Goal
- Contribute to a class-wide discussion about the setting of the novel Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler.
Initial Discussion Post (due Wednesday, 11:59pm)
Before writing the discussion post, read at least chapters 1-2 of Parable of the Sower (Links to an external site.) and the secondary source “Pasadena on Her Mind: Exploring Roots of Octavia E. Butler’s Fiction”Links to an external site. by Carl Abbott. (To access these texts, you will need to log in with your Lancerpoint username and password. See the library’s troubleshooting tips if you have any trouble logging in. To read Abbott’s article, click on “PDF Full Text”—for how to do this, see image below.)
- According to Abbott, Pasadena in the 1950s and 1960s—when Butler was growing up there—was “a city where racial tensions grew as the African American population increased” (327). What type of racial tensions does Abbott describe, and how did they impact Butler’s life?
- Abbott explains that early versions of Parable of the Sower are set in Pasadena, but the final version is set (at least in the beginning) in the fictional city of Robledo in the San Fernando Valley. Describe the city of Robledo in the novel.
- Finally, Parable of the Sower begins on July 20, 2024, almost exactly three years in the future. The novel was first published in 1993. In your opinion, is Butler’s vision prophetic? That is, based on your own personal observations and experiences, do you think that the greater Los Angeles metropolis today resembles the fictional world in Butler’s novel? Explain why or why not.
