Hierarchies of Nation, Race, Gender, and More: Defining "In" and "Out" Groups Through the Apocalypse in 'The Parable of the Sower' Raminder Kaur Barhama College

Within post-apocalyptic literature, many writers attempt to break down the boundaries of what hierarchies represent in normal society for example race, gender etc. and change them to fit what seems to be their reality. One such author who applies this method within their writing is Octavia Butler, who this essay will be focusing on and her novel The Parable of the Sower (1993). In many ways within her novel, Butler breaks down ideas of gender and race and subverts them. Another interesting concept that Butler explores within her novel, something that is rarely explored within the apocalyptic genre, is the idea of disability. While not explicitly physical, mental disability is still an interesting angle to explore within the apocalyptic genre.

Butler applies the same trope consistently across all the novels that she has written whereby she places her black female heroine in situations through which they must “survive and eventually overcome these societal barriers” (Salvaggio, 1984, pg. 78). We could certainly say that Butler’s writing style is very much influenced by the time period in which she was writing and the movements that were surrounding her at the time. Born in 1947, Butler experienced the different waves of feminism;...