from Los Angeles, where water is scarce, communities are poor, and those who still have a house are “walled in” for protection. How do humans relate to culture, society, religion, and emotions in a place like the 2024 American town that is conveyed in the narrative? The following review examines this question, evaluating the belief that societies are able to be rebuilt through connections to each other, along with restoring shared values in society. The reason people on the Earth are suffering is because of their neglect of social values; they no longer care about the environment; and society’s seed is planted in a shallow ground and does not flourish.

In this community, fear runs rampant, but it has been facilitated by human action and thoughtlessness in many ways, where connections have been lost and have created new challenges for communities to thrive.

Human beings are used to the lack of social order, and the separation between the world inside and outside. They live in a broken society without norms and morals, but some are still trying to reconnect with old values, such as Lauren’s father. The family is afraid of going out on the streets, since the church was set on fire and there are “maggots” and people who do bad things. However, the author is somewhat used to it. Unlike her father and stepmother, she does not remember times when things were different. The narrator expresses her indifference towards cruelty and suffering. She states: “I saw at least three people who weren’t going to wake up again, ever. One of them was headless. I caught myself looking around for the head.” For a girl in her teens, she is very streetwise. She sees a woman naked running around (Butler, 6), and starts guessing whether she was raped or high on drugs. Both events occur regularly in the neighborhood. She is aware of the danger: she feels sorry for the poor little kids, but the ones that are her age “make her nervous”. She states: “People get killed like that all the time” (Butler, 9). Living in fear makes families close their doors to other people, and withdraw from social interaction. This is not an uncommon experience in real life, as we tend to fear that which is unknown and may experience difficulties in understanding what drives human beings to act in specific ways. This is an important reminder of how difficult it is to be human in a society where there are significant challenges to contend with that impact communities in many different ways.

The wall surrounding Robledo’s small community is a symbol of people distancing themselves from the outside world and vulnerability. The walls are mentioned in the book several times, such as: “walled”, “behind the wall”, or Lauren states that citizens would be “crazy to live without a wall to protect” them (Butler, 10). The author states that they are there to protect people. However, those living inside the wall are not better than those living outside. Desperation makes people climb through the wall, cut the barbed wire, and Lazor wire, just to rob an old woman living alone. There is no protection from the horrors that are present in the society. There are also several references to the society’s racism. People do not work together, but look down on each other, or are simply afraid of those who are different. This happens to Lauren, and she fails to find followers in the beginning. People are frightened of her, just like Jews were frightened of Jesus. Lauren wants to live outside of the wall, not because it is safer; because she does not want to be afraid any more. The wall creates segregation and separates people. It is hard to make a connection with the outside world. That is why Lauren wants to leave the neighborhood and become a leader for all. Lauren strives to set an example for others and to no longer ignore what exists in the environment that surrounds her; on the contrary, she strives to overcome the neglect that exists and to become one with society to provide support and encouragement to others.

The older generation has memories and strong emotional ties with the past, but Lauren does not know the world before hunger and poverty. She does not recognize that at one time, society was united and cared about the surrounding environment and the people who are affected by change. Lauren discusses her father’s generation’s memories of the past:

“To the adults, going outside to a real church was like stepping back into the good old   days when there were churches all over the place and too many lights and gasoline was      for fueling cars and trucks instead of for torching things” (Butler, 5).

In the community, there are no churches and no sense of order. Religion for Lauren’s father is a way of connecting to the old world. He sticks with holding church weddings, christenings, and funerals, as they symbolize that there is some reason behind all the problems of the world. Lauren’s father tries to make sense of the community’s suffering through religion. He thinks that if people can still have funerals, weddings, christenings, they will again embrace the old values. However, he is wrong, as they have no use in a world where most people are selfish and struggle for survival.

There is also a clearly visible generation gap between the narrator (Lauren) and her father/stepmother because their values are disconnected from the needs of society. Her father’s generation still hopes that the past can return. Even though her father does not believe in politicians’ promises, he does wish for the old life back deep inside. The generation of Lauren’s father is in denial. They keep on telling themselves that the situation is only temporary, and the chaotic world will soon end. Lauren, on the other hand, does not have any memories of the past, and all she saw while growing up was that society was getting worse.

Still, Lauren realizes that she needs to become independent, as she knows that the old values of the society cannot be restored in their previous form. She wants to go back to when people worked together as a community, for each other, and themselves, and shared  both knowledge and skills. The time when there was no separation between the “we” and the “them”.  She writes in her Earthseed notebook: “A tree cannot grow in its parents’ shadows” (Butler, 29). She understands that she needs to break free from her father, and develop her own way out. Her independence must be her most critical priority so that she is able to make a difference in society and in the chaotic universe in which she resides.

Lauren describes her attitude towards suffering and pain as follows: “I can take a lot of pain without falling apart” (Butler, 6). Further, she explains her coping mechanism: “If I don’t look too long at old injuries, they don’t hurt me too much”. (Butler, 7). However, she soon changes this attitude, and feels the urge to create another system where she does not have to meet with painful experiences any more. In her mind, creating a new religion is the way out for Lauren to restore a semblance of order to society. She looks ahead, instead of looking at the devastation of the present, or looking back to the “old days” when things were different and better. She creates a new collective coping mechanism as an alternative to avoidance to restore the order and humanity in the community. Her ability to cope among the devastation and chaos of the community is admirable, but it is only part of a larger equation to make a difference in the lives of others. While she cannot make people face the truth about the present, she can help them create a new future for themselves.

Emotional sensitivity enables Lauren to see more clearly than others, but she has a long way to go before she is able to make the difference that she wants to make in her environment. At the same time, she must recognize that being a leader is a critical step towards her own self-discovery and her ability to be successful in a leadership capacity that has a positive impact on the community, rather than a negative influence. One issue to consider is that Lauren suffers from hyperempathy, whereby she feels everyone’s pain and makes connections through this unique level. She does not need religion. She describes herself as “the most vulnerable person” (Butler, 7). However, this vulnerability makes her sensitive to people’s feelings, and a strong leader.

Humanity and its role in creating its own future is revised in Butler’s book. Traditional beliefs do not work anymore. It is a place where little kids get shot, where people are desperate to steal oranges for money, and where people turn against each other. The only humanity she finds is within the community of her own family. She realizes that family relationships can strengthen the individual. She wants to recreate the same respect and caring attitude in her new community. While she slowly loses her family, she starts building a new community that is based on “looking after each other”. When her father first goes out to protect the neighborhood from thieves at night, he starts building the community by telling people to find someone they can trust and can have their back. Lauren’s experience represents a means of understanding how to learn to trust others in the wake of dire circumstances or tragedy and to be support others when they require assistance.

Lauren stays connected with people and humanity, while the rest slowly burn out emotionally. Finding humanity in inhuman conditions is another strength of Lauren, compared with other members in the community. She refuses to accept bad things happening as “God’s will”. She understands that humans are responsible for their own future. She takes responsibility not only for her own future, but the community’s as well. She becomes a visionary leader, and tries to save as many people as possible. She builds something from grief is the main theme of the last chapter of the book; a new religion. She plants the seeds in the right soil.

Lauren tries to explain the role of God, breaking up with traditional views of the Creator. In the new ideology, created by Lauren, God is change. She does look up to her father, who is a Baptist preacher, but she does not believe in the same things. She states that for some people God is the king, for others, it is the creator, a father, a guardian, but – in the current circumstances, none of the roles assigned to God by traditional religion and Christianity makes sense. The only explanation that makes sense for her is that” God is Change”. She is actively seeking answers, while the rest of the community (apart from her father) is simply passively accepting that things happen to them. Lauren is the “seeker”, while others are passive recipients of their fate. She is prepared for the future, while others simply accept it.

Tolerance and understanding creates hope for the small community that Lauren builds. By creating a female leader and visionary for the new religion, the author signifies the importance of accepting help and guidance from unusual sources. Interestingly, the author does not mention the parable of the sower until the end of the novel; however, the Biblical reference is closely related to the topic. When she is looking for solutions and ways of creating a new type of humanity, Lauren realizes that there is a cause-effect relationship that shapes humanity. The reasons behind the lack of water, food, and order are the actions that individuals take. In the narrative, they ignored scientists’ warnings about global warming, they ran out of fuel, and did not create alternative power solutions. Hence, the price of electricity is very high. Similarly, they allowed politicians to be corrupt; hence, there is no order, and people have to pay for basic services. She believes that if Earthseed as a religion is able to plant the right “seeds” at the right place, humans will survive and rebuild communities. She writes in her notebook: “To get along with God, consider the consequences of your behavior” (Butler, 30).

Butler signifies human responsibility for their actions. She states that people need to consider the consequences of their behavior. Lauren’s wakeup call is when her favorite student gets shot, and she becomes stronger through pain. As a result, she develops her own coping mechanism, a new philosophy. Butler describes where the actions of today’s communities, such as politics lead through greed, ignorance, and the negligence of moral values. She describes a future that is not far from what might actually happen, and while it is a vision, it must be viewed as a real possibility. Strengthening communities and values, looking after each other, and the natural environment are the only ways humans are able to avoid facing the same devastation as the people of Robledo, since they have no roots, they whither. Similarly, people living in America are slowly losing their values, communities, and personal connections. They have no respect for each other or the natural environment, and that is why they need to suffer.

Works Cited

Butler, O. “Parable of the Sower” 2000. Print..