If you’re familiar with the Bible, you’re most likely familiar with many different parables, including the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Talents. However, you’re most likely not familiar with the novels Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. They’re fictional novels about the United States in the future- around year 2025 and beyond. Written in the the ’90’s, Octavia took all that she saw wrong about our country and predicted what it would be like years and years later. What she hadn’t realized was that her prediction is somewhat close to the truth.
I’m not one to preach about how “you have to read this book!”, but these novels are very informative and eye opening, not to mention really interesting and a great read. In the story, Butler employs how the government is corrupt and insignificant, which may not be the case now…but who knows down the road? She also goes on about poverty- the novels are practically centered around it. Everything that the U.S. is as we know it has altered in the novels; neighborhoods are all walled in and poor people roam the streets, trying to survive off of the land. Violence, another huge aspect in the books, is very prevalent since people are willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Environmental issues have gotten worse and the entire country is dealing with excessive global warming and rising sea levels in the books.
This may not sound all that interesting to you, but think about it. If you read a story about aliens coming to take over you’d probably think nothing of it because that’s supposedly a far-fetched idea. On the other hand, reading novels like the Parable books is important, though frightening because all of it could actually happen someday. I truly recommend reading these stories, not only because they are extremely enjoyable to read, but because they will really open your eyes to all of the issues that we see in our world today, and what it could be like if it escalated. These books make me think twice about the way I live and about the way we live in our society, and I really hope you read them and get that same feeling. If everyone would read these novels, I feel as though people would understand what we need to change and try to prevent Butler’s idea of the future from ever coming true.
I rate:
Parable of the Sower– 9/10
Parable of the Talents– 9/10
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