History Repeats Itself Essay Sample

In Parable of the Sower, written by Octavia Butler, one can see the theme of historical events repeating itself. History is the study of past events, particularly in human affairs. Within Parable of the Sower, the writer is Lauren, Lauren lives with her father, step-mother, and her three younger brothers in Robledo, California. In Lauren’s city, there is a wall that is supposed to protect her neighborhood from the dangers of the outside world. However, this is contradictory because Lauren lives in an unstable city that is filled with chaos. In the Parable of the Sower, Butler implements past historical events and themes within Lauren’s world. For example, one can see Lauren as a resemblance to Harriet Tubman because she creates Earthseed and her drive for freedom. In addition, through discussions with KSF, the theme of slavery and gentrification will be emphasized throughout 2026. Lastly, the apocalypse that destroyed Laurens town can be seen as the Rodney King Riots in 1992. Once again, the past historical events are evident throughout Lauren's world.  

 Lauren believes that her neighborhood deserves freedom; she is an activist in making her words known that they do not stay trapped in Robledo. Since the beginning of the book, Lauren has made it clear that she is her own person, and she doesn't want to live under the shadows of anyone. In the Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler mentions that Lauren said,  “We are coming apart. The community, the families individual family members, were a rope, breaking, a single strand at a time” (116). At this point of the year, Lauren’s brother has died, and break-ins are more common. In the year 2026, Lauren’s life is slowly falling apart and she is realizing it; she mentions that she wants to go north, to stay away from her depressing neighborhood. Lauren wants to be able to share her creation of Earthseed, God is change.

 Lauren wants to be able to make a difference to everyone. In the year 1849, Harriet Tubman had started to escape the slaves to their freedom in the year 2026, Lauren's now planned to go up to the North, along with two of her neighbors. Harriet Tubman was an activist for her peers, she helped many slaves to freedom and would walk with them, and she would even carry guns for protection. When Lauren is about to start heading North, she knows that it will be vicious walking many miles. However, Lauren does not mind that at all. She knows that she has to be brave to spread her thoughts and be free. 

When life was already getting tough for Lauren, a company by the name of KSF had come to take over Olivar. KSF has come to their city to make it seem as if there is a big chance for job opportunities and more money. Lauren mentions that Olivar is an “upper-middle-class, white, literate community of people who once had a lot of weight to throw around” (Butler 118). Once KSF has reached Robledo, many of the neighbors believe it’s a great idea to move out to Olivar, however, it is not. Olivar is mentioning that everyone is welcome and there can be a lot of job opportunities. Lauren’s dad is not falling for it, he mentions “ Robledo’s too big, too poor, too black, and too Hispanic to be of interest to anyone” (Butler 120). Lauren’s father knows that it will not be beneficial for anyone. If they were to move to Olivar and work there, the salaries that KSF are offering are not enough to make ends meet. Lauren continues to say that it would be debt slavery. Slavery was a big issue in history. Slaves were forced to work for free; this is what Olivar is like. Out of the whole neighborhood, only one family has moved to Olivar. When reading the year 2026, the tone of Octavia Butler that she pervades on the father is very genuine. Lauren's father knows that it will be a bad thing if people were to give in to the company. He told his wife, Corey, that they would not move there because they would be treated as slaves. He insisted that they would come back without a name. Lauren's father is very determined, and he will not allow anyone to take his guard down. 

Life for Lauren was still going downhill, her father has now disappeared. At the end of the year in 2026, Lauren’s father did not return home from his job and now Corey has to take over. Things have continued to go downhill by there being more fires in her neighborhood and more break-ins. The year 2027 has arrived and Lauren has to escape her neighborhood, an apocalypse has ruptured. In the middle of the night, everything was burning and Lauren had to rush to get her emergency pack. A group of pyro people have crashed a truck through the gate and burned and killed everyone. Lauren mentions that “everything was chaos. People running, screaming, shooting” (153). Once Lauren returned home the next day, she came back to see everything looted, burnt, and destroyed. In the year 1992, the Los Angeles Riots erupted, many buildings got burnt, looted, and there were many deaths or injuries. Octavia Butler had written this book in 1193, it seems as if the same apocalypse that she saw was occurring in Laurens world in 2027.  

Within the graphic novel, it comes to a realization of what Lauren was going through. In Octavia Butler's book, the tone is very strong and precise. However, in the Parable of the Sower, a graphic novel by Duggy and Jennings they provide a true image of what was being portrayed. In the year 2027, the redness of the fear can be shown throughout the whole picture. Everyone's face is in terror and distraught, they don’t know what to do. (123) Lauren manages to escape, and her face is shown as relieved but she is saddened by the loss of her whole family and neighbors. Lauren starts to head up North with two of the surviving neighbors from her neighborhood, she hopes to go up North to freedom, to get away from the madness.