Utopias & Dystopias

  Why is Lauren the main character?  Lauren definitely fits the mold of a typical dystopian protagonist, in that she has creative new ideas, a strong will, and an ability to think rationally about things that cause others to panic. Why is this type of character so often the one who saves a society in dystopian stories? In many ways, Parable of the Sower seems “different” from other dystopian novels because it introduces religion as a huge part of the plot, and is scarily realistic to where our world could be in the future. In a lot of ways, Lauren is also “different” from the typical dystopian protagonist. She doesn’t have a lot of power over or respect from the other people in her neighborhood, she thinks about much deeper, more important things than most characters, it is implied that she is a woman of color, etc. But in some ways, it feels like she is no different from Tris (Divergent), Katniss (The Hunger Games), or any other number of female world-changers featured in dys...

  After reading the first few chapters of Parable of the Sower, it seems like Lauren’s character is supposed to be rebelling against traditional Christianity/religion, which she is to a certain extent, but I also feel like she is being a better Christian than many people today who call themselves Christian. In my opinion, part of any religion is a personal connection with the set of beliefs, and finding how your values line up with those outlined by the religion you ultimately choose. For many people, it’s easier to blindly accept the beliefs of the religion they grow up in, and view it as an “insurance policy” to continue belonging to that religion, even if they don’t entirely agree with it. Because no person has ever had infinite knowledge about who God is, we are all just kind of doing our best and living the way we think is right, so everyone’s “god” looks slightly different, even if you don’t believe there is one. This is the main reason so many different religions exist, and ...