Greetings

 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!

Hi I'm Cristina and i was a part of the SEED program this summer and i thought this book was great. I think this book is must read for all those people who like to calculate and imagine what this world might be like in the future. However, this book is definitely not for the faint hearted or easily freaked. This book does have a lot of very intense scenes and it shows the future in a perspective that many of us fear may come true. I think that this book also makes us realize that if we don't stop polluting and harming our environment we might end up in a future similar to Lauren's. However i believe that as long as we get more people aware of the problem we can all do something before its to late. I would like to end by saying that if there were more people like lauren, who is super aware of what's going on in her world, then people would have a better understanding of how the earth is being affected by our carelessness and try to fix things for the future generations to come.

Is this the future?

Posting for Maria Vasquez, who was having technical difficulties:

One of the things that I found interesting was the main character Lauren. One of the things I liked about Lauren was that she was being realistic about what was going on around her. What I did not line about the book was the discussion about religion. I believe that religion is important, but I do not normally read such material. Another thing that was very interesting was the relationship between Lauren and her brother Keith. She was upset with him for what he has done specially for killing people. At the end she did the same thing for the same reason “survival”. Early on, I found that she was different from the other characters from the beginning but, she ended up being an average dreamer just as the all others.

M. G. Vazquez

Bridges to the Future Program

A Doomed future

The idea that the world will descend into a post apocalyptic world in the near future is not an uncommon theme in science fiction. Perhaps the reason for this recurring motif in multiple stories can be attributed to the despair humanity faces repeatedly. Whether the end of the world is caused by war or a biological epidemic, one thing is certain civilization will crumble. Some will cast these predictions as nothing but hearsay. However, perhaps there is cause for concern. The world is facing a growing shortage of oil with no signs of an alternative fuel source. This lack of oil has led to the monopolization of it by huge companies like OPEC. In addition, there are many countries worldwide fighting one another for the right to sell black gold. Maybe mankind will solve this shortage of fuel; however, tensions and war fought in the Middle East say otherwise. if things don't change soon we will be seeing a new dark age real soon.

50 years into the world's future

Hello Everyone I'm Maria Escamilla and I'm a bridges to the future student. I'm not a big science fiction reader however, i really enjoyed reading this book. I specially liked that it took place here in California a place most of us know. This makes it a lot easier to compare things that are happening now to what is happening in the book. For example we see these huge corporations taking over cities and we see a lot of environmental issues. A lot of these environmental issues we are experiencing now and as corporations keep getting bigger; the idea of these huge corporations owning cities and the people living in them doesn't seem to be such a crazy idea. Reading this book freaked me out a little because one starts to see something that can very much happen. A lot of people don't see too far into the world's future or what the world will look like in fifty years. However one thing that is certain is that fifty years from now we will have serious environment problems. I think that most of what the book talks about will take place like, more unemployment and more poverty. Technology will be a lot better but i don't think there will be too many people in school. I also think that people won't be as crazy as the book describes them; that there will still be some sort of order. I just hope that things don't end up this way and that more people start waking up and seeing more into not only their futures but the worlds' future as well.

2061

August 18, 2061

I walked outside today and the air was coarse as it entered my lungs. I remember a time in my youth where money was being invested in research to improve technology to be less harmful for the environment. People viewed environmental threats as jokes- I knew they were warnings. The mask I have to wear everyday hides most of my face. I walk into the streets unshielded in hopes of taking in change. Each day I am brought down by reality.

On my way to work, I see nothing but brown lots and skyscrapers. As I close my eyes at night, I can still see the green richness the world once knew. The moist breeze overtakes my snooze. Each day of waking up saddens me. What happened to the world I once knew? What happened to the world I yearned to wake up to everyday? Venice Beach was my place of recollection and revitalization. The palm trees that once lined the sand are gone, with rarely a stump left to remember their lives. Corporations have taken over the cool and dewy sand that used to envelop my feet upon arrival.

The ecstasy of nature is now nonexistent. I walk this path of never-ending cement, yearning for days that no longer exist. Will these people ever realize what we’ve done? Will we ever take responsibility for the destruction of Mother Nature and begin towards reversing it?

I am counting the days until I see tomorrow’s yesterday… Maybe past trends are the innovations necessary for tomorrow. I am counting the days until I see tomorrow’s yesterday… I am counting the days…

-Alice V. Herrera

Hello! im Elizabeth and i am in project SEED and what i though of the book Parbale of the Sower was thath it was pretty cool but it did freack me out a little because it reminded me of what is happening in the modern day world and it was a little ironic how her ideas are similar to mine, i think about so many things that could happen and this book just opened my mind a bit more. perhaps it was the similarity of her world and this one. This book reminded me of a situation that occured in the lab i am working in and it is the want for water and it reminded me because on my first few days of working here at Cal State La me and another person working in the same project as me had to literally go water hunting. nonetheless, i really enojoyed this book.