In a dystopian era, what contributed to Lauren’s flourishing and healing in the face of such adversity? What happens in Parable of the Sower, both positive and negative, when people try to build their own community out in the real world?

Positivity: Earth seed/ religion/ uniting force, trust/ relationships, 

Negativity: gender roles, death, 

Hyper empathy syndrome? Both positive and negative.

Some quotes: 

“…manhood and femaleness in herself, in a way that difference is incorporated into the self, and it can be taught to the community in the process of relating, in order to downplay the legal fictions of gender and race which distort the growth of a community and its individuals.” (Augusti)

• Lauren’s capability to transform herself for the safety and betterment of the group is one of the many ways she can flourish in such adversity. 

“Lauren achieves this blurring and fragmentation of previously unitary and unconnected gender categories particularly through cross-dressing. Indeed, in order to protect herself from rape and violence inflicted on women, in her escape to the North Olamina decides she will dress as a man. By doing this she does not surrender to the invisibility or vulnerability of her sex, but she demonstrates her ability to understand gender not as essential, but as performative, and her eagerness to play with gender categories as well as with her own body.” (Augusti)

• Lauren knew the consequences of appearing as a woman– this is a new world that was created, and there will never be a world again as Lauren and the group remembers but accepting change such as this one is how Lauren and the group were able to positively continue building their communities.

“…Butler emphasizes that the embracing of difference does not only enhance the quality of human interactions, but that it is an act of survival and of necessity if humankind wants to end conditions of hate and violence…

Embrace diversity.

Unite —

Or be divided

robbed,

ruled,

killed

By those who see you as prey.

Embrace diversity

Or be destroyed. (Sower 181)” (Melzer)

“In Butler’s narratives, children represent the treasure of the community, the foundation of any future and shared identity as a group passed down from generation to generation.” (Melzer)

• Lauren’s ability to trust and accept children into the group knowing the hardship it brings as a whole is another way she was able to flourish in dystopian times. How can she build a community if she is not accepting of all? Lauren is taking part in a new ground– a maturing route, fulfilling its purpose. 

“Relevant to this discussion on affect and place is Lauren’s hyperempathy syndrome, which makes her vulnerable and subject to manipulation and abuse. Lauren is taught to hide her symptoms and feel ashamed of her condition. She struggles to hide her reactions to other people’s pain and succeeds in keeping the secret inside Robledo. This changes the minute she is outside, though, for she is vulnerable to everyone’s pain in a space defined by misery. In Sower, emotional address is presented as a disease, which pathologizes vulnerability and empathy and comments on society’s neglect and disregard for those in precarious circumstances.” (Guerrero)

• Lauren’s ability to share her hyper-empathy connected her more to the group– she showed her vulnerability– showed trust. This is something we also see with Bankole. 

“I’m trying to learn whatever I can that might help me survive out there… I think we should bury money and other necessities in the ground where thieves won’t find them… Money, food, clothing, matches, a blanket… we should fix places outside where we can meet in case we get separated” (Chapter 5)

• Once Lauren came to the realization she did not know anything about living outside the walls and how to survive it, she knew she had to plan– she was the only one who gave it a thought. This is one of Lauren’s abilities to flourish– Lauren compared to the others in her community learned to adapt effortlessly– she handled the transition better than her peers and this is how she was positively able to build her community. 

“We can build a community here,” I repeated. It’s dangerous, sure, but, hell, it’s dangerous everywhere, and the more people there are packed together in cities, the more danger there is. This is a ridiculous place to build a community. It’s isolated, miles from everywhere with no decent road leading here, but for us, for now, it’s perfect.” (Chapter 25)

• Lauren encourages this ideology which she uses to guide her and the others through this chaotic moment in their lives. This community is healing for Lauren because she was able to develop a community based not on fear or exploitation but on shared respect and values- we do not have to agree but we must regard and protect each other.

Some sources: 

Agusti. (2005). The relationship between community and subjectivity in Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower. Extrapolation, 46(3), 351–359. https://doi.org/10.3828/extr.2005.46.3.7

Butler, Octavia E. Parable of the Sower. Grand Central Publishing. 

Guerrero. (2021). Post-Apocalyptic Memory Sites: Damaged Space, Nostalgia, and Refuge in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. Science-Fiction Studies, 48(1), 29–. https://doi.org/10.5621/sciefictstud.48.1.0029

Melzer. (2002). “All That You Touch You Change”: Utopian Desire and the Concept of Change in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. Femspec (Cleveland, Ohio), 3(2), 31–.

In a dystopian era, what contributed to Lauren’s flourishing and healing in the face of such adversity? What happens to Lauren, positive or negative, when people try to build their own community out in the real world?

Butler, Octavia E. Parable of the Sower. Grand Central Publishing. 

Eagleton, Terry. “Literary Theory: An Introduction Second Edition.” Literary Theory: An 

Introduction , 2nd ed. 

Foucault, Michel. Chapter 4 Discipline and Punishment. 

Harvey, David. “A Brief History of Neoliberalism.” Freedom’s Just Another Word. Oxford. 

Still working on sources.

As a result, I finally found the answer to my question: Why was it so significant to Alex that Ben was the father of her child?

“But why, exactly, had she selected me? Because we were best friends, of course—because our relationship was more durable than any marriage we could imagine because she thought I was smart and good. I had never really doubted myself enough to doubt her reasons, but now it occurred to me with the force of revelation: She wants you to donate the sperm precisely because she doesn’t think you’d ever get it together enough to be an active father; she’s much more afraid of raising a child with an onerous father than without a father at all; she comes from a line of self-sufficient women whose partners disappear…” (pg. 195— ebook)

Even though I have now gained a deeper understanding of the dynamic from Ben’s perspective, the dynamic still seems strange to me. In considering Ben and Alena’s relationship, I am reminded of a part of the book that occurred earlier in the novel.

“If you want to try to have sex as part of a reproduction strategy”—I involuntarily raised my eyebrows at the phrase “reproduction strategy”—“or whatever you want to call it, I’m open to that, too. We’d have to talk more about it. You would have to stop sleeping with Alena, at least during that time. That would be too strange.” (pg. 177— ebook)

To make such a statement and act toward my best friend who is in a relationship is a very strange thing to do and to say. There was a time when I was unsure if Alena even knew about the situation or how she would feel about it – no mention of it was made in the piece. As much as I respect Ben’s perspective on why he is chosen to be the father, I am unable to comprehend the pressure he is under. This is something I saw with Ben’s way of being as well— he craves a connection with others and he wants love as well, so I feel like Alex is not giving him the chance to decide what he wants on his own before deciding what he wants on his own. 

The concept of the past, present, and future is another element that caught my attention when I was reading the piece.

“More than that: it was as though the physical intimacy with Alex, just like the sociability with strangers or the aura around objects, wasn’t just over, but retrospectively erased. Because those moments had been enabled by a future that had never arrived, they could not be remembered from this future that, at and as the present, had obtained; they’d faded from the photograph.” (pg. 35— ebook)

The novel provides us with many examples of the past, present, and future, with this being one of them. My interpretation of this is that Ben was doubting his relationship with Alex- thinking about this baby and the future that awaits them with this baby that has yet to arrive- and that he was questioning his relationship with Alex. As we see in their struggles later on to conceive their child, the planning, the conversations they are having, some of which are enabled by a future that hasn’t yet come to fruition.

Something that caught my attention while reading this piece is the sincerity and earnestness about love and human connection in this novel. This is something we see with Ben and his relationships primarily with women— his interactions with them. Ben’s relationship with Alex in particular is debatable. 

This constant mention of Alex hoping to carry Ben’s baby to me was strange and seemed to be a huge piece of this novel/ journey. 

“Why didn’t Mom just adopt?” (pg. 120— ebook)

The thought of Ben being the father had crossed my mind as well- why was it so critical to Alex that Ben was the father?

“I can’t imagine what any of this must have felt like, must feel like,” I said. I wanted to say that it’s not the sperm donor that matters, that the real father is the man who loved and raised her, but before I could figure out how to articulate my position tactfully, I was distracted by a vision of Alex in the future, falling in love with someone, maybe moving out of the city with “our” child. Would I be thought of as the father? Just a donor? Not at all?” (pg. 120— ebook) 

The way this particular part of the novel was written, it seemed as if Ben almost second-guessed his decision at this point in the story. In my opinion, this is when the realization started to hit him when he was having the conversation with the coworker and came to realize that this isn’t just about sperm donation- this is more than that- what is my position in all this? When it comes to being a sperm donor, what do I want and what do I not want?

“She shrugged. “I think on balance I didn’t want kids anyway. Do you have children?”

“No, but my best friend wants me to help her get pregnant. I mean, we’re thinking of doing IUI. But”—and this was certainly only sayable because of the wine—“my sperm is a little abnormal.” (pg. 157— ebook)

Time and time again, we hear that this is something that his best friend is interested in, but what about what he wants as well? In the course of reading the novel, I kept thinking about one thing: why him?

“Okay, but your whole plan only kind of involves me—my level of involvement to be determined, whether I’m a donor or a father. You’re asking me to be a flickering presence. I give reproductive cells and then the rest we figure out as we go along.” (pg. 177— ebook)

I can tell you exactly what I was thinking-Alex gets what she wants, which is a baby from Ben, but what does Ben get in return? There is something unusual about Ben’s correspondence with women.

What does it mean to be human? What contributed to Lauren’s flourishing and healing during a dystopian era?