Parable of the Sower p 1-85 response

The Parable of the Sower is a novel which centers on the tribulations of a fifteen year-old girl named Lauren Olamina. The story is set in a walled community on the outskirts of Los Angles in the year 2025 in a future utterly unrecognizable to the modern observer. The novel is structured in a dairy format, which to me, only serves to enhance the personal discourse between the reader and the author. This is because as one is reading, the personal connection forged with the protagonist is far more genuine then if the book had been written in a more omniscient tone. Indeed the various struggles encountered by Lauren seem even more palpable when conveyed in this format and reader feels as if they themselves are engaged in savagery of Lauren’s environment and experiences. In essence the dairy structure is quite effective in transferring personal experiences into something we ourselves can apprehend.

            One of the underlying themes in novel is change. Moreover the novel emphasizes change as an unavoidable factor in life and therefore it should be embraced passionately. Frequently Lauren references change as equitable to God or even that the two notions are inextricable. Such references to me seem to bolster the notion that, similar to God, change is an irrevocable force unable to be abated or ignored by humanity. Lauren’s emphasis upon change perhaps stems from her belief that everyone around her seems to long for the glory and prosperity of the past rather than attempting to revive such things in future endeavors. “Our adults haven’t been wiped out by a plague so they’re still anchored in the past, waiting for the good old days to come back” (Butler 57). This quote also illustrates how contemptuous Lauren is of this way of thinking viewing it as essentially naive and misguided.

            Considering Lauren's steadfast belief in the inevitability of change I can only predict that she will not remain content throughout the novel. I think her incessant thirst for change manifests itself as restlessness, specifically an inexhaustible need to accumulate knowledge from books and radio. This would presumably lead Lauren to desire something beyond her brutal and savage community. Consequently this yearning for change, for something more profound than her present existence, may propel Laruen far beyond the walls of her impoverished community.