Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler
Book Review by Amirah Walters
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler (Four Walls Eight Windows, 1993) is a dystopian novel following 15-year-old Lauren Olamina as she navigates America through the years 2024 to 2027. When her community is attacked, Lauren leads the survivors towards Canada in search of a safe haven and a fresh start. It borders on terrifying how relevant some of the issues depicted in a novel written in 1993 are to the current state of society.
What makes the Parable of the Sower so deeply unsettling is the parallels it contained to our world today. In the book, people feel they cannot trust police officers due to corruption. In the present day, the general public is incredibly wary of law enforcement. Looking specifically at America, the fires due to both climate change and arson mirror the recent California wildfires. As pyromania, crime, violence and poverty continue to rise around them, the characters must adapt in order to shape a new normal. The beginning phases of this reminded me of Covid and lockdown with a growing sense of community and a shortage of supplies.
While there is no doubt that alarm bells were ringing throughout the story, it did bring me a strange sense of hope that despite the parallels our world is not quite as unsalvageable. Awareness about climate change is ever-increasing. I enjoy how Lauren does not lose her humanity in her desperation for survival, something that rings even more true for Harry Balter (her childhood friend) and Taylor Bankole (a fellow traveler who joins Lauren’s group after seeing them stop to help others). Harry in particular is an excellent depiction of this as he is horrified when Lauren kills for survival. The ‘hyperempathy’ experienced by Lauren makes it difficult for her to protect herself, but I enjoyed this as we live in a time where so many are desensitized that true empathy feels hard to come by.
The one issue I had was I couldn’t fully warm to Lauren. I know this is part of the point as other characters, particularly those who join the group of survivors on their travels, but it made it difficult for me to become fully invested in her journey. I found side characters like Zahra Moss, a fellow survivor from Lauren’s community whose secret past makes her an asset, more compelling. Overall, I think the book was fascinating and worrying in its links to our current society with its only real downfall being a lack of connection to the main character.
Amirah Walters is an editorial assistant intern at Inkfish, where she mostly spends her time proofreading, writing blog posts and reviewing books. One of her favourite parts of the job is finding new books to write reviews about — she could talk about books for hours, so getting to write about them is a perfect fit. When she isn’t working on the magazine, she is working on her English and Creative Writing degree, looking for new coffee shops, reading, or exploring new walking routes. Amirah is excited to keep learning the ins and outs of publishing and is passionate about creating content that connects with readers!