SSP Book: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

Book Reflection

When choosing a book for SSP, I focused on topics that interest me, and I also looked at books written by authors I was familiar with. I landed on Octavia E. Butler since I read her book “Kindred” for my African American Literature English class in my Junior year. Then, I landed on her book Parable of the Sower. To start off this read was powerful and inspiring. Considering that the novel was written in 1993, but took place in 2024-2025, I was surprised to see how much overlap this fictional society had with our society today. Throughout the novel, the protagonist, Lauren Oya Olamina, navigates the dystopian world (taken place in California) while suffering from hyper-empathy, causing her to feel the pain and pleasure of others. What I enjoyed reading the most was the difference between her community inside the vast walls that protected citizens from the dangers outside. Something I found particularly fascinating was Lauren’s creation of Earthseed, a new religion focused on change, adaptability and ultimately restoring humanity. I identified with that theme of change the most in this story because I recognize how much my life is going to change when I go off to college. I think something most people can relate to is how uncomfortable the nature of change can be, and Butler addresses these emotions through Lauren and her family members. Earthseed gives Lauren and other citizens a feeling of hope amidst the chaos, political instability, and social inequity in her environment. Looking at the state of our world today, I feel like Parable of the Sower, leaves readers with an important message that being comfortable with change and adaptability allows for difficult conversations to turn into effective action.