Jim Miller, Post-Apocalyptic Hoping: Octavia Butler’s Dystopian/Utopian Vision science Fiction Studies Vol. 25, No. 2 (Jul., 1998), pp. 336-360 https://www.jstor.org/stable/4240705#metadata_info_tab_contents

This article focuses on the subject of the dystopian world along with the factors of patriarchal myths, but also capitalist myths, racist myths, and feminist- utopian myths. This is highly significant to the idea of how in Parable Of the Sower the author was able to provide a way to highlight important issues like climate change and how that ties to social inequalities which primarly result in societies that are full of poverty, but also in a way gives room for social growth; it gives the sense of envisioning a “utopian aspiration” as the article mentioned where it’s possible to try and create a community with less class domination amongst each other and as well as limiting racism and discrimination.

Maryam Kouhestani, Environmental and Social Crises: New Perspective on Social and Environmental Injustice in Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 5, No. 10, October 2015

https://asset-pdf.scinapse.io/prod/2048487019/2048487019.pdf

In this article the author goes on to describe how in Parable Of the Sower there are depictions of environmental and social crises. What I personally liked that mentioned in this article is how in Parable Of the Sower, Butler was able to illustrate or create a world where social issues and environmental diasters are moving at a much more advanced pace in such short amount of time. This article really highlights the issues of social inequality, social injustices, systems of oppression, and much more as you keep reading on. This ties very well with Butler’s novel because it critizes these idealogies, it shows how deeply all these issues seem to work in a structured system with multiple connections among people and environments.

Clara Escoda Agusti,The relationship between community and subjectivity in Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower (Vol. 46, Issue 3) Fall 2005 https://go-gale-com.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/ps/retrieve.do?

This article was particularly interesting because even though it also focused on the concept of social issues and global issues it also considered the issues within the economy. Without giving too much away, the beginning of the article talks a lot about the sexual exploitation of particularly, black women. This was highly important within the novel because of how it spoke about the concept that in their own utopian world and community they tried to make things equal, a different approach towards gender and racial differences.

Jerry Phillips, The Intuition of the Future: Utopia and Catastrophe in Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” A Forum on Fiction Vol. 35, No. 2/3, Contemporary African American Fiction and the Politics of Postmodernism (Spring – Summer, 2002), pp. 299-311 https://www.jstor.org/stable/1346188

The author talks about Butler’s take on futurism similarly intensifies the contradictions of modern society. He goes on to mention the idealogy of achieivng a utopian world has been rendered to be impossible, but goes on to mention how social revolution is needed in order to transform the issues of humans within a community in figuring out betters ways of acting and critical thinking skills to survive such threats such as climate change issues to continue to preserve their utopian society among this world.

Mathias Nilges, “We Need the Stars”: Change, Community, and the Absent Father in Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” and “Parable of the Talents” Vol. 32, No. 4, Middle Eastern & North African Writers (Winter, 2009), pp. 1332-1352 https://www.jstor.org/stable/27743152

It was hard to choose between articles during my research and when I found this article I personally thought it fit well with the others not only because it happened to mention Jerry Phillips the other author from one of the previous articles but because of how it had a repetitive focus on the concept of change. It talks about how the concept of change is a purely potential factor towards the future. Change is a structured ideology that progresses as time goes on and it connects to the logical ways of connections between people and their environement just as how in the novel in displayed the importances of having communities, survival even in the outside world but being surrounded among others as well.

1. Jim Miller, Post-Apocalyptic Hoping: Octavia Butler’s Dystopian/Utopian Vision science Fiction Studies Vol. 25, No. 2 (Jul., 1998), pp. 336-360
   https://www.jstor.org/stable/4240705#metadata_info_tab_contents

2. Maryam Kouhestani, Environmental and Social Crises: New Perspective on Social and Environmental Injustice in Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 5, No. 10, October 2015 https://asset-pdf.scinapse.io/prod/2048487019/2048487019.pdf

   3. Clara Escoda Agusti,The relationship between community and subjectivity in Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower (Vol. 46, Issue 3) Fall 2005

   https://go-gale-com.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/ps/retrieve.do?

   4. Jerry Phillips, The Intuition of the Future: Utopia and Catastrophe in Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” A Forum on Fiction Vol. 35, No. 2/3, Contemporary African American Fiction and the Politics of Postmodernism (Spring – Summer, 2002), pp. 299-311 https://www.jstor.org/stable/1346188

   5. Gregory J. Hampton, MIGRATION AND CAPITAL OF THE BODY: OCTAVIA BUTLER’S “PARABLE OF THE SOWER” CLA Journal Vol. 49, No. 1 (SEPTEMBER 2005), pp. 56-73 https://www.jstor.org/stable/44325296

   6. Mathias Nilges, “We Need the Stars”: Change, Community, and the Absent Father in Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” and “Parable of the Talents” Vol. 32, No. 4, Middle Eastern & North African Writers (Winter, 2009), pp. 1332-1352 https://www.jstor.org/stable/27743152 

   When I was doing my research I mainly used the Jstor website as my source in finding readings and articles that correlated with my research question, I also used google scholars but some articles I wasn’t able to get full acess to or if not it would take me right back to Jstor. I started off by only searching for the title of the first novel we read and then I narrowed it down to using key words within my research of social inequalitiies and community. I wanted to try to see if I could find some stuff that was about the recent novel Ben Lerner 10:04 but I was honestly having a difficult time when I tried searching, but i will keep an open mind with all the novels and try to continue in searching what I can.

When I first started to read the novel I was confused during certain parts of it because it wasn’t exactly clear on who was narrating the story and I honestly still get lost at times considering this novel really jumps from one perspective to another. However, reading part three I’m starting to understand it a little bit better now. There were two major things that really stuck out to me while reading this part, I see a recurring theme of fear and relationships a lot within this section of the novel. The narrator had agreed to help his best friend Alex have a child by being the sperm donor in order to make a baby. This is where the theme of relationships comes in because of the fact that I still can’t really figure out this relationship between them two since at one point during this part of the novel the narrator did try to seduce Alex, (even though he’s sleeping with Alena) in order to procreate but failed miserably, especially since he was drunk when doing so. There was a part when Alex said to him, “Because if we’re going to try to make a baby, however we try to make one, I don’t want it to be one of the things you get to deny you wanted or deny ever happened” she goes to explain how if he wanted to coparent and all that, she would be open to all the ideas as long as they established a good sense of communication. And this is where the theme of fear comes in because it’s kind of obvious that the narrator illustrates fear with a lot of things like the world ending, thinking his novel won’t be good enough, and the idea of not being able to be a good parent figure to a possible child within the near future. There was a part where the novel mentioned why reproduce more life if the world is ending right? And what really stood out to me was this quote; “Because the world is always ending for each of us and if one begins to withdraw from the possibilities of experience, then no one would take any of the risks involved with love”. This quote seemed really significant within the novel because in a way it ties to the narrators fear of whether or not he could be a good father figure. He later on comes to terms as to why Alex chose him specfically to do this type of procedure with her because in a way she chose him because of his deficiencies, not in spite of them. I guess this kind of also goes along with his own fear of dying without having done something of importance or impactful enough of leaving behind for when he is no longer alive. This part of the novel really gave much more insight in how the mind of the narrator works and the characteristics he has as well, he doesn’t let his inner demons, or his state of health completely control him in his daily life.

10:04 written by Ben Lerner is a very interesting novel so far. For starters the narrator doesn’t have a name mentioned, at least so far in the first two parts so it can be a little confusing when the narrator is actually speaking. In the beginning of the novel it’s mentioned that the narrator suffers from a serious heart condition, but it hasn’t been established whether its fatal or not so far. The narrator is also a writer but has been struggling to write a novel. He also happens to mention an intresting relationship with this girl named Alex who happens to be his best friend, but at the same time he doesn’t really specify the deal between them two, one would say it’s a complicated situation really seeing as how there was a moment between them two or mainly coming from his part where the friendship could be more, but then again leaves the readers with curiosity. The author manages to incorporate the issues of global warming and how it is a great environmental threat to the narrator because in the first few chapters there are mentionings about a storm thats been happening in new york. The author tends to go back and forth on this concept of the existence of there being another world, everything still happens to be pretty much the same when he describes it such as the concept of time and space, but then he also manages to illustrate that it is still also just slightly different. It’s interesting to see how the author incorporates this idea of a global warming apocalypse considering that the novel is literary fiction. The way the author makes a connection between how these certain type of issues really have great affects towards not only the environment but also the people living within it as well like the narrator. Because while the narrator is already dealing with certain challenges within his life; his illness or to be more specific his heart condition, when you add on the struggles that the world itself is going through it really takes a toll on people. Seeing as how the narrator was already struggling to write his novel, “the storm” only adds on to his stress. It can make people feel like they are not capable enough to continue on with their lives, it gives that sense of lack of motivation, depression due to the struggles someone is facing, especially if not everyone has that good of a support system. This is only the beginning of the novel so there’s way more to get into and really uncover how the narrator develops throughout the rest of the novel. Right now the narrator is trying to make the best out of a difficult time period that he is going through, he is at a low point as one may call it, trying to make things better even though it can be difficult to find the strength in doing so. I honestly think that the narrator has a way of changing his current situation in an unexpecting way.

The beginning of the book seems to be very interesting because it shows a reoccuring theme of conflict between man and nature. The first few chapters start off with Kanai and Piya who are the two main characters. From the first 92 pages or even towards the very beginning Kanai is described as a Narcassistic and selfish, observant yet intelligent, at some point it mentions him to be a “Conoisseur of women” but also gives off the impressions of a captialistic. Its also mentioned that kanai is very cultural educated, he can  speak 6 languages, and has a true investment in the world of literature. which where this theme of conflict between man and nature sort of plays out because while he oes have a temperament, on the other hand he thinks in a way that makes it seem that he deserves everything from his point of view seeing as how he Built up a businness out of nothing. Then there’s Piya who is described to be very ambiguous, American, but yet seems to be out of place, Indian but somewhat different. She’s also a traveler because of her job since she’s a Cetologist; a person who studies marine mammals. She is a woman who is concerned with her career; concerned with science. The first few chapters shows how both Kanai and Piya meet in a train to canning heading towards the direction of the Sundarbans. And although this novel focuses on this idea of romance, it’s intriguing how the author is still able to bring light to issue of climate change through Piya’s work and career. There was a part in the book when it mentions Piya conducting her survey and later on meets a fisherman named Fokir, he seemed to be poor and of low status but was very knowledgeable and kind towards Piya. There’s a signficant part where Piya shows much concern and shock towards the dolphins not behaving the way they are suppose to. This part really caught my attention because of the fact that in a way it brings more attention to the marine life of all the mammals out there in the world. When it comes to climate change, while it can have a huge affect towards daily human lives, one must think of this isues as a domino effect because within our own ecosystem one must be self aware of the harm that’s being done due to the actions one makes against the environment. This book really highlights and explores the idea of the conflicts that arise when people who have a ceetain amount of power take it upon themselves to preserve and protect the natural wolrld from all the inconsiderate actions humans take upon themselves such as poaching, causing pollution, overfishing, deforestation, and much more.