Caputi, Jane. “Facing Change.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 11, no. 2 (42), 2000, pp. 175–78. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43308439. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024.

This passage talks about patriarchy and gender politics, female divine power and the revolution of consciousness that Jane Caputi shows through the connection between Oya from African ancestry (a deity from the Yoruba religion, this deity ca be seen as a goddess of winds, storms and fires. She can also be seen as a figure that represents change) and Lauren. This connection between the two shows the evolving force of the strength and vulnerability it takes for Lauren to make her change in the community she is building. This passage also talks about Butlers visions showcasing past and present realities in terms of things like white supremacist, the gap between the rich and poor, corrupt police, enslavement of women etc. Caputi talks about Butler’s work having a lot of historical and issues but emphasizes gender politics critiquing the concept of male gods or societies that are of male supremacy and instead focusing on Butler’s work representing the female as the all might and powerful.

Chelsea M. Frazier. “Troubling Ecology: Wangechi Mutu, Octavia Butler, and Black Feminist Interventions in Environmentalism.” Critical Ethnic Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2016, pp. 40–72. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.5749/jcritethnstud.2.1.0040. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024.

This passage speaks on environmentalism, political theory and black feminist discourses within the novel parable of the Sower. Frazier starts off critiquing an argument saying Butler’s work is a comparison with the tradition of U.S environmentalism but Frazier believes thinking that way sort of reduces her work when instead Butler’s work should show the different societal structures. She talks about different theories that can be connected to butlers work like pointing out antebellum slavery within the dystopia future Butler creates and how it can be tied to black feminist showing the system of oppression that black women experience. Frazier believes the novel speaks more volumes and shouldn’t be looked at as simply environmental studies within a mainstream tradition but instead should be showcased as a way to look at the underlying structures within capitalism, racial identities and societal structures.

Henderson, Carol E. “FREEDOM TO SELF-CREATE: IDENTITY AND THE POLITICS OF MOVEMENT IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AMERICAN FICTION.” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 46, no. 4, 2000, pp. 998–1003. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26286181. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024.

As in the title this journal talks about freedom and self-creation but through this idea of “open journey” in African American literature. This concept basically means a spiritual journey, a process of seeking independence or in this case having the character in a novel find their own identity or freedom in the context of African American literature. Henderson talks about Butler showing this through her work being able to have the main character show how the future can be reimagined highlighting the role of Lauren and her journey to become a person independent on her own thoughts and morals. Self-empowerment and spiritual renewal is talked about a lot connecting it to the idea of an “open journey” representing an evolving processes and transformation.

Miller, Jim. “Post-Apocalyptic Hoping: Octavia Butler’s Dystopian/Utopian Vision.” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 25, no. 2, 1998, pp. 336–60. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4240705. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024.

This journal focuses on the postmodern science fiction of a feminist utopian and dystopian writing that Jim Miller believes Butler to be an essential part of. Miller refers to many other writers like Jane Donawerth, Carol Kolmerten and Donna Haraway who support the ideas of feminist politics and feminist thought comparing it to Butlers work in Parable of the Sower. He talks about how her writing engages with a feminist utopia because through Butler’s work, she can provide people with a reimagining of a future lead by a black woman and that allows us to see the possibilities of a future that has no limitations. He also talks about Butlers unique position being that she is an African American woman she is able to challenge the many assumptions on race, gender and power.

Usoro, Rebecca. “Article ~ Emerging Gender Perspectives of the African Americans in Octavia Butler’s Fledgling and Parable of the Sower.” AKSU Journal of English, AKSU Journal of English, 15 Dec. 2023, aksujournalofenglish.org.ng/utuenikang/23/12/emerging-gender-perspectives-of-the-african-americans-in-octavia-butlers-fledgling-and-parable-of-the-sower/.

This article talks about racism, sexism and discrimination within the novel parable of the Sower. It talks about how her novel can be looked at as a tool to acknowledge societal problems and how we as readers can critique and explore this idea. The main idea represented in this article is Butler’s work having a sense of this afro futuristic feminist theory and how the role of a black women in past, present and future is challenged. In Butlers work we can see that black women are not being represented in a way they are confined but instead able to make their own choices and lead which we can see through the main character Lauren.  There is an empowerment towards black women and sort of heroism role that Butler showcases in her work Parable of the Sower. Butler challenged the idea that black women can be more than what society perceives them to be through this novel and she shapes the structure of this future dystopia novel through these ideas.

I used Hunter’s one search database as well as JSTOR and google scholar. In order to figure out which journals and peer reviewed articles I could use, I utilized key words from my question to narrow things down which helped significantly. JSTOR and one search was the most helpful and easiest to navigate for me.

Blazan, S. (2022). “Something beyond pain”: Race, gender, and hyperempathy in octavia butler’s parable of the sower. Gender Forum, (82), 34. Retrieved from http://proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/something-beyond-pain-race-gender-hyperempathy/docview/2764532780/se-2

Caputi, Jane. “Facing Change.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 11, no. 2 (42), 2000, pp. 175–78. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43308439. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024.

Chelsea M. Frazier. “Troubling Ecology: Wangechi Mutu, Octavia Butler, and Black Feminist Interventions in Environmentalism.” Critical Ethnic Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, 2016, pp. 40–72. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.5749/jcritethnstud.2.1.0040. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024.

Henderson, Carol E. “FREEDOM TO SELF-CREATE: IDENTITY AND THE POLITICS OF MOVEMENT IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AMERICAN FICTION.” Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 46, no. 4, 2000, pp. 998–1003. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26286181. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024.

Miller, Jim. “Post-Apocalyptic Hoping: Octavia Butler’s Dystopian/Utopian Vision.” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 25, no. 2, 1998, pp. 336–60. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4240705. Accessed 17 Nov. 2024.

Mirza, Kanza Fatima, et al. “Gender, Capitalism, and Environmental Degradation: A Material Ecofeminist Analysis of Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sorrow.” Panacea Journal of Linguistics & Literature, 5 Sept. 2024, journals.airsd.org/index.php/pjll/article/view/289.

Usoro, Rebecca. “Article ~ Emerging Gender Perspectives of the African Americans in Octavia Butler’s Fledgling and Parable of the Sower.” AKSU Journal of English, AKSU Journal of English, 15 Dec. 2023, aksujournalofenglish.org.ng/utuenikang/23/12/emerging-gender-perspectives-of-the-african-americans-in-octavia-butlers-fledgling-and-parable-of-the-sower/.

In part 2 of weather the ideas shared about Lizzies character from part 1 is now more emphasized and you can see the progression of how she thinks. We can see how she becomes more anxious about her life and the environment. Lizzies growing concerns of the climate change and these spiraling phases reflects on her personal life. Her mind is being continuously shifted from one thought to another creating a sense of insecurities she deals with as a mom, wife, librarian and the other roles she fulfills. Lizzies part time job with Sylvia requires her to travel with her attending lectures and responding to emails Sylvia gets from her podcast listeners.  These emails typically consists of people who spend most of their time fixated on the climate and how it is potentially collapsing.They are just waiting out the impending “doom” that is soon to reach their environment. I think Lizzie is turning into one of those people because as the novel continues to progress we can see her become more hopeless and little bit out of touch with herself and her relationships with other characters in the novel.

There are many moments where we see this hopelessness Lizzie has and to me it can be very concerning especially knowing that she has a child of her own. On page 73 Lizzie shares a moment she has with a student who tells her failure isn’t an option and Lizzies response is laughter. She then goes on to almost make light of the situation and says, “Hey, me too, I used to have plans! Biggish ones, medium at least”. This whole interaction to me shows that Lizzie has a “it is what it is” mentality when it comes to negative things. She has no desire to get to greatness or growth and she’s lost all ambition in her life and is sharing that energy among other people including her family. Her relationship with her husband is very odd and to me it seems forced like she is there because she has to fill in the wife role but she doesn’t really want to be there. There is a moment where he starts to doubt that she has a job and in her thoughts we see she goes along with his statement and talks about hypothetical scenarios where people get fired for months and pretend to go to work (pg. 81). There was also another moment when Lizzie shares her thoughts on a newly divorced friend that she found out has met someone new and says “I can only imagine what it would be like to be this age and then suddenly fall in love” which Ben corrects her and says, “You are in love” (pg. 104) ….. awkward.  These moments of uncertainty are all reflections of how she sees herself and the world.

At Lizzies age I think it is normal to feel some of the things she is going through because everyone at their middle age might have some moments of worry about their life naturally because maybe their life didn’t pan out how they thought originally. The difference with Lizzie and where it starts to become a concern is she is okay with that. She has concluded that things are just the way they are and it can’t be changed. She’s okay with the average, unfulfilling life she knows she is living because she hasn’t allowed herself to see how she can make changes that will create growth for herself because she considers her age to be too late.

How do gender roles influence societal structures, cultural values, norms and the impact these roles have on individual identity and power dynamics in the contemporary context of the Parable of The Sower?

The structure of how this novel is presented is very interesting. To me it is structured very day to day and represents as if we are going through time with the main character Lizzie. It balances between moments when she is at home with her husband and child, at her son’s school, work, her driver Jimmy and moments with her brother so basically her life. While there is dialogue between her and the other characters I feel like there are a lot of moments when we are just in her mind reading her thoughts and what she is observing as well as hearing about things after it has happened already. This structure is very different from the last two novels we read because The Hungry Tide and Parable of the Sower to me had more of a story line that was continuous. There was a plot from the beginning, middle and end. Both those novels didn’t have chapters per se but it was organized in that manner. In Weather it jumps to different “scenes” very abruptly and you figure out what each small section is about once getting through the first couple of sentences. I didn’t mind the way it is structured once I got past the first couple of “sections” but reading it from the beginning I was very confused because I felt like there was not a smooth introduction, it just jumped right in.

In this novel so far I don’t think the Anthropocence is heavily showcased in terms of changes in climate or environmental factors. I think the novel touches base more on human evolution in terms of what is being passed on to the youth and how humans in general can live better. I also think it focuses on technology and how it is used currently and the ways in which people want it to progress. There are a lot of moments where Lizzie talks about her age or individuals who are older and they express the concerns on if they lived like they way they were supposed to and accepting the fate of getting older and what that comes with. In the novel it stated, “young person worry: What if nothing I do matters?” and “Old person worry: What if everything I do does?”. To me this was very relatable and stating this was a representation of how both young and old people in society have experienced this thought which is natural because with different goals and decisions that are made in society that’s how people would think weither it be good or bad. In terms of technology and how things are passed on to the youth there are moments where its expressed that kids don’t really know what it means to be solitary in their environment and aware of what’s going on because they are so glued to social media and not wanting to miss anything that is going on in the internet which consists of no importance. There was a moment in the book where Lizzie is at a dinner consisting of men exploring genetic engineering for de-extinction (lets be serious here) and one of the men who is a techno-optimist basically explains the internet and technology will soon be running the world which is how we will be connected to one another (pg.38 – 39).  In reality society is always evolving and creating new ways to develop which is good but as Sylvia stated in the novel, ” we have chosen to privilege certain things above other things” (pg. 47). The idea of the role we play as humans is highlighted throughout and what Ive taken from this novel so far is we need to stop putting ourselves on this high pedestal because at the end of the day we aren’t really anything special and some of the changes we make create are a disservice to ourselves.