In Parable of the Sower, a new proposition arises. Our main character,
Lauren, calls it Earthseed. But what exactly is it? Can we really call it a
religion?
In the start, Lauren herself is not exactly sure, and refers to it
simply as a “belief system”. The belief system stems from her idea that
God is change, and everything is change. In Lauren’s world, rather than basing
her beliefs on a set divinity or higher power, she bases them off of the
importance of change. For her, being a devout disciple of Earthseed is your
resolve to change the world and make it a better place. It is the idea of
social change and spiritual change, the virtuous determination to amend society
for the better.
This makes total sense considering Lauren’s situation — not only does
she suffer from a Hyperempathy disorder where she feels the pain of others
around her, the society she lives in is in the midst of withering times. In the
book, modern-day vice has produced a level of profound instability and
dysfunction at its worst, with rising inequality, conflict, crime, and
corruption… it only makes sense that she crafts what she calls Earthseed. It is
her only hope at an improved existence, a life without pain or suffering.
Her faith and hopefulness is unblemished
when she says, I am Earthseed. Anyone can
be. Someday, I think there will be a lot of us. And I think we’ll have to seed
ourselves farther and farther away from this dying place.
Lauren wishes to spread the seeds
of her faith to others, just like how a sower
plants seeds. Which sheds light on the meaning behind the title, Parable of the
Sower.
Whoa, this post was great! I didn't connect that the Sower meant someone who plants seeds. Also her own disorder effects the way she treats others and is part of the reason why she started earthseed, which i thought was pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really interesting connection to the title that I hadn't made before! I like that Lauren has thought of Earthseed. It's very grounded in the world Lauren's facing. It has some morals, but does not try to impose them on her in situations where adhering to a strict moral compass would result in her death. I think that it's interesting that Lauren's Earthseed Religion plays such a positive role in this novel as opposed to other dystopias where religion was a cloak for evil.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting point! I love how the author decided to implement that subtle connection. I think that in order for Lauren to really spread her new religion she may need more than just the ideas that she has at this point. Most religions have more institutional structure to them, with things like creation stories and prophecies and religious holidays. I think that Earthseed definitely has potential, but it lacks a few things at this moment as well.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense for the title to be Parable of the sower now that you mention it. The book is the story of a seed planter, where the seed is Earth seed. I don't really consider it a religion at all, or even a belief system. I think it is more of a moral code - Similar to Confucianism. A bundle of ideas you use to guide yourself in life.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if Earth Seed can really be called a religion. It seems like a set of truths, but I'm not sure if it is one coherent religion. It could be because it doesn't align with our traditional understanding of what a religion is, but I think there needs to be more development in order for Earthseed to be a religion.
ReplyDeleteThat's so interesting! I hadn't connected the significance of Earthseed to the title of the book. I like how the author incorporated an idea like Earthseed in the novel and I would love to read how it spreads but I think in order for that to happen, Lauren needs to develop something more substantial than just ideas. That said, I think it would be interesting to see what happens to Earthseed at the end of the novel.
ReplyDeleteI love the connection you made between Earthseed and the title! I agree, it does make sense that Lauren would come up with Earthseed in the situation she's living in. It's interesting to see the positive role that religion plays in Parable of the Sower while in other dystopian novels (like the Handmaid's Tale) religion has a negative effect.
ReplyDeleteI like the connection between the title and earthseed. The weird thing is that most religions involve scripture that was written by a divine character. Lauren never has a vision or epiphany from a supernatural being, everything is from her observation. Therefore I would call it more of a philosophy than religion.
ReplyDeleteI think Earthseed is a religion, if very rudimentary. Maybe, like Bankole said, it needs more “mysticism” for us to perceive it as a religion. But I think if you follow any set of values in a very determined (obsessive?) fashion, you can claim those values as a religion. So maybe it’s only a religion for Lauren right now. But, as you point out, she is the sower, so the religion has potential to grow.
ReplyDeleteI think that rather Lauren thinks of it as such or not, Earthseed becomes a religion as soon as she has converts. It was not a religion while she was the only believer, but as soon as others believed and discussed their beliefs together,Earthseed became a religion.
ReplyDeleteThis post is concise and enlightening! The connection that you are able to draw between the title and Earthseed is very clever and something that I hadn't thought about before!
ReplyDeleteGoing a little bit off track here... I would argue that, at least at this point, Earthseed is not a religion but rather a philosophy. I say that for a few reasons, the most prominant being that Lauren really never recieved any devine intervention that prompted her ideas. Instead, she simply thought about her world and tried to draw from it. Just a side comment :)
What an interesting post! Being a Christian, I am used to viewing the Parable of a Sower in a different way, so this post enlightened me as a way it could be viewed as not Christian. I find it interesting how you point out how her hyperempathy shapes her "religion."
ReplyDelete