Eco-fiction, as one of the widespread styles of literature in recent years, is a genre that affects people in the environment of fictional landscapes and ecosystems. The key difference between such works from other dystopias lies in the emphasis on the ecological aspects of the world’s existence, which, as a rule, are somewhat challenging. In her novel Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler reveals the complex nuances of human relationships in the global climate catastrophe. At the same time, the main problem that is the key subtext of the narrative is human relationships, and the anthropogenic factor is the critical cause of violence, inequality, and cataclysms observed in the novel. Butler’s personal background is an important driver that prompted her to work in this genre. The author’s life experience has become a valuable incentive that allowed her to achieve world recognition and reflect the fantastic events of the future in the most authentic manner. As the key ideas to analyze the understanding of the novel, the issues of class inequality will be considered, as well as the relationship of the novel’s plot with the real contemporary world.
By asking why society is divided into the rich and the poor so sharply, Butler discusses whether class inequality is inevitable in the face of the climate crisis. People who are forced to perish in inhuman conditions are only guilty of not having enough capital to find refuge in the community of the rich. In this regard, the author addresses the reader with the question: “is it a sin against God to be poor?” (Butler 18). Butler herself is well aware of what it means to make ends meet, and her experience as an African American writer reflects the challenges and anxieties she faced during her creative development. The class inequality presented by her in the novel does not seem impossible today, in the era of capital accumulation and rapid stock market ups and downs. The novel’s characters who are forced to choose between fuel and water demonstrate fortitude, but their tenacity and thirst for life only underline the gap between the poor and the rich.
From the perspective of a possible repetition of the scenario presented by Butler, the global climate crisis is not the main cause but rather one of the incentives for such a clear division of society. Convinced since childhood that African Americans are given a place in the plots of fiction as retarded and stupid characters, the author sought to change this stereotype (Aguirre). This desire of hers is reflected in the novel since the story is told from the perspective of an African American teenager who observes all the horrors of the world turned into an apocalyptic place. The Afrofuturist style that Davis mentions was in many ways developed by Butler who sought to change people’s perceptions that black people could be as empathic and developed as whites. She became one of the innovators in this genre and achieved recognition for her talent and ability to convey social problems simply and, at the same time, deeply. However, this was her personal experience that became the key factor in allowing the author to develop her talent and write sincerely.
The idea of the struggle for equality is the leitmotif of Parable of the Sower and conveys one of the author’s key messages, along with destructive anthropogenic activities. When Butler tells about an astronaut who bequeathed to bury herself on Mars, she admires this woman’s idea and, on behalf of the main character, notes that she wants to be like her (22). The freedom of choice is of great value to the author, and although in her life, she faced manifestations of social inequality and racial bias more than once, her ideas remained unchanged. The realism that she utilizes to describe the events of the novel is natural for the author since, according to Aguirre, Butler “thought social progress was reversible.” For the person who adapted to minority status, her choice of creative direction is bold and incomprehensible to individual readers. At the same time, Butler’s position is neither unique nor unattainable: through literature, she demonstrates how damaging any social bias, whether racial, gender, or another, can be. By reflecting a society in decline, she warns humanity, and her style allows feeling the aesthetics of realism.
The values that are presented in the novel convey how unassuming a person’s desires can be in a life-threatening situation, and how low the threshold of self-identification may fall. Butler mentions people’s consent to less decent wages “in exchange for security, a guaranteed food supply, jobs, and help” (116). In these conditions, a person does not seek to prove one’s independence and equality and only wants to survive. This context confirms Aguirre’s idea of the reversibility of human progress, which the author of the novel promotes. If people’s values are simplified, this means that high matters cease to interest them because basic needs become the main ones. It is possible that Butler seeks to show how quickly society adapts to changes and plunges into orderly chaos with primitive desires. The events of the novel take place in 2024, and although there are several years left until that time, no one can guarantee that another human-made disaster will not turn the world into Butler’s dystopia. The relationship between Parable of the Sower’s plot and the contemporary world is another topic that deserves discussing in the context of the novel analysis.
The global ecological catastrophe described by the author of the novel is a powerful argument for the modern generation to think about the consequences of anthropogenic activities. Bettini views the climate refugee problem as a pressing social issue and argues that modern governments do not pay enough attention to the aspects of environmental protection (63). This situation is reflected in Parable of the Sower and is presented vividly since the characters of the novel who are forced to survive in a new post-catastrophic world lead a transient lifestyle. Butler mentions young people who have no choice but to wander in search of food and water, and this desire is natural in the face of the global problem that befell humanity (127). To date, people have experienced a number of human-made disasters, but none of them has yet led to the outcome described by the author. However, given the pace at which the world’s industrialization is proceeding, the likelihood of such an outcome cannot be denied, and Butler’s novel may be somewhat of a precautionary one.
The scenario presented in the novel may have much in common with real life due to the fact that similar events have already taken place locally in individual parts of the United States. Giroux considers the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the most devastating in the country’s history, and cites the example of hundreds of people, most of them poor, at risk of death (306). Homeless citizens with no hope of rescue died massively, and TV reports of the dire consequences of the hurricane became less emotional and more informative over time (Giroux 306). One of the fundamental reasons for this change in mass consciousness is adaptability. People tend to get used to any situation and environment, and after the global catastrophe described by Butler, the poor had only one choice – to accept death or to seek ways to survive throughout their lives. The main character often talks about the outcomes of the climate disaster, which suggests that she and her environment have accepted the situation. Therefore, by projecting the plot of the novel onto real life, the scenario of the development of those events can be similar.
No one can state for sure that Butler’s novel is a guideline for humanity, which aims to prevent a possible threat. At the same time, based not only on sci-fi speculations but also on the real situation in the world, threats to the lives of many exist. According to Bettini, “the worsening of the socio-ecological conditions of poor populations will lead to violent conflicts,” and this outcome is proved by the author’s research (67). Empirical and scholarly justifications confirm that the global environmental crisis is fraught with threats to people’s socio-cultural interaction since the main goal that citizens will strive for will be survival. Despite the ideas of equality and the importance of fighting any bias, society continues to live in a class division regime. Power concentrated in the hands of individual segments of the population is the engine that can coordinate the distribution of vital resources. Ultimately, people faced with the danger of the complete extinction of the human as a biological species will be forced to live according to primitive laws. These consequences are a significant factor determining the significance of protecting the environment and the Earth’s resources.
As a result, in relation to modern life, Parable of the Sower can be considered the picture of the cultural development of humanity that has survived the global climate crisis. The inability to change the situation and limit destructive anthropogenic activities exacerbates the situation. The syndrome of hyperempathy inherent in the protagonist of Butler’s novel is individual and will not save the population in case of such a disaster. Therefore, to avoid a severe threat, the author describes horrific events and creates a dystopian and somewhat personal story for every reader to make appropriate conclusions.
Butler’s Parable of the Sower raises the crucial issue of human existence in the face of the global climate catastrophe. As topics for analysis, class inequality and the relationship between the events of the novel and modern society are considered. The scenario demonstrating the horrors of the post-apocalyptic world can be regarded as a warning to humanity about the inadmissibility of such an outcome. Anthropogenic activities and the concentration of power in the hands of certain categories of the population are the drivers that can aggravate social relationships and develop into violent conflicts. The desire of people to survive in a catastrophe is natural, and the shift of moral values in favor of satisfying natural needs is reflected vividly in the novel.
Works Cited
Aguirre, Abby. “Octavia Butler’s Prescient Vision of a Zealot Elected to “Make America Great Again.” The New Yorker, 2017, Web.
Bettini, Giovanni. “Climate Barbarians at the Gate? A Critique of Apocalyptic Narratives on ‘Climate Refugees’.” Geoforum, vol. 45, 2013, pp. 63-72.
Butler, Octavia E. Parable of the Sower. Open Road, 2012.
Davis, Jonita. “How Black Women Are Reshaping Afrofuturism.” Yes!, 2020, Web.
Giroux, Henry A. “The Biopolitics of Disposability.” Cultures of Fear: A Critical Reader, edited by Uli Linke and Danielle Taana Smit, Pluto Press, 2009, pp. 304-312.