In the second reading of Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower, we experience a very evident change in the mood. As we continue to empathize with the main character and voice of the novel, Lauren, we are able to feel her sense of hopelessness. Lauren begins to truly understand that the death of her gated town is inevitable, and her only chance at survival is to make a life on her own. Much like her rebellious brother Keith, Lauren realizes that she can no longer follow in the footsteps of her father, who has a non-violent and sheltered approach when it comes their family's best chance of survival.
As the second reading began to progress, we were able to get a better picture as to the Butler's family dynamic. Lauren's brother Keith has aged further into his adolescences and starts to opposite Lauren. The two rival each other. Keith envy's his elder sister's being able to handle a fire arm and feels that his restriction from doing so keeps him a child. In response, Keith steals his mother's gun and permanently moves out of his home and out of the community in order to prove both his masculinity and maturity. Keith got involved in a thuggish lifestyle in the outside and soon found himself on the receiving end of a murder. Before Keith was killed, however, he and Lauren had a conversation about life on the outside. Lauren acquired a great deal of information from Keith, information that I am eager to see if she will have to use later in the story.
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