Octavia Butler's novel Parable of the Sower depicts an America that has crumbled into complete chaos and disarray. Within the dystopia of 2024, Lauren Olamina reflects on her family background and her past in order to help create a more ideal future for humanity. The key to the future is liberation, both personal and political. Therefore, the message of Parable of the Sower is revolutionary. Lauren does not just need to be a true leader; she needs to change what it means to be human. Butler reportedly said about the potential for female heroines to create a utopian society out of the ashes of the patriarchal dystopia: "I don't believe that imperfect humans can form a perfect society," (Zaki 239). Butler does not expect Lauren and the Earthseed community to become a Utopia because no matter how revolutionary and idealistic she might be, Lauren remains constrained by her past and her upbringing and ultimately, her biology. On the other hand, Lauren is a classic hero because she embarks on a journey that takes her as far from possible from the patriarchal context in which she was raised. Butler also understood "a tree cannot grow in its parents' shadows," which is why Lauren must brave the trip north (Miller 205). Lauren establishes the groundwork for a new human family out of the dregs of the old by conscientiously eliminating patriarchal techniques of social construction including exploitation, manipulation, and abuses of power. Parable of the Sower shows the potential for a new human community is rooted in feminist values of egalitarianism, liberation, and empowerment.
One of the ways Butler demonstrates that the vision of a new human community cannot take with it the remnants of patriarchy is through the lack of interplanetary enemy alien monsters. The only monsters in Butler's world are human beings. As Barr points out, Butler's aliens are "alienated women, not interplanetary monsters," (98). Just as Butler refrains from the science fiction monster trope, the author also refrains from the typical male response to alien threats. In particular, Butler does not "write about zap guns," using familiar patriarchal tropes of domination, subordination, and violence to subdue aliens who are categorically depicted, perceived, and received as invading species (Barr 98). By resisting the temptation to fall pray to violence, Lauren must break with her family -- not just her blood relatives but the entire human race that is not willing to get on board with her Earthseed concept. To break the cycle of violence, Lauren must resist her own genetic programming as a human being who still possesses instincts to fight or flee from a scene of potential danger. As a feminist, Lauren opts to flee in order to find freedom beyond the walls of subjugation. Resistance through violence is futile. On the other hand, resistance through escape and self-empowerment do lead to genuine political transformation.
Another way Butler demonstrates that a new human society must be feminist in scope is through Lauren's empathic superpower. It is somewhat problematic that empathy is feminized through the use of Lauren's superpower, given the
Science Fiction Film Comparison In the world of science fiction, anything and everything that is imagined is possible. Aliens can travel across the galaxies and come to the earth and be aggressive or friendly depending upon the story being told. As fantastic as these works are, within even the most bizarre scenarios there is a grain of realism. Some pieces of science fiction, whether written literature, television, or films, have inspired
Audiences and their equipment and expectations have changed, too. Many have DVRs, streaming video, portable television, and certainly hi-def or plasma sets. Therefore, not only do they expect higher quality programming and effects, but network scheduling is now a moot point. Audiences can also engage in repeat viewings, watching and analyzing more attentively, which leads producers to create "increasingly sophisticated narrative worlds that sustain and reward intensive fan involvement on
Science Fiction Films On September 11, 2001, many people reacted to the news reports as if these were advertisements for another Hollywood blockbuster like Independence Day. All of it seemed like a movie, including a scene with the WASP president addressing the nation in a moment of maximum danger. Not since December 7, 1941 had Americans felt so threatened on their own soil, although in general they had been spared the
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In Mattapoisett, gender and ethnicity are not issues, there are no gender roles, men and women share all the work, and men are actually about to suckle the young, while women work in the fields and fight wars. Because there are no gender roles, love is shared by anyone who respect each other, in other words no one classed as homosexual or heterosexual, there are no boundaries concerning love. Mattapoisett
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