Parable of the Sower 125-196 Michael Weiss

          This section of the book brought the undoing of the small town of Robledo. In the wastelands of California, Lauren's neighborhood was a sort-of oasis that lived on like some neighborhoods do in the current world. When the pyromaniacs attacked though, everyone was no match for their drug fueled brutality. Every single building in the community was burned and nearly everyone who had lived their was murdered by the pyros.  This chapter justified my notion that everyone would have to live like a survivor one day. Lauren has now become a survivor as she looks to go North into Canada. From what she says, Canada is much better off than the decaying United States of America. This forced exit from the world she knew would not last, has given the opportunity to spread the ideas of earthseed. The depressing part of her getting the opportunity to spread her ideas is that it came at the cost of her community and family. Sadly, this was the only way she would have left. Lauren told herself that she would leave when her family was back on her feet, but what if that never happened?
            The other interesting part of this chapter was the day after the massacre. As Lauren walked through the burned houses, people were picking apart everything from the warning bell to the gardens. The people were the street poor who were desperate for anything. On her porch was the body of a pyromaniac who had been killed during he fight. Lauren looks down and a scavenger inside the house tells her not to touch her body. The woman's reasoning is that, "she died for us." This strange phrase further deepens my disgust for the society. The people are so defeated, that a murderer is considered a a hero because she let them take apart the houses of her victims. If things have gotten to this point, I can only see anarchy in the future. The police do not do anything and there is no notion of an army existing in the book so I do not see how the government can say they own the land. This ownership can not be exerted when foreign companies are buying out cities and massacres are over-looked.