The aim of this writing space is to share our ideas more fully. During the book chat with Christina Sheldon, there were many questions and issues that were raised. We questioned whether
Parable of the Sower is science fiction or dystopian fiction (dys-bad topic-civilization). The book’s environmental, social, and political problems create this dystopia. The book is set in 2024; water is a precious commodity. People live in walled off communities to protect themselves from drug violence and crime. Poverty, hunger and corruption are rampant. In light of our own current social, political, and environmental problems, a good discussion for this blog might be to
imagine where we see ourselves in 50 years. You might be interested in discussing this from the point of view of all the recent violent political uprisings in the Middle East, or the environmental disaster of the Fukushima nuclear power plants or even from a more local perspective: L.A.'s own water supply shortage. How can L.A., a semi-arid region, sustain its population growth? Nearly all of the available surface water has already been claimed and diverted for human use. Metropolitan L.A. needs to export its water from the Owen's Valley, 233 miles away. This has resulted in the desiccation of the lake, causing negative environmental impacts, such as, desertification and dust storms.
You can also analyze these situations by creating your own creative science fiction and posting your vision of a dystopic L.A. If you're a consummate optimist and don't believe in all this 'doom and gloom,' then you might want to visualize a utopian world. There are many people who believe that technology will be the savior of mankind’s future. In this case, you can
write your own techno-topia. But it might be interesting to note that most dystopias begin under the guise of being utopian (George Orwell's
1984, Aldous Huxley’s
A Brave New World, Margaret Atwood's
A Handmaid's Tale). Finally, if you have
any other insights that were triggered by the novel's themes don't hesitate to share, including books or movies that you have read or seen that might have something in common with Octavia Butler's
Parable of the Sower. Happy writing!
I spent the first part of my morning at a teen prevention agency today. I gave a talk to teens on "the importance of higher education", somehow I've become placed in a position to do so... and as I gave this talk; this pleading speech laden with encouragement, conviction and passion that I began to wonder about the intellectual state of our youth... and of our future really... I also began to wonder what challenges and tribulation have these youth inherited from poverty, lack of resources and limited role models...
ReplyDeleteBut somehow I managed to emerge from the same environs stoic, dedicated, persistent, undaunted... and that gives me hope, as much as it fuels my conviction that the future of our youth... our future, will not be the wasteland depicted in Parables of the Sower... at least it shouldn't be. That is if we work sedulously, intelligently and compassionately. Only then can we ensure that our future doesn't become a living postapopcalyptic geopolitical thriller.... if so... she was right.
I believe that the novel, "The Parable of the Sower" i's more dystopian fiction because the book talks about this people leaving in this place where you have to protect yourself for your own sake. Most of the time have to kill people in order to survive. Although killing is bad because only God can take our life, but if i were to be there by that time; 2024, I probably do the same thing too so survive.
ReplyDeleteNow, imagine 50 year later, in this situation that we are leaving right now with people losing their jobs, students not getting their education, teens dropping off from High School, all of this things, we will end up living in hell just like in the novel of the " Parable of the Sower" talks about. I believe this book teaches us a very important lesson about life. Which is that we need to get better, be united, improve ourself for the better, because if we dont, we will end up living in misery ...
[My idea of a Dystopic LA]
ReplyDeleteWhen I read Parable of The Sower, it opened my eyes a lot, because I feel that's the direction our world is kind of leaning towards. People were doing ignorant things, others were losing their homes, and the water pollution was making water a priority. Since people were already short on money and they needed food and water, it was harder for them, because they had to buy water from their water being contaminated. Now, water and contamination/ pollution is starting to also get out of hand and I feel if things don’t start to change we will be living in a Dystopic LA.
I imagine our Dystopic LA to be very scary. You won’t be able to really trust anyone, because it will be a man for man world. We will probably be short on water from all the contamination and the water will probably also become more expensive since we are basically stealing our water from up North. I imagine more homeless faces, and dark clothes. When I say dark clothes I mean, people are dirty from not being able to wash their clothes, like in Parable of The Sower, and from the lack of water. I see people trying to stay away from others’, and do their own thing. I also feel that there will be a lot of more crimes. I feel if things continue to go the way they are going now, the LA will definitely become a Dystopic LA.