Multiethnic Literatures in the U.S.

“This country is going to be parceled out as a source of cheap labor and cheap land.” This passage comes from Octavia E. Butler’s novel, Parable of the Sower. This phrase shows up in the beginning of chapter 12, this chapter Joanne and the main character of the book, Lauren. They are talking about moving to a city which provides room, security, and a little money in exchange for work. This phrase is part of a passage that struck me as a reality that is going on in our world today. “This country is going to be parceled out as a source of cheap labor and cheap land. When people like those in Olivar beg to sell themselves, our surviving cities are bound to wind up the economic colonies of whoever can afford to buy them.” To me it sounds like Octavia E. Butler might be talking about the countries that we as a nation outsource to. “This country” can be any country we outsource to which has cheap labor, cheap land, and is in need of the money and economic growth. These countries get divided into business sectors depending on who or which country buys what. I get a feeling that Octavia E. Butler is trying to show that someday we, the United States of America, might end up being one of those nations that is in need of the economic support and influence of other nations. And seeing this opportunity other countries will outsource their businesses to United States. It seems like Butler just lightly touches on the subject and doesn’t develop it any further, and that made me disappointed while reading this passage, especially being a business major. I personally will have to face such difficulties as outsourcing, I think it is unethical because we are pretty much are using other countries for our benefit and giving them scrap. It might not be far from now when we might end up one of those countries.
The whole situation that happened in Robledo, the whole city was taken over by a group of outsiders called Pyro. At the end, the whole community is taken over and it seems as if almost everyone is dead. I think that Octavia E. Butler is trying to show that things can change for the better or for worse, depends whose side we take, in just seconds. This passage is very graphic and really puts one in the city while it is being raided by Pyros. The first connection to our time that comes to mind is the war in Iraq. The United States can be viewed as Pyros going into Iraq and pretty much enforcing our laws. This association might or might not be right but that is the first thought that came up after reading that passage. The people who live in Iraq, the ones that live the peaceful lives are now forced to live in the middle of the war and suffer.

I just finished reading Parable of the Sower and I must say WOW! This book is amazing! At it’s crudest moments are when we see the true elements of human nature. As humans, we feel, we try to be compassionate, we try to help our fellow man. But that is today, not in the 2020’s when our book takes place. People have come to embody their worst forms. People are drug addicts, theifs and killers. Cops & politicians are in it for thier own gain, not the people they are supposed to serve, and there is no one strong enough to challenge them. People have only been left with thier animal instincts. We see these things when comeone notices a human skull lying on the ground & doesn’t flinch. They can only be thankful that “It’s not me.” Or when Lauren’s group comes across a corpse on the side of the road & nobody has a problem with Emery taking the woman’s clothes…”I need to survive”…

What has the world come to when a man will to try snatch a child from her mother’s grasp? It seems the only time purity & innocence come up in the novel is when the chidren are the focus. Doe makes her father take half the pomegranate because they should each have thier fair share. Allie takes in Justin like he is her own child. Natividad & Travis join the group because their child needs strong defenses around him. It is perhaps the children that are able to keep this group sane & together. Everytime Grayson wants to leave, he takes on look at his daughter & knows he must stay, at least for her sake. He needs to survive. Survival is the key to the future Parable of the Sower holds for the people of the United States.

Author: Octavia Butler

Title: Parable of the Sower

Pages 279-329 

In the novel by Octavia Butler there is an issue about trust.  Trust in the book can be very risky at times but also very rewarding.  How do you learn how to trust someone or trust yourself?  Is it learned or is it a gut instinct?  Does Lauren rely too much on trust to survive the long journey to the north?  Or is Laurens trust fueled by the need of Earthseed.

Laurens has had trust issues throughout the entire book.  While she lived in Robledo before the town was destroyed by fire, she was taught not to trust the communities or the people outside of the walls.  She also has trust issues with her boyfriend Curtis.  She could not bring herself to trust him with her deepest secret that she has hyperempathy.  She was taught by her father to keep it to herself.  That keeping her condition secret would benefit her.  She was also hurt in the past which has influenced the way she trusted people.  With this mentioned, trust in this case was taught by her family and friends.  The most influential family member was her father.  He was the family’s backbone and they only needed to rely on him for survival.  

After the walled town was burned and her father died she was left with only two people she knew from the town.  She was forced outside the walls to survive in an unstable environment.  Along her journey north she picked twelve strangers to trust.  There was very little reason behind why she trusted these people.  The reasons ranged from the other peoples looks to the agreement that they would follow her rules and that the more people they had the safer they would be.  It was very dangerous for her to let her guard down.  One other hand the only people she trusted were people that were either weaker than she was or were in need of help.  This seemed like her goal.  To make people feel as though she saved them and they were entitled to pay her back in some way.  Laurens secret agenda was forming a community to start the practice of Earthseed.

Her goal from early on in the book was to form a community that followed Earthseed.  She picked up these helpless people in order to fulfill her goal.  She did not really trust these people at first because she would never let them stand watch by themselves.  These people were in dept to Lauren.  She was their savior that promised them a future and protection if they stayed with her.  At this time a person turning down protection would be stupid. 

 Lauren took a risk in order to accomplish her goal.  The trust she had in these people was selfish.  She was not looking out for the well being of the group.  She was more interested in her goal of Earthseed.  Her trust of people was fueled by Earthseed.