In the context of where Parable of the Sower takes place, Lauren’s hyper-empathy becomes her fatal flaw and is more than just a personal vulnerability. Lauren’s condition represents the unsustainable interconnectedness of humanity in a broken world where showing feeling/compassion becomes a liability. Lauren resorts to working to hide and lessen her reactions to those suffering, which seems selfish because our morals expect us to help others when they need help. Lauren has to train herself to act narcissistic in a not selfish way but to protect herself from the cruelties of society. In a time of need, when everyone around her and the neighborhood she resides in can’t trust anyone other than her father or brother. In Chapter 4, she trains to use a gun for self-defense. By law, it is illegal to bear arms, but breaking a minor rule is the last of their worries when death is at bay at all times. Lauren’s sense of empathy makes it hard for her to protect herself, yet she doesn’t realize that and tells herself,  “Besides, just because I can shoot a bird or a squirrel doesn’t mean I could shoot a person—a thief like the ones who robbed Mrs. Sims. I don’t know whether I could do that” (Butler 38.) Being able to kill a small animal is different from killing someone of the same species, but Lauren cannot falter; she is defenseless if she treasures every living being in this world. If her father, stepmother Corey, and her brothers aren’t home, what will she do for herself to survive? Lauren knows that she lives in a dangerous neighborhood, neighbors get killed, and people get robbed. Still, at the same time, her family is not wealthy enough to run away to another state or country – and even if their family could relocate, what if danger spreads there? There is no guarantee that any place or anywhere, is safe because the world is too chaotic for anyone to ensure their own/other people’s safety. 

The law still applies in chaotic times, but anyone can become a criminal – it’s just a matter of time -. When people grow desperate, their only means is to try and survive. The world has grown to become so disorganized that there are fees to call the police, the police aren’t going to do anything, and there are murders, people getting raped, and robberies happening everywhere; it has become such a norm that crime is no longer shocking anymore. Lauren still thinks of crime as “something wrong” and tries not to become a criminal; her entire family works not to break the rules, steal materials, or kill people as long as they are not being attacked first. Self-defense goes as far as behavior; sometimes, even friendly small talk or reminders of their current reality can drive chaos among others. When Lauren gets yelled at by her dad for talking to Joanne about wanting to leave and run away, she is reminded of why you cannot easily trust anyone. You can know someone for ages, but you don’t know anything about them at all. Lauren’s dad tells her, “Don’t warn Joanne or any of your other friends,” he said. “Not now. I know you think you’re right, but you’re not doing anyone any good. You’re just panicking people.” (Butler 63) For Lauren, it’s wiser to keep her words to herself because friendship becomes a delicate bond when the world has grown into an apocalyptic state. If Joanne could tell her family what she and Lauren talked about, she would no longer be worthy of keeping secrets. In the face of life’s most trying moments, everyone wants survival: to live, have enough food and water, and save shelter for themselves and their families. Some might even abandon their families when things get worse because there is no guarantee that their situation will improve. Supplies are still being depleted, and no one will survive unless you are filthy rich. What truly draws the line between being heartless and protecting yourself and your family? When the government and all safety personnel are no longer trustworthy, do morals still matter in times of life and death?

The world is full of amazing wonders. From advanced technology and labor work it also comes with its own consequences. When things happen unexpectedly without leaving any clue of what caused it. People don’t see it as a sign for them to question and try to find the answer of their own theories, And how to prevent it before it gets too complicated to diminish it from doing big destruction. As well as the type of information they receive that is mostly accurate it seems like they take it for granted and not something to take it into consideration because it’s not them who are at risk, but the entire world. Such as living plants and other biosphere species. This is what we could call the world of the anthropocene a world that drastically keeps changing faster than any other previous time period. It’s an era that we are currently living and not doing something when unexpected catastrophes happen and harm us and see it as something normal and going deep dive on the cause of it or try to stop a habit that benefits them, but for the atmosphere it causes harm. A world that changes at a fast scale because of the acts people do on the Earth, whether releasing a high amount of CO2 or releasing some harmful toxins into the atmosphere or water, damaging landscapes for sake of profits, putting animals into extinction and other more things that some people do and don’t think about the actions of their own consequence and how it affects not only them but their surroundings.

The Anthropocene has had some impact on planetary effects as well as humans and other species who have to face the consequences of the decision makers that only produce harm into the ecosystem. Even though the world evolves and does not remain the same because of new ideas and inventions it always carries pros and cons.  Haraway bring the attention around these type of words (Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene) is an excellent way to attract eyes and open the minds of those who aren’t aware of their surroundings and observing the changes in the ecosystems and how those changes will have a major effect in everyone lives including them if they don’t respond to this type of issue and find solutions or keep expanding the idea to other more eyes to realize the things that they are doing in a daily day life that only produces more harm to the earth and benefit them for a while until of that is gone in various ways. If they collaborate on the changes that maybe big people are planning to do knowing that it’s going to benefit them if they are accepting changes that will reverse the dangerous and threatening events. Another is because all of the examples mentioned have drastically increased at a fast rate that only puts it into a complex place. 

“No species, not even our own arrogant one pretending to be good individuals in so-called modern Western scripts, acts alone; assemblages of organic species and of abiotic actors make history, the evolutionary kind and the other kinds too.” – From Donna Hathaway article. Indeed humans aren’t perfect when it comes to rethinking on the decisions they decide to make and how it could either impact positive or negative to the rest of the animal kingdom and the ecosystem in general because it’s the way they reshape evolution and historical events based on their acts and whether they have an impact or not and how it could affect in every term based on how long they rely on those decisions and plans that they could think would be a good thing and a probability a gateway to a bad outcome. People don’t think about their decisions being arrogant about it until they see and face the consequences of their input to outcome because they thought they were correct and it results on having a bad effect on everyone living with various examples like industrial revolution when they transition into a more easy productive outcome when it comes to manufacturing good which it was a good thing with carrying a con that was releasing carbon dioxide in big amount that trigger this concept of anthropocene, people change and shape the environment based on their decisions.

“ It’s more than climate change; it’s also extraordinary burdens of toxic chemistry, mining, depletion of lakes and rivers under and above ground, ecosystem simplification, vast genocides of people and other critters, etc, etc, in systemically linked patterns that threaten major system collapse after major system collapse after major system collapse.”- Donna Hathaway article. Hathaway also expresses that it’s not just climate change that is having an impact on the entire world, but other types of things such as toxic chemicals, genocides, mining, depletion of lakes and rivers as well as deforestation. There are other examples of social issues people face in everyday life and not taking this as a warning to start doing something before the frightening and terrible outcome that is waiting on the other side. Which i’m surprised how people don’t see this type of examples as a warning, but take it for granted and ain’t worry about it when the time is there to find a solution, but are worrying and having this sense of fear when problems get out of hands that seems so complicated to reverse the irreversible and the only option is to accept the fate and face the consequences not realizing that there was type to switch up the outcome to a much better than a tragic one.

“My purpose is to make “kin” mean something other/more than entities tied by ancestry or genealogy.”- Donna Hathaway article.” People don’t see the earth as a living thing and the species that are affected by the way humans live and the actions they do toward the earth that has an impact on them that people aren’t aware of. Hathaway using kin is like a way to say not to only think about our own satisfaction, but to have a consideration of our own acts and how it affects the rest of the living things that surrounds us and we should start thinking more about the ecosystem and how we are changing it into a horrific outcome and the animals we are affect with releasing toxic chemicals into nature and harm them. Overall diminishing population because an increase population has an impact in the ecosystem and the habitats of animals because the more people there the less land is available and the more landscape is ruined by using the land to rebuild home affecting a lot of things that people don’t think about and project bad results and the shortage of food specially that will have an impact to every single specie if everything runs out putting everyone at risk of dying of hunger and going extinct. The more everyone is aware of how much they have changed the ecosystem the more they will realize the percentage left that is available to reverse the irreversible and preserve it in order to live and see another tomorrow. Every single decision making carries its own consequences. And all of this is visible for everyone to see how much the earth has drastically changed.

“One way to live and die well as mortal critters in the Chthulucene is to join forces to reconstitute refuges, to make possible partial and robust biological-cultural-political- technological recuperation and recomposition, which must include mourning irreversible losses.”-Donna Hathaway article. The world is the home for every biosphere and also provide us with resources that we rely, but the thing is that people who rely on these resources dont plant more so that it doesn’t die out like many things that are no longer available for its mass usage and not restarting it back and prevent it from extinction. The only way for people to prevent more losses is to restore and recover the damage landscapes from turning into a death land that has no sense of reproducing more, restore and this is all in the hands of the people if they decide to put their part and start making a change that reverse the rest of what is left before it’s gone and affect everyone because it’s on the people to make the change. And not take it as a gift and not put it back to produce more of it.

Hathaway article about humanity and how it’s leading to a terrifying ending, if people are not starting to realize the damage they have done and what more if left can be completely gone if people don’t start taking visible awareness seriously enough to make a change toward saving the earth and all of the living things that live on the earth. A bunch of examples that I didn’t know about until I read this article and after finishing the article it made me realize how much the world has changed by the hands of people and not thinking about the outcome of their actions that puts everyone at risk of extinction. From my point of view it targets currency issues that humanity is facing and not fabricated fiction stories that go years into the future. And potential endings if people don’t start taking catastrophes and things that are visible for everyone to see as a consideration to do something before it’s too late. Putting everyone life in a questionable position of what the future awaits for them.

Interestingly enough, Donna Haraway’s work, particularly in “Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene,” explores how one can navigate and reimagine one’s relationship with the world amidst the vicissitudes of the Anthropocene and related concepts. She unwinds the labyrinth of the historical and contemporary destruction of humanity. Haraway highlights terms such as Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene, and Chthulucene to make readers rethink our place in the world to build new, more sustainable and equitable relationships with other beings and the environment, moving beyond destructive patterns of the past. Her distinctive tone showcases the critical analysis she develops through a visionary optimism which I admire tremendously. Her bluntness is refreshing as she describes the human race as the, “…arrogant one pretending to be good individuals (Haraway 1).”

Human-centric forces have caused environmental crises, and this is a term called the Anthropocene; the current geological effects caused by significant negative human impact on Earth’s geology and ecosystems.  Focal pointing this phenomenon too narrowly overlooks the other dynamics of ecological change. Haraway challenges the possibility that, “…assemblages of organic species and of abiotic actors make history (Haraway 1).” Are the global changes and environmental degradations solely human inflicted? It takes an open mind to see the complexity of change over the years having to do with small but vital nuances that with time, do show up as complete societal unanimity towards these impacts.

Haraway looks at neoliberalism as the lenses of Capitalocene. Capitalocene more accurately addresses the systemic nature of environmental issues tied to economic practices. In the current epoch, capitalism has a prevalent role in driving ecological destruction and inequality. This change of perspective shifts the focus from humanity  to the economic systems and power structures that perpetuate environmental harm. I find this to be very eye opening and effective reflection because it will tackle the perception perpetuating the idea shifting view that, “The edge of extinction is not just a metaphor; system collapse is not a thriller. Ask any refugee of any species (Haraway 3).” Amitav Gosh criticizes genres of literature that promotes the fantastical as it is a peril because it disarticulates with the question of agency. The novel has to adjust to the era it exists in but climate fiction, horror, science fiction and most imaginary explorative novels cross the boundary for sensitivity to reality. Making natural disasters and extinction solely exist as figurative language or a genre is dangerous because it desensitizes readers to the point that it, “…has primacy in the real world-predictable processes or unlikely events (Gosh 19).”

Humans since the beginning of time have felt the need to use up earth’s recourses to grow as societies. Plantationocene is a concept that emphasizes the influence of plantation economies and colonial histories on contemporary ecological and social crises. There are historical systems of exploitation and land use that continue to shape global environmental issues that are now as Edward Said pointed out in Orientalism from Rob Nixon, in the Slow Death in the Anthropocene , “the normalized quiet powers of unseen powers”(Nixon 7). Even to this day, there are normalized practices that are destroying the earth, “of the contemporary world because most of the reserves of the earth have been drained, burned, depleted, poisoned, exterminated, and otherwise exhausted (Haraway 2).” How will this cycle ever come to an end? Can this cycle ever come to an end? There have been some exhausted efforts seen in daily life such as a shift from plastic shopping bags to reuseable bags. Paper straws are strenuously being used, with much disapproval due to the hasteful sogginess ruining the experience of drinking. However, these small efforts do not directly cut the bloodline of what is massively harming the environment and world.

      Haraway proposes the term “Chthulucene” as an alternative to the Anthropocene. It combines “chthonic” (reference to the underworld or the deep earth) and “ceno” (epoch) to suggest a new way of thinking about and relating to our world. This is a driven solution to connect to “kin,” referring to non-human beings and the more-than-human world. It emphasizes symbiotic and collaborative relationships rather than dominance or exploitation. Haraway pleads for, “stories (and theories) that are just big enough to gather up the complexities and keep the edges open and greedy for surprising new and old connections (Haraway 2).” The division of humankind has been seen for centuries. Ironically, living in the United States of America, we have seen the most division by people due to such diversity of thought and background. However, there has always been the stressing of efforts to, “join forces to reconstitute refuges, to make possible partial and robust biological-cultural-political-technological recuperation and recomposition, which must include mourning irreversible losses (Haraway 2).” This challenges hierarchies of all kinds but advocates for more interconnectivity and reciprocal approaches to inhabiting earth. Respecting the valuing other species instead of our own can, “…exercise leadership in imagination, theory, and action to unravel the ties of both genealogy and kin, and kin and species (Haraway 4).”

Plenty to unpack but Haraway’s terms and ideas push towards a new vogue of conversation and mindsets. Going through the motions can detach a person from reality and allow for the destructiveness of human customs to perpetually wipe out earth and eventually, our own species with it.

I thought you might be interested in reading this interview with climate fiction superstar Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the “Mars Trilogy” and the “Science in the Capital” trilogy. Robinson throws some serious shade at Ghosh’s argument about the “outhouse” of science fiction v. the “mansion” of the “serious” or “literary” novel:

Kim Stanley Robinson: We Need Democratic Socialism

Utopian thinking gets a pretty bad name. But for author Kim Stanley Robinson, we should resist the idea we’re simply doomed to climate disaster – and insist that there is a world beyond capitalism.

We should be reading Robinson, but his books are very long, so they got cut from this syllabus!

“Slow Violence” is a concept introduced by Nixon that is entirely new to me, as is the anthropocene. Because of this, I am having a hard time looking at the issue of climate and the anthropocene through the lens ofthe perceived “slow violence.” I am used to looking at the climate issue as secondary part of a larger issue of what many of our readings refer to as “global capitalism,” and therefore have focused on it’s direct effect. While it is very important to look at the root of a problem, I was intrigued by the concepts introuced by Nixon to push writers to produce elements of slow violence into their works of fiction in order to make it conceivable in order to then change the framework of how society sees the issu of climate.

I am still pretty confused by the connections of slow violence, climate and literature so that is what I plan to use this blog post for. For my own practice and for the purpose of correction/clarification. Slow violence is the gradudal development of climate change that with time grows more and more violence. Because of the gradual and, hence, slow development, this type of violence becomes normalized and almost unseen, unrecognized and dismissed. So not only is sort of violence happeing slowly, there is little to nothing actively being done since it it not only develops more violent, but more normal and routine as well. So, what Nixon’s piece seeks to do is draw connections between fiction novels and modern culture and coonsciousness in order to connect how writers today can bring an almost unconscious connection between their works of fictional literature and climate to their readers.

-C