The Parable of the Sower
The parable of the sower occurs in the post-apocalyptic Los Angeles that has been influenced with the disease, conflict, and poverty. The narrative is about the life of Lauren Olamina, an African American. At fifteen years, she stays with her family in Rodeblo a slum within Los Angelo’s. She is a daughter to a Baptist minister, and at a tender age, she has her different ideas about religion. Since her mother used to abuse drugs while she was expectant of her, she develops a condition known as hypothermic that makes her more sympathetic to feel the agony of others through her imagination. Due to the fire that destroyed her gated society and killed all, Lauren and two other members, Harry Balter and Zahra moss, get free. They begin a journey towards the north and picks up the two extra trustworthy people that were an extra to the group. All through the journey, Lauren teaches the member of the Eartthseed, a religious ideology that she argues a system of reality that she explored as a girl.
The Philosophy of Earthseed
The philosophy honors the logical thinking and science against emotion and belief. Therefore the Earthseed has no god, and instead, it maintains the idea that God is changing. They eventually arrive at Bankoles Land which is located at the southern part of Canada. They begin to settle and later begins the first community of Earthseed. Together they begin to expand on the Earthseed approach and the idea by preaching and establishing the basis and origin of the religion. Earthseed is a thoughtful decline of the modern African American religion that has been affected by the Baptist customs and contrasted with the features of the philosophy by the characteristics of the slave religion and the present religion of the Baptist. Octavia’s parables, similar to the Bible verses they derive in the identity form are developed to be educational. The main question that is evident is the main message that is contained and the audience. For the sower, it is an indication of spreading God's message although they both contain the segments of meaning. The protagonist, Lauren explains to her people like Jesus explains to the people “The parables refer to the word where the few will hear and understand, but the harvest from their conversation will be all important” (Doeksen 22). Although we may identify the seed sowed as the Earthseed, it could also mean the activities that Butler performs in the parables. These are therefore not only the idea in which Butler supports his works, in a critical observation of the Butler's idea present a whole identity of the role of religion in the African Americas.
Comparison with the Talents Parable
The parables of the sower are not closely linked to the talents parable. However, Asha, Laurens daughter informs her mother of the flashback narrative. Ever since the sower, Arcon the first society of the Earthseed community has increased in numbers and where Lauren confirmed her long-lost and assumed-dead brother is still alive. Marc did not pass on with other family members as earlier assumed but rather was rescued by a low-income family known as the Duran’s. However, during his time with the family, he has grown to be a preacher and has admired to be like his father, but he ended up as a street boy and sold into slavery. She finds his brother who has grown to be an honorable man in the society, and she narrates her story, which according to Marc, is a cultism.
The Authority within Earthseed
According to the book of Luke Parable of the Sower and Octavia’s Parable of the Talents in Matthew gives a consistency of Butlers’ views in creating the writing in full meaning. Toward the end of The Parable of the Sower, the seed Arcon that is planted in the earth has begun to grow, and in the talents, we observe the seed grow, and more individuals attracted to the idea of Laurens religious practices. Even after the destruction of the ancient Earthseed society and the passing on of some of the participants, her talents multiply. She uses something less and turns it into an important idea. Lauren changes the Earthseed from the mixture of the verses into a public and religious society. Therefore, the practice that is meant to satisfy the desires of its members in a specific social position would have driven the groups to accept and embrace. The philosophy is also distinct from the Baptist churches such as her father’s which regularly had significant educations like the American Christian religions; although it was not so developed that people had the idea and the thought they were abandoning the religions completely.
Comparing Earthseed to Slave Religion
For Butler, the religious activities seem not to focus the center of the authority with a person who talks about God. Consequently, she chooses a distributed service that distributes authority and the freedom to understand god equally amongst the participants of the religion. Her activities provide the same services like that in the church and carry out the sermon although in the absence of a preacher since she claims that “there are times of planning, healing, learning. Creating, time of focusing and reshaping ourselves” (Butler 18). Therefore the design of the author’s world is more related to the African religious leader since Lauren is more of a religious leader than a preacher.
The Slave Religion
Various elements have characterized the black religion since the beginning of slavery, some of which are still used in the various religions practiced in the present times. Similar to the various African denominations that were the ring shouting, dancing and singing due to the traditional beliefs were massively evident in the slave religion. The most influential idea of the dominion that was abandoned is the spiritual beliefs and the ancient expression of its practice. The religious experiences for the Africans would offer place naturally and in private settings although they requested a service space as they would always sneak back to their places (Hicks 42). The religion is in similarity with the black religion and has the insightful meaning in Butler’s parables to explain the paradox that exists.
The Black Religion
The Earthseeds originates from the ideas of the Rodeblo. Slave religion became an expansion of the spiritual African practice and beliefs whereby they directed to these practices accepted and embraced it to the new conditional influence (HICKS 28). The mix of the small fees, the cruel white authority, and the early termination of the slave business made the African religious practice almost unbearable. The African religion was immersed under the white religion but was not fully into the practice since the religion could not entirely control the rebellion of the African people. Rather than presenting the story and categorizing it as either alien or new, Octavia used her original Los Angelo’s to narrate the story of the young African American girl who has grown of age in a disjointed society. She as well deals with her unique capabilities as she tries to make sure that her spiritual dream comes into reality in her time. Both the two parables, Octavia presents a hidden analysis of the structure of the black religion and how it can practice in the future. Interestingly it does not look like the label of the African American that we have now in this millennium time.
Comparison with Baptist Religion
The Earthseed is, therefore, a more intelligent exploration more than the black and the slave religion and therefore has not so many similarities, the three religions, however, present the communal worship, and the God is changing in the Laurens Earthseed since it has more similarity with world take on the slaves. The primary comparison point between the religious in the presence of a spiritual leader is through relating and differentiating Lauren with her father. By comparing Lauren in the first text with her brother in the second text, the link towards the religious leader is made open. She openly denounces the practices of the modern Baptist religion that her father and brother stand for and hold on to. The views on the new back religion present a distinction of it from the Earthseed. Her contemporary thought about the African American religion and the black leader is that of professional healers who are compared to be more than thieves who are on the mission to hunt down their members. Similar to her family, she is entangled in the “Culturally established educative, directive and supported relationship” (Hicks 19). She explores life and its significance and her main ideas as well as seeing beyond family connections in the context of the church.
Contrasting Responses to Crisis
Sarcastically though distinct from the ordinary upbringing, Lauren and Marc respond in two distinct manners to the crisis. Her daughter Asha reflects on this environment as she thinks of her grandfather from what she is told was a dedicated preacher who was concerned about his family and society. Even though he emphasized that the two should acquire the skills to take care of themselves in the case of a threat, he had no plan and visions beyond this, and it never occurred to him he would change the universe. “It never seemed to occur to him that he would fox the world. He was a father of two would be world-fixers. How did that happen?” (Butler 120). Asha is true in her concept that he was a nobleman since in every explanation provided, in The Parables of the Sower, he does not just take care of his family but rather takes care of his member’s spiritual well-being (Butler 6). The two religions practiced are considerably distinct with one deeply founded in Christianity and worried about how to change the world into a better place, while this is a continuous philosophy firm of how the human is to survive on the space and an ideal for the prospect.
The Symbolism of the North
Like the slave, Lauren members of the band present migration as the possible end to the challenges of their existence. She asks her father, “Would he think about leaving here, heading north to where water is not such a problem and food is cheaper?” (Butler 72). The main idea is that the north holds the great promise to the future than the city. He responds “No, there are no jobs up there and the newcomers work for foot if they work at all” (Butler 72). The longitudinal North symbol, though not correct, it occurs slowly in the parables. Lauren is heading her ragtag members towards the north and nowhere else in specifies. Expectantly, moving to a new place will bring some of the challenges in their lives. Therefore the north compares the other slave and the idea is that there is no better life in existence. In the book, moving to the north for most of the people is a symbol of a better socio-economic environment and better racial relations for the blacks as the view of her father is a general view of the ancient African Americans people.
Science Fiction Parables
In chapter four, Butler, therefore, presents the fiction of science parables. Although the author's parables are presented in the biblical imageries and reference the ideas such as belief and the miracles have long gone in the modern world and what has remained is for the blacks to embrace hard work and self- independence. As the titles indicate, Butler’s titles of the book are religious and what the future looks like for the African American community. Although, Octavia begins to rebuild a history for the African Americans by showing that the erased is a slave belief in The Parables of Talent. In this way, he surpasses the critics of the Baptist culture that he identified within the first parable. Therefore the California setting is also a confirmation of the insight of the parables beyond the Religious allegations; instead, they are the current recommendations for the near future. Octavia used the Earthseed to advocate for the world study and colonization. Basically, as asked by Lauren “tell people to go to the stars because that what God wants them to do” (Butler 394).
Conclusion
In summary, the idea of the slavery that is written in The Parables of the Sower helps the people to continue the Butlers racial and the feminist agenda. Although he presents Earthseed as a religion than any other thing, I believe it reveals her originality in all three religions. It is a voice that speaks of something that is not right in every religion but right at the same time. Butler uses the Earthseed as that of the Practiced Slavery in America from the early 70s and also gives rise to the traditional memory or the blacks and centers of dominion during slavery. It also indicates the possibility of the past in repeating itself if the Africans Americans are not alert. Although one of the principal contradiction is that similar to religion, however much different slavery may sound, it is still the same.
Works Cited
Butler, Octavia. The parable of the Sower. New York: Warner, 1993.
Butler, Octavia.The parable of the Talents. New York: Warner, 1998.
Doerksen, Teri Ann. “Octavia E. Butler: Parables of Race and Difference.” Into Darkness Peering: Race and Color in the Fantastic. Ed. Elisabeth Anne Leonard. Westport, CN: Greenwood, 1997
Hicks, H. Beecher. Images of the Black preacher: The man nobody knows. Judson Press, 1977.
