I have been fortunate enough this semester to take a Utopia/Dystopia class, and it is fascinating. It’s a political science class, so it’s from a different perspective in some ways than my English classes. Though the format is similar to some I’ve had, the class revolves mostly around a number of novels that we read and analyze in the context of themes of utopias and dystopias.

The first of the novels we have read is “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler. This is the first time I have had the opportunity to be exposed to her works, and so far, it is great. I would say I am a casual fan of science fiction, mainly for the social critiques that can often be found within the confines of novels in this genre, as well as the creativity that abounds. I really think that regular reading of science fiction enables one to have a more open mind.

Anyhow, “Parable of the Sower” does a good job at confronting the reader with its material, and making the reader reconsider the structure of government and society that we are living with today and could be living in not too soon. Without giving too much away, it is set in 2024. And things are pretty extreme; it is practically post-apocalyptic, though what the apocalypse was is never mentioned. However, it isn’t so extreme if you come at it with certain perspectives.

When I was reading the first, oh, half of the book, it was a struggle. Not because it was overly hard to get into or dry like, say, Asimov (sorry, Asimov, but the “Foundation” trilogy was an ordeal), but it was a struggle to read the book emotionally. I have never experienced that before with a book, and I consider myself to have a decent amount of resilience, but “Parable of the Sower” was something that I needed to take breaks from. It was just, overwhelming somehow, because there isn’t any kind of rest for the main character whose head you are in until later in the novel, and even then, it is brief. And Butler kind of slams the reader with conditions of the world in the novel.

So, it was difficult to read, but as I read on, it didn’t sound too different from the kind of struggle one might find themselves in in today’s society if one were poor, or how the world might feel to one who had a mental affliction like severe depression.

In this novel, the people do not get help from their government, which generally stays absent, except when people are desperate enough to pay for police or fire services, and even then, the officials are apathetic and often useless, if they do not cause more damage. Money and resources are an intense struggle, and when the people manage to get ahead somehow, it usually is stolen from them. Sound familiar? Maybe not, if you’ve never had any kind of experience with poverty (not that I necessarily have) but the stress is intense.

As far as the depression aspect, the main character is afflicted with “hyperempathy”, which means that she literally physically feels what others are feeling (i.e., pain from someone hitting them, or pleasure, too), which is obviously different from depression, but the sensitivity is pretty accurate I think, as well as the metaphorical sense of the intense struggle that the narrator must go through every day.

More similarities to our current society include multiple and exaggerated natural disasters (though they are a bit worse in the novel), as well as an apathy towards political figures (the main character’s parents don’t even bother voting because of their disillusionment…sound familiar?). Apparently, in the sequel to “Parable of the Sower”, there is a presidential candidate whose slogan is “Make America Great Again”.

Leave it to sci-fi to accurately predict aspects of the future in its critiques…in any case, I highly recommend this novel.