By the end of Parable of the Sower I was acutely aware, not to mention impressed, with the ability of the characters to remain relatively loving and compassionate individuals while bearing witness to a perpetuating cycle of violence and death. In my opinion the group was able to develop into its ultimate fruition at the end of the novel due to Lauren’s innate leadership qualities combined with her hyper-empathetic affliction. Lauren exhibited the early signs of a potential matriarchal figure early on in the novel. In my opinion this potential reveals itself mainly in her Earthseed passages which give the reader a glimpse into a mind that understands the gravity of her actions. According to Lauren, the following lines are the foundation upon what her Earthseed: Book of the Living is built upon.
All that you touch,
You Change.
All that you Change,
Changes you.
The only lasting truth
Is Change
God
Is Change.
As the novel progresses, it becomes evident that this simple phrase begins to define not only Lauren, but every individual that she comes in contact with. At first glance the overall conception seems to be quite simple, however, upon further analysis it becomes clear that if you choose to live by these words that they will define and mold every future action that you take. By the end of the novel it can almost be stated that these individuals that will make up the first Earthseed community have defined their soul around these words whether they meant to or not. In order to survive the horror of the journey they all had to trust each other without any trace of doubt.
This ideological position that “God is change,” becomes useful when analyzing the ability of families and communities to survive perpetual hardship and anguish which from an outside perspective seems unbearable. The secret of Lauren’s power is that she takes her strength not only from the hope for change, but from the love that comes from believing in that change.