Octavia E. Butler’s canonical near-future fiction presents an America on the brink of environmental, political, and social collapse. Her iconic protagonist and narrator, teenager Lauren Oya Olamina, represents a prototypical artist of the new era. She writes in her journals of the new religion, Earthseed, that she hopes to establish; it represents a way for humans to escape their own destruction. This religion manifests itself in the community she is forced to gather around her from the ashes of her old one. In her work of forging new bonds between people through creativity, care, and tenacity, Lauren offers valuable lessons for the survivors of the future.
Butler, Octavia E. Parable of the Sower. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1993.