Parable of the Sower

Parable of the Sower is a classic science fiction book written by renowned author Octavia E. Butler. The story takes place in a dystopian society in 2024 and dives into the parallels of a declining society: Unstable government, money-hungry police, a drug abuse epidemic, rampant homelessness, and company cities. The parallels feel so close to home compared to today’s society that it feels like foreshadowing.

All that money wasted on another crazy space trip when so many people here on earth can’t afford water, food, or shelter.

One quote that stood out to me was Lauren’s disgust with the government’s investment in space exploration instead of its’ own people, saying, “All that money wasted on another crazy space trip when so many people here on earth can’t afford water, food, or shelter."

At the center of the story is the teenage protagonist, Lauren Olamina. For the most part, Lauren is a normal teenager minus her unique health condition inherited from her mother’s drug abuse during pregnancy. She lives with her family in a small barricaded community of families living on the fringe of society. Olamina’s father is a pastor, which fuels a lot of questions she has about Christianity and creates her need for a new religion, which she calls Earth Seed. 

Life quickly crumbles around her when invaders breach the wall of her community and destroy her home. She leaves behind her life and travels west with other survivors slowly building a caravan of believers of Earth Seed with refugees they meet along the way.

If you’ve got a stomach for brutality and violence, and are interested in dystopian stories or Black main characters, Parable of the Sower may be for you.