Parable of the Sower

He is never given his own name in this story, but the Reverend is important as Lauren’s father. Lauren notes: “I love him. He’s the best person I know, and I care what he thinks. I wish I didn’t, but I do” (34). Reverend Olamina is a complicated character, a community leader trying to keep the neighborhood together. His influence on Lauren is positive in that he models teamwork and community care for her. He also shows her how she can influence the actions of their neighbors without getting herself into trouble. However, he exhibits negative behaviors as well, like beating his children. While his skill as a shooter is valuable in this post-order society, his propensity for violence stands in contrast to Lauren, who only uses violence when absolutely necessary. As a devout Baptist preacher, Reverend Olamina represents the old ways of Christianity and the patriarchal social order, and he stifles his child’s creative impulses. Nonetheless, he is a pillar of the community, and his disappearance sparks its unraveling.

Lauren does not like her younger brother, who puts them all at risk for his own gain. He’s an angry young man who is mean and spiteful, making him Lauren’s foil. He hates their father, even though Lauren says, “Every time I look at you, I see him. Every time you look at him, you see yourself” (114). This shows how violence and patriarchal ideas can be passed down from parents to children, though Keith eschews his father’s focus on community. At the same time, Keith is valuable to Lauren because by entering the wider world beyond Robledo’s borders, he provides her with information that helps her survive. While he has the knowledge to succeed, his self-serving beliefs and actions cannot help him survive, and he dies quickly beyond Robledo’s walls. His actions create tension between Lauren and her stepmother Cory, who likes Keith best and thinks Lauren is the favored offspring of her husband. Like a wildfire, Keith is an unpredictable catalyst that sparks change through destruction.