50 pages • 1 hour read
Octavia E. ButlerParable of the Talents
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1998A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Loyalty and Betrayal Among Family Members
In Butler’s novel, family relationships are depicted in complex ways, and characters display both fierce loyalty and sometimes cruel betrayal towards their family members. The triangular relationship between Larkin, Lauren, and Marcus reflects a sense of rivalry between Lauren and Marcus and their competition for Larkin’s love and loyalty. Lauren and Marcus are strong, charismatic leaders with a keen interest in religion. Their similarities end up bringing them into conflict; as Larkin notes, Lauren “recognized […] characteristic[s] in Uncle Marc, but I don’t believe she ever saw it clearly in herself” (307). At first, Lauren is delighted to find Marcus after believing he is dead, but she quickly becomes frustrated with his insubordination and ingratitude, complaining that “but for us and our dump, he would still be a slave and a whore!” (141).
Later on, Lauren feels intensely betrayed both when Marcus will not believe her about what happened at Camp Christian and when he will not help her look for Larkin. The ultimate betrayal comes when Lauren learns that Marcus has lied and kept her apart from her daughter for decades. Even at the end of her life, Lauren reflects, “how completely, how thoroughly he has stolen my child. I have never even tried to forgive him” (405). The narrative hints that Marcus’s trauma led him to feel justified keeping Larkin away from Lauren because he clung to the belief system of Christian America and saw Earthseed as a dangerous cult. Butler portrays most of her characters in an empathetic and ambivalent light, providing insight into how events from their past shape their values and sometimes blind them to the impact of their decisions.
The breakdown of the relationship between the two siblings also impacts the relationship between mother and daughter. Larkin has a difficult relationship with her mother, observing that “I have wanted to love her and to believe that what happened between her and me wasn’t her fault. I’ve wanted that. But instead, I’ve hated her, feared her, needed her” (xiv). Larkin blames her mother for always having loved and prioritized Earthseed more than her child and never gets over these feelings of betrayal and mistrust. At the same time, the narrative makes it clear that Lauren tried obsessively to find her daughter, countering advice that she should move on with the insistence that “I can’t give up on her” (332). When Lauren watches the shuttles depart for space, she notes that “my Larkin would not come. I begged her, but she refused” (404). In the end, Lauren feels betrayed by the daughter whom she loved so completely but who refused to carry on her legacy.
Significantly, Butler’s novel extends the notion of family relationships beyond biological bonds. Because they endure so much trauma and loss, characters often form different types of family groups, including adopting orphans, forming blended families with children from different relationships, and forming romantic partnerships regardless of gender. Even though it happens in the context of a chaotic and dangerous world, Butler explores utopian possibilities of fluid love and open, welcoming communities and family units. At the same time, she depicts these relationships as sometimes also including betrayal: Larkin is never truly loved or accepted by her adoptive parents, and her adoptive father molests her and threatens her. As Larkin mourns, “There was no love in the Alexander household. There was only the habit of being together, and I suppose, the fear of even greater loneliness” (347). In the end, Butler presents all family relationships, whether biological or not, as ambivalent and sources of both joy and pain.
The Moral Ambivalence of Religious Faith
Religious faith drives the actions of many characters in the novel; because of their convictions, characters feel that their actions are justifiable, although others might question them. From the outset, Lauren creates tension due to her religious convictions: Bankole pleads with her to leave Acorn and move to another town, but Lauren is fixated on the mission of Earthseed and will not leave. This disagreement leads to Lauren feeling that “all he seems to see is what he calls my immaturity, my irrational, unrealistic faith in Earthseed, my selfishness, my shortsightedness” (131). Lauren’s fixation is specific to Earthseed and its particular version of religion, creating an interesting juxtaposition to her skepticism toward the devout followers of Jarret and Christian America.
Likewise, Larkin is highly critical of the religion that Lauren developed, arguing that “If she had created Acorn, but not Earthseed, then I think she would have been a wholly admirable person” (60), and “the more I read about Earthseed, the more I despised it” (377). Lauren never wavers in her conviction that she is acting for the ultimate good of humanity by disseminating the teachings of Earthseed, but her beliefs drive a wedge between her and the people she loves the most. Still, Lauren comes to the end of her life with a sense of triumphant completion and pride; her last words in the novel are “I know what I’ve done” (405).
Lauren’s brother Marcus also acts based on his religious convictions; the two siblings share deep faith because they grew up in a religious household with a father who was a well-regarded preacher. Marcus’s religious faith and skill as a preacher allow him to get through the traumatic loss of his family and his period of enslavement. He cannot embrace the teachings of Earthseed because he has contradictory existing religious convictions, and Lauren sees him as a threat, noting that “I couldn’t let him begin to divide Earthseed” (150). Marcus’s religious beliefs give him strong conviction about how the world should be ordered, leading Larkin to refer to both her mother and her uncle as “would-be world fixers” (108). He is so committed to his faith that he rejects Lauren’s statements about what happened at Camp Christian and also overlooks the information that eventually comes to light about Jarret’s crimes, arguing that “Jarret’s teachings were right even if the man himself did wrong” (394). Marcus never wavers in his convictions or beliefs and is willing to justify any misdeed committed by Christian America or President Jarret. While Butler presents Earthseed as indisputably a more positive force than the Christian America faith, she draws parallels between Lauren and Marcus by showing that the intense faith of both individuals is morally ambiguous and drives them to both constructive and destructive actions.
Hatred and Fear of the Other
Butler’s novel depicts a world where some individuals engage in brutality against other human beings. Much of the violence is based on chaos and a need to survive; for example, the Noyer family is brutally attacked so that the slavers can profit by abducting and selling the two young girls. While actions such as killing humans to steal from them or enslaving people for profit are horrific, the most atrocious acts of the novel occur when certain groups dehumanize others for holding different beliefs. Jarret’s Crusaders see anyone who does not hold Christian beliefs as heathens who need to be converted and saved; they do not value their lives or suffering. Lauren describes with bitter irony that “in their loving kindness, they use the collars to torment us” (206). The Crusaders use the traditional Christian rhetoric of love, but they actually hate the followers of Earthseed and think of them as “squatters, parasites and thieves” (209).
As she spends months imprisoned, Lauren observes how the false perception of the followers of Earthseed allows their captors to rationalize their atrocities. She explains that “some of them seem truly to feel that collecting minor criminals in places like Camp Christian is right and necessary for the good of the country” (230). Marcus will later echo this by insisting that the camps “try to reach them, teach them skills and self-discipline” (311). Despite this rhetoric of helping, not all individuals are targeted equally. Familiar discriminations based on class, race, and level of education play out to determine who is targeted and treated as a subhuman. By creating a community and excluding any others from that community, any religion or belief system can encourage its adherents to see others as dangerous threats. While Lauren never uses Earthseed to encourage mistreating anyone, she does believe that “Earthseed must be not only a belief system but a way of life” (386). Ironically, Earthseed is a faith not unlike the Christian American religion, and within any belief system, there is the possibility that it can lead to division rather than community.
Related Titles
By Octavia E. Butler
