Utopias & Dystopias

  One big difference between the worlds of Parable of the Sower and the other two books we read this semester is the time period they were supposed to take place in. Parable of the Sower is a much more modern setting than the other two that were supposed to take place in 1984 and sometime probably around the late 1900s (from what we can assume about Brave New World). Since the book was written more recently, the plot, characters, and setting feel much more real than in Brave New World or 1984, where we can justify not getting too attached to the characters or upset by the world because it is “only a dystopia” and not a real possibility for the future. I think this realistic feel of Parable of the Sower is part of what makes it so intriguing  and upsetting, at least for me. Reading it has made me more conscious about the things I do every day that contribute to making the dystopian world a reality, as well as helping me appreciate the world we currently live in, despite its faults. I th

I think Earthseed “works” in its context by bringing to Lauren and her small community of Earthseed followers what a lot of people look for in a religion. I think a lot of people in the world of Parable of the Sower are looking for something constant, something they can rely on, to bring some sense of security and normality to their lives. I think Earthseed provides that without putting hope in things that could go away. Lauren acknowledges that the only constant and true thing in their world is change, and she puts her faith in that constant, giving her a sense of purpose that others in the book seem to also want. I think Earthseed will catch on, even if Lauren doesn’t survive, because people are craving something to put their hope in, some purpose for their life, and Earthseed provides that. I also think that even if Lauren hadn’t created Earthseed, someone else would have created a very similar religion, because it was created out of a set of necessities that a lot of people have, w

I think I could make a case both for and against this Earthseed quote, because I can see how you could relate any struggle back to a power struggle, but I don’t think getting rid of the root of all power struggles would get rid of all struggles. I think this verse implies that because “all struggles are essentially power struggles”, by making the distribution of power perfect, you would eliminate all struggles, and that by improving the unequal distribution of power, you start to get rid of struggles. A “power struggle”, according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary is, “a fight for control”. According to this definition, someone struggling because they don’t have enough to eat or drink is part of a power struggle because they are fighting for control over what resources they have access to and ultimately consume. If power was evenly distributed among people in our world, theoretically this person’s struggle would be solved because everyone would have enough to eat. But if the root of the