Parable of the Sower

I read this for a seminary class on theology and culture.

This book was difficult for me to get through because of the descriptions of brutal violence and how depressing so much of the story was. (I may not have hyperempathy the way Lauren does, but I often wish I were not as sensitive/empathetic as I am even though I recognize that it can also be a gift.) I was also uncomfortable with the relationship that develops between 16 or 17-year-old Lauren and 57-year-old Bankole. I know she had to grow up too fast, but this still seems problematic in terms of consent and power dynamics.

So much of the future described in this novel hits eerily close to home: fires, epidemics, guns, drugs, food and water shortages, while other people insist on living in denial. At one point Lauren says the adults are “still anchored in the past, waiting for the good old days to come back.” This seems extremely relevant to all of us wishing things would “get back to normal” as in, life before the pandemic (although “normal” was not working very well for most people even then). It also sounds like all the “make America great again” folks, who seem to think of the 1950s as the epitome of what our culture and society should be.

Quotes that stick with me:
“it took a plague to make some of the people realize that things could change.”

“Moral: The weak can overcome the strong if the weak persist. Persisting isn't always safe, but it's often necessary.”

“Embrace diversity. Unite— Or be divided, robbed, ruled, killed By those who see you as prey. Embrace diversity Or be destroyed.”

“From what I've read,” I said to him, “the world goes crazy every three or four decades. The trick is to survive until it goes sane again.”

“No one should travel alone in this world.”

“It will be hard to live here, but if we work together, and if we're careful, it should be possible. We can build a community here.”

“Human beings will survive of course. Some other countries will survive. Maybe they'll absorb what's left of us. Or maybe we'll just break up into a lot of little states quarreling and fighting with each other over whatever crumbs are left. That's almost happened now with states shutting themselves off from one another, treating state lines as national borders.”