LITR 4632 Literature of the Future
conclude Parable of the Sower
iscuss blending of apocalypse and evolution in Parable of Sower (and later texts like Time Machine)
How are both present? How account for co-presence instead of co-exclusion?
Where do they diverge? Where do they meet?
Can you reconcile seeing the world as both apocalypse and evolution, rather than one excluding the other? If so, how?
(A number of different ways to do this, never a perfect fit, some will still go for one or the other.)
example:
compare beginning-middle-end of Parable with
overall narrative of Bible:
Eden, tree of life > fall, redemption of messiah, apocalypse > heaven, tree of life
Tree of life: Genesis 4.9
Rev. 2.7, 22.2
How does the re-appearance of the tree of life change the linear narrative of Genesis->Revelation?
Cf. Revelation—p. 244 safe haven; later: oak trees, garden (cf. Tree of life)
symbols a.k.a. signs
sometimes metaphors or metonyms, but not exactly same
apocalypse and evolution?
compare Creation vs. Evolution
4 wall of fire?
6 outside where things are dangerous and crazy (cf. Heaven in apocalypse, or garden of Eden in Genesis)
6 father’s god not my god
18-19 Mars as heaven, hell on earth (off-planet)
59 Dad preached from Genesis
82 you disobeyed
old world has to be destroyed to create new
55 "I think your world is coming to an end . . . ."
73 a tree cannot grow in its parents' shadows
death is evolution's dirty little secret; one other dirty little secret: sex
Evolution (or at least variations from Genesis-Revelation)
3 God = change
25 intelligence adapts, single generation (evolution as social adaptation)
51 no one's going to save us; save ourselves
52 survive
55 "The problems we have now have been building since long before your were born."
111 adaptable and interconnected
Review last class:
briefly introduced multicultural issues to Literature of the Future, sf
If not dealt with before, maybe b/c
when we imagine the future, we tend to simplify, project--start with "people like us"
authors face some of the same limits, though also responsible for thinking beyond
traditional science fiction from "Golden Age" and "Silver Age" of sf in mid-20th century: trailblazing use of systematic "hard science" with fiction, but limited in audience and authorship to white men (with occasional exceptions)
stereotype picture of humanity: a single white man empowered by technology
examples:
Luke Skywalker, Han Solo
Captains Kirk, Picard
Recent movies and television shows trend toward multicultural cast or "crew"
Past generation: more sf by and for women and African Americans
sf changes
women writers, audiences: more emphasis on human relations, with extensions to some non-human identities like aliens or robots
African American writers, audiences: different attitudes toward authority (e. g., police in Parable of Sower) + sf seen from ground up, rather than down from tops of buildings or spaceships
Movies > global audiences > some diversification of casts (e. g., Will Smith in I, Robot--which, by the way, is on FX tonight)
(Other main trend from global movies: elevation of simple, generic conflict and action, narratives; repression of cultural nuance--"Mel Gibson, saving his family and mine"
future written / being written?
1.11, 19 write in a book . . . things which shall be hereafter
5 a book written within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals . . . open the book
13.8 names written in book of life
in contrast to evolution, where the future is constantly being written and revised, therefore open-ended
summary: future written, already “in the books”; therefore an ending?
But 3.12 Him that overcometh . . . I will write upon him the name of my God . . .
3.20, 4.1
[some free will, active response by listener]
great literature: doesn’t shut down reality, but meets reality
(art imitates life; life is complex; great art must be complex)
She's doing at least some of the writing, with what she's inherited
111 adaptable and interconnected
compare beginning-middle-end of Parable
with
overall narrative of Bible:
Eden, tree of life > fall, redemption of messiah, apocalypse > heaven, tree of life
Describe Parable in similar terms:
student comments 2005:
childhood neighborhood: protection by a father, trees, walls; something trying to get in; issues of obedience; gate is breached by evil
messiah: Lauren as truth-bearer, prophet, spiritual leader, disciples, founder of religious movement
breaching of gates, paints as demons, fire, can't return (after fall), general decline, fire as cleansing that removes the old and makes way for new
heaven, tree of life: Acorn, planting of trees, something struggled for and won, escape to safety, hard to get into, need for belief; reunite with deceased loved ones, spiritual remembrance & redemption
linear narrative but full circle, cyclical restoration of earlier
Dad was intelligent leader-preacher with gun, Lauren similar but changed
Cf. Revelation—p. 244 safe haven; later: oak trees, garden (cf. Tree of life)
student comments 2005:
Evolutionary narrative:
world / order is created but changeable [difference is that earlier order is not necessarily restored; also potentially no ending, open-ended narrative, lose the original model
Mark
Chapa
Web
Highlighter
Parable
of the Sower - Conclusion
Similar to the Apocalyptic narrative, it is possible to find the same sort of romantic notions in the Evolutionary narrative. Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower introduces the same idea of the transcendence of human-kind in the face of great adversity. Religious tones remain, however this time in the form of an evolving New Age philosophy presented by the type of a strong-woman and empathic character. What distances this work from the Apocalyptic texts is the vision of a world that does not end: “…the/Destiny of Earthseed is to take root among/The stars,” (Butler 68). This is the prophesy uttered by the main character of her vision for her followers; her people, “Earthseed,” will transcend earth’s chaos and devastation by taking a new place above the earth. The thrust of this story remains romantic though it abandons the Apocalyptic idea of justice for all evil and Biblical retribution brought about by the omnipotent God. Eternal reward is substituted or replaced by survival.
Here, however, Parable of the Sower diverges
somewhat from purely apocalyptic literature and begins to take on some aspects
of the second type of narrative—the evolutionary narrative.
While Parable is a primarily apocalyptic text, it
can also been seen as evolutionary. At
the very least, there are some evolutionary concepts.
While the world has obviously gone through a horrible time, humans are
still alive and functioning in resourceful ways.
Human adaptation is a key theme in evolutionary literature. The short story “ Stone Lives”, is another example of
humans adapting to situations that are a result of some apocalyptic event.
The story blends apocalyptic thinking with the survivalist views of
evolution.
Not all evolutionary narratives are light-hearted and entertaining, however. H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, paints a terrifying picture of evolution gone awry. In the future visited by the Time Traveler, man’s inhumanity to man has resulted in a divergence of the species. The high-born Eloi have become nothing more than fatted calves for the working class Morlocks.
Similarly, the harsh reality of Stone Lives by Paul Di Filippo portrays a future few would want to embrace. Business has become brutal. It is a “dog eat dog’ world where only the strongest can survive. Even maternal devotion has become antiquated. It is ‘survival of the fittest”—a true Darwinian nightmare.