Octavia Butler's "Parable of the Sower"
Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower (1993) provides a unique insight into the creation of a new religion and the hardships it faces through the early stages of its development. A great many parallels can be drawn between her fictional religion and reality. Firstly however, we must discuss the beginnings of Butler's fictional religion. Butler's main character: Lauren Olamina, is the daughter of a Baptist minister. In order to adapt to a dystopian society, she creates her own religion, that of Earthseed. Lauren recognises the hardship of her rapidly changing society and acknowledges that traditional ideas of religion need to change with it. Philip H. Jos describes the world of Parable of the Sower:
Civil society and the cultural norms that underlay social and political institutions have crumbled. Crime, violence, and addiction are rampant. Environmental degradation and economic collapse have pushed most to roam about the country searching for food, while others take refuge in walled compounds run by corporations whose power is unchecked (Jos, 409).
In many ways, the unpredictable society presented in Butler's novel bears a resemblance to Anglo-Saxon England; although not quite as unpredictable as Lauren's world, Anglo-Saxon England was full of violence and crime. At the beginning of the narrative Lauren lives in a walled community, relatively safe from the outside mayhem, but just as the Anglo-Saxon villages were ransacked and pillaged by the Vikings, Lauren's community is breached and burnt to the ground: "Last night, when I escaped from the neighborhood, it was burning. The houses, the trees, the people: Burning" (Butler, 153). This scene mirrors that of a burnt out medieval village, with invaders left scavenging the ashes - see figure 1.
Lauren's escape from her burning community places her in a dangerous and constricting world, but it simultaneously allows her a greater freedom. The distance from her father gives Lauren the confidence to explore and spread Earthseed. She is also in the unique position of leading a group of people who trust and follow her, meaning she is slowly able to introduce them to her idea of religion which is adaptable and molds their new world:Religion's of today tend to be patriarchal but Butler's Earthseed does not conform to this tradition. When it comes to gender equality, Earthseed is similar to Paganism, while Paganism tended to demand literal animal sacrifices, there was not a dominant gender bias. In some respects the Anglo-Saxons - both pre and post-conversion - were more advanced than the posthuman world of Parable; Anglo-Saxon women were allowed a remarkable amount of freedom. During his reign, Alfred the Great encouraged a 'time of learning,' he greatly increased book production and had copies of text he felt were important delivered to monasteries all over England so as to increase education levels. Women were also allowed to educate themselves if they wished or opt to join a religious house in which they would dedicate their life to Christianity, but receive a good and continuous education in the process. Alfred also instated many laws to protect women's rights. Since marriage was extremely important for women in Anglo-Saxon society, Alfred imposed laws which forced any man who raped a woman to pay compensation to her because she would likely be destitute and not find stability in marriage after such a deed. The law stipulated that no matter what the status of both parties the woman would still receive compensation which prevented nobility from raping their servants without consequence. Although compensation did not alter the situation, it at least provided a remarkable amount of safety for women in the medieval period - a form of protection that is not available in the world of Parable. In fact, there is such a high risk of rape Lauren decides it is safer to travel dressed as a man so she does not attract unwanted attention. Her sudden vulnerability in the world is similar to the vulnerability caused to women after the invasion of William the Conqueror; he imposed a new ruling system on England which did not include any rights for women. After the conquest it took 600-700 years for England to regain laws which benefited women that were any where near as sophisticated as those Alfred put in place. Certain groups of people became extremely disenfranchised after the conquest of 1066, much like Lauren's slowly expanding group of travelers, they are mostly social misfits escaping from a trauma in their pasts. Her new and simple religion is slowly spread through the group and is able to offer everyone something which they did not have before. The core idea of Earthseed is change:In this world, all social and religious 'others' become outcasts and aliens whose freedom is threatened by futuristic forms of technologically enhanced slavery ... Butler describe[s] the ways that African Americans, poor people of color, women and those who challenge gender and sexual norms become scapegoats who are sacrificed to a god who is 'a racist, sexist, homophobic, and a misogynist.' Against such scapegoating tendencies, Butler seeks to open up greater communal space for the thriving of various forms of human difference" (McCormack, 17).
Earthseed meets a relatively good reception because it adapts perfectly to the volatile environment. Once the followers of Earthseed accept that God is not benevolent, but God is malleable, they can then make the most of the situation they have found themselves in by using religion to their benefit.All that you touch
You Change.
All that you Change
Changes you.
The only lasting truth
Is Change.
God
Is Change" (Butler, 3).
In many respects, Earthseed is similar to the Anglo-Saxon religion of Paganism. The God in Earthseed is ambiguous and almost indifferent towards humans just as the many gods in Paganism are not overly concerned about humanity. Earthseed needs its followers to shape God for their benefit, but Paganism needs to appease its gods with offerings and sacrifices. In both cases, the followers are able to benefit from their God by actively asking/ taking what they need. Earthseed and Paganism seem to instill an independence in their followers, allowing them to actively choose and alter their course in life. Additionally, the two religions have similar values: both place a great importance on nature and cultivation. Before leaving her compound Lauren tries to teach people about plants that will help survival:
The Anglo-Saxons also utilised many more plants than we do today. Therefore, it is easy to see why harvest time and autumn was one of the most important times of the year and worshiped by Pagans: "Halegmonath (September) was a holy month probably linked to harvesting and Blotmanoth (November) sees the annual slaughter of livestock" (Welch, 2). Anglo-Saxon Pagans relied on a successful harvest for their survival the following year, just as the Earthseed community Lauren establishes at the end of Parable of the Sower relies on existing plants and her seed bank:"Pay special attention to the plants that grow between here and the coast and between here and Oregon along the coast. I've marked them." ... She looked down at the book, ran her hands over the black cloth-and-cardboard binding. "So we learn to eat grass and live in bushes," she muttered. "We learn to survive" (Butler, 59-60).
In order to to survive the Earthseed community returns to a way of living symbiotically with nature, a way of life once practiced by all and fundamental to both Paganism and the survival of early non-technological societies.Most of it is summer stuff - corn, peppers, sunflowers, eggplants, melons, tomatoes, beans, squash. But I have some winter things; peas, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, winter squash, onions, asparagus, herbs, several kinds of greens.... We can buy more, and we've got the stuff left in this garden plus what we can harvest from the local oak, pine, and citrus trees. I bought tree seeds too: more oak, citrus, peach, pear, nectarine, almond, walnut and a few others" (Butler, 321-322).
The hardships Lauren faces in establishing Earthseed and returning to a simpler way of living are similar to the clashes between Paganism and Christianity in early medieval England. On one hand, the conversion from Christianity to Earthseed has a similar intention behind its implementation as Pope Gregory did in converting the Anglo-Saxons from Paganism to Christianity in the 590s: "Above all, Gregory was a communicator of the Christian message, a message that would bring salvation to those who had yet to receive the word of God. Gregory, moreover, expected that the world would come to an end at any moment" (Church, 167). Both promote a new religion in troublesome times when humanity needs to be protected from the possible end of the world. Pope Gregory aims to save humanity by converting heathens and allowing them to ascend to Heaven when Judgement Day arrives. Whereas, Lauren wants humanity to aim towards the skies in a literal sense; she wants humanity to colonise space and make their own physical Heaven on other planets as a way of preserving the human race from extinction if the earth is destructed. She sees the exploration of space as a necessity or even destiny, "the Universe is Godseed. Only we are Earthseed. And the Destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the stars" (Butler, 77). In this respect Earthseed shares a similar intention in its conversion process as Christianity did in the medieval period. On the other hand, the way in which Paganism is restricted, surrounded and slowly controlled by Christianity is comparable to the limitations imposed on Earthseed by the big military corporations of the world in Parable of the Sower. The Earthseed community - once established - is entirely at the mercy of the militarised units and cannot fully be free to expand while they exist, but they also cannot completely survive without them:
Acorn, the name Lauren and her followers decide to give their community, is at risk of being destroyed by a large militarised corporation, or the corrupt police force, yet they also rely on them to be able to buy certain supplies, and gain the information they need to survive and establish their community.They searched him and took the cash he was carrying. Fees for police services they said ... Jail for Bankole could have meant being sold into a period of hard, unpaid labor - slavery. Perhaps if he has been a younger, the deputies might have taken his money and arrested him anyway on some trumped-up charge ... "You're needed here. If the cops decide they want me, you won't be able to do anything. Worse, if they decide they want you, there'll be nothing I can do except take revenge, and be killed for it." That slowed me down - the thought that I might cause his death instead of backing him up. I didn't quite believe it, but it slowed me down. Harry stepped in then and said he would go. He wanted to anyway. He could buy some things for the group (Butler, 316-317).
In short, religion in Parable of the Sower is adaptable. It provides its followers with a sense of protection and a goal to aim towards: space. The God of Butler's novel is comparable to the unpredictable gods of Paganism. It is not benevolent or particularly concerned with humanity at all. God is simply change, meaning that God and religion can be molded by each individual in order to ensure their survival, and even prosperity. Butler has incorporated many pre-Christian ideals into her novel and religion because they suit the post-apocalyptic world. Life for Lauren outside her compound is purely about survival, there are no luxuries, survival is the most important factor. Earthseed caters to the survival of humanity as well as the individual's needs in a volatile world. It is clear that drastic life changing events such as invasion, war, or displacement through climate change or other events reduces us to basic life, the civility that humanity becomes accustomed to can be destroyed in a heartbeat, societies and the safety they bring with them do not recover quickly, they take years or even generations to rebuild.
