The Parable Of The Sower Chapter Summary

Chapters 9-17 of “The Parable of the Sower” take a dark turn. Lauren’s brother and father are both killed, and eventually, the entire community of Robledo is attacked and burned to the ground. Following the attack, nothing remains of the community expect for Lauren and her friends Zahra and Harry. They have no choice but to try and survive in the world beyond their gated community, and the three of them devise a plan to travel north where they believe they will be able to find a job and live comfortably. While embarking on their journey they take with them a pack filled with essentials such as food, water, and first-aid materials. It soon becomes apparent that in the world beyond Robledo there are even fewer resources available. Basic necessities such as food and water are expensive and hard to find. Although not to the same extent, this is similar to the food insecurity experienced by many marginalized people today. Marginalized groups are more likely to experience food insecurity or live in a food desert (Apollon and Yen Lui 2011, p.3; Cowen 21 March). In fact, not only are people …show more content…
Lauren and her friends have to pay a hefty fee to fill up refill their water from a “commercial water station” because other water “might not be safe” (Butler 1993, p. 201). In fact, according to Lauren, although you can boil the water, it does “nothing to get rid of the chemical residue– fuel, pesticide, herbicide” that may be in water containers (Butler 1993, p. 201). Unfortunately, a lack of clean and safe drinking water is something that we are not immune to in the world today. The city of Flint, Michigan, for example, has experienced a water crisis since 2014 (Cowen, 7 March; Kennedy, 2016). The deleterious side-effects of drinking and using the water has forced the residence of Flint to rely on plastic water bottles ever since (Cowen, 7