Religious Criticism in "Parable of the Sower" by Octavia Butler
Parable of the Sower is wise beyond it's years and contains striking commentary on religion and why we practice it. I adore this book, and would love to read more by this author.
Rich with symbolism, Parable of the Sower introduces you into an apocalyptic world in a beautiful, almost poetic way: by telling us that we can see the stars. It sounds so normal, doesn't it? But if we can see the stars, what must we not be seeing?
City lights. In a world after city lights, we delve into a landscape where civilization has dissolved and the true horrors of humanity can be seen in the real light of nature.
As someone who adores the concept of an uncaring "God" or an uncaring universe, I found that Parable of the Sower reached me very well, and put to words many of the thoughts I'd had myself. Though her religious ideology differs from mine slightly, I still found her point of view highly respectable and very critically thought-out given to the world around her.
Lauren's new religion, Earthseed, centers around adaptation. Her world is ruled by an "adapt or die" mentality that has enabled her to survive. Her strong instincts and the knowledge that worse times are coming have allowed her to prepare for them. Everyone else's fate is not her own, her apocalypse doesn't come so easily purely because she refuses to let it.
Paradoxically, Lauren's take on God is both more active and more passive than conventional established religions at the same time. Her "God" doesn't spend all it's time granting blessings to those who pray like most traditional gods. Her god doesn't do anything at all actually, because her god isn't a being but a concept: the concept of change. It requires you to be vigilant, to be strong, to be everything that you can be and everything you want your life and future to be, because it won't magically appear unless you make it happen yourself.
"Ask seven people what all of that means and you'll get seven different answers. So what is God? Just another name for whatever makes you feel special and protected?" (Butler, 18)
I can't get enough of how boldly she defies everything people hold so blindly dear about religion. She mocks their hypocrisy with disappointment and picks up the slack where their religions fail to explain. For example, if "God" is your force of will to cause change, it is still present when Mrs. Sims, her neighbor, commits suicide even though it goes against everything she claims to believe in.
As well, she notes that the hundreds of poor people that die in a hurricane seem to be less loved by other versions of God. If God is all powerful and all knowing, why do the poor suffer? Why do 700 people die at once in natural tragedies? Does God not care what they think, if they live or die? Do you ever ask yourself why? Is your ready defense of the justification that he knows all and we know nothing enough to satisfy you until death? In a post apocalyptic world, doing nothing is as good as dying. This is why it fits so well that Lauren believes in change as the strongest force of nature. Her god is in you and your power to change yourself and your surroundings. Change is the only way out.
I feel that the difference Lauren sees between her and most all of the other people in that world who died are their unwillingness to adapt to survive and relinquish their faith to accept that not everything is part of "God's plan" and that at some point, you must do more than just pray in order to survive. She rallies her people to be constantly adapting and willing to learn from anything in order to grow as people and in life. Stagnation physically, mentally, and spiritually, to her would mean the end.
Rich with symbolism, Parable of the Sower introduces you into an apocalyptic world in a beautiful, almost poetic way: by telling us that we can see the stars. It sounds so normal, doesn't it? But if we can see the stars, what must we not be seeing?
City lights. In a world after city lights, we delve into a landscape where civilization has dissolved and the true horrors of humanity can be seen in the real light of nature.
As someone who adores the concept of an uncaring "God" or an uncaring universe, I found that Parable of the Sower reached me very well, and put to words many of the thoughts I'd had myself. Though her religious ideology differs from mine slightly, I still found her point of view highly respectable and very critically thought-out given to the world around her.
Lauren's new religion, Earthseed, centers around adaptation. Her world is ruled by an "adapt or die" mentality that has enabled her to survive. Her strong instincts and the knowledge that worse times are coming have allowed her to prepare for them. Everyone else's fate is not her own, her apocalypse doesn't come so easily purely because she refuses to let it.
Paradoxically, Lauren's take on God is both more active and more passive than conventional established religions at the same time. Her "God" doesn't spend all it's time granting blessings to those who pray like most traditional gods. Her god doesn't do anything at all actually, because her god isn't a being but a concept: the concept of change. It requires you to be vigilant, to be strong, to be everything that you can be and everything you want your life and future to be, because it won't magically appear unless you make it happen yourself.
"Ask seven people what all of that means and you'll get seven different answers. So what is God? Just another name for whatever makes you feel special and protected?" (Butler, 18)
I can't get enough of how boldly she defies everything people hold so blindly dear about religion. She mocks their hypocrisy with disappointment and picks up the slack where their religions fail to explain. For example, if "God" is your force of will to cause change, it is still present when Mrs. Sims, her neighbor, commits suicide even though it goes against everything she claims to believe in.
As well, she notes that the hundreds of poor people that die in a hurricane seem to be less loved by other versions of God. If God is all powerful and all knowing, why do the poor suffer? Why do 700 people die at once in natural tragedies? Does God not care what they think, if they live or die? Do you ever ask yourself why? Is your ready defense of the justification that he knows all and we know nothing enough to satisfy you until death? In a post apocalyptic world, doing nothing is as good as dying. This is why it fits so well that Lauren believes in change as the strongest force of nature. Her god is in you and your power to change yourself and your surroundings. Change is the only way out.
I feel that the difference Lauren sees between her and most all of the other people in that world who died are their unwillingness to adapt to survive and relinquish their faith to accept that not everything is part of "God's plan" and that at some point, you must do more than just pray in order to survive. She rallies her people to be constantly adapting and willing to learn from anything in order to grow as people and in life. Stagnation physically, mentally, and spiritually, to her would mean the end.
Comments
Post a Comment