Research Question:

How do Lauren’s experiences with other survivors in Parable of the Sower challenge/reinforce the concept of individualism vs collectivism in the context of a post-apocalyptic world?

Annotated Bibliography (I will be adding more sources; it’s a work in progress)

ANDRÉOLLE, DONNA SPALDING. “Utopias of Old, Solutions for the New Millennium: A Comparative Study of Christian Fundamentalism in M.K. Wren’s A Gift Upon the Shore and Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower.” Utopian Studies, vol. 12, no. 2, 2001, pp. 114–23. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20718319. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.

In this source, Donna talks about the Parable of the Sower and another novel and how they survive their crises, focusing on the religious aspect. I will use this source to support my claim that Lauren goes against the stereotypical way of survival which portrays her as individualistic.

Ballard, Rebecca McWilliams Ojala, et al. “Collectivism as Adaptation in Climate Fiction.” ISLE Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, July 2023,

This source supports the idea of using Earth seed to survive and spread around and portrays the collectivist point of view by putting together a community of people in order to look out for each other and survive.

Clausen, Daniel D. “Cli-Fi Georgic and Grassroots Mutual Aid in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower.” Western American Literature, vol. 56, no. 3–4, Jan. 2021, pp. 269–86. https://doi.org/10.1353/wal.2021.0040. https://engl252fa24.commons.gc.cuny.edu/clausen-cli-fi-georgic/

Much like Donna’s source, I will be using this source to support that Lauren is individualistic by going against the patriarchal ways of survival and finding new ways to survive. However, this can be used to argue that she reinforces the concept of being a collectivist because she relies on the relationships of people she meets to survive.

Jones, Tiffany. “Challenging Ignorance and Individualism: Self-Reliance in Parable of the Sower.” Tiffany’s Takeover, 2024, https://tiffanystakeover.home.blog/challenging-ignorance-and-individualism-self-reliance-in-parable-of-the-sower/. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.

While Tiffany’s paper is not a peer-reviewed source, I agree with many points she makes regarding how Lauren represents an individualistic concept and the community she creates challenges by relying on Lauren for survival. This community results in fear rather than calmness in their journey, which is the opposite of what Lauren preaches with Earth Seed.

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