The book that saved you: Parable of the Sower

Anne Cong-Huyen on representation in Parable of the Sower

The book: Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler

Anne Cong-Huyen with Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower

What it's about? Here's Anne's description. You can also read the jacket copy on bookshop.org.

"The book was published in the ‘90s and is set in our present, but was in the future then. The main character is a Black girl, and a hyper empath, who lives in a gated community in Los Angeles. Her father is a pastor and she lives in a religious household. Outside the walls of their community, things feel unsafe. People are on drugs, everything is on literal fire, because of climate change and an economic crisis. As a young woman of color, she feels afraid of what might happen, so she puts together a ‘go bag,’ including seeds, so she can grow fruits and vegetables wherever she goes. Things go downhill and she actually does have to escape. She slowly forms a new faith based on change and collects people, followers, as she heads north, to build a new community. There are moments that are pretty violent. She has to carry a gun and uses it only when necessary to protect herself and her followers. As a hyper empath, if she shoots someone, she feels their pain. What's amazing is she ends up creating her own religion and a new community along the way."

What was happening in your life before or while you read it?

"I was in college. A friend of mine introduced me to one of Butler’s other books, Dawn, which led me to Parable. And it was like a revelation. At the time, I was a world literature major, which meant I was reading a lot of Classical and canonical literature, and I don’t think I realized how much I needed this. It was a book that was not written by dead white dudes. I identify as Asian American, Vietnamese American, an immigrant, and queer and seeing that kind of representation was amazing for me (even though some parts of my identity weren’t as clear or important to me at the time).

“It was, I think, the first time I was introduced to a writer of color, and characters of color that weren’t tied to narratives of historical trauma. Instead, it was a future, a speculative world, and it was full of diverse people who took care of each other. So rad.”

From the Octavia Butler archives at the Huntington. Photo credit Anne Cong-Huyen.

How does it affect you now? What do you understand now about the role it played in your life?

"In literal ways, this book has helped me prepare for disaster. It helped me prepare for the Trump administration. Octavia's character foresaw something like this happening. And in a concrete sense, she introduced me to the concept of a go-bag. I live in California, the land of fire and earthquakes, and floods. We all need them here.

"Today, her books are also important to community organizers. When I was in Michigan, I was involved in a Detroit-based organization called Allied Media Conference and one of the last years the conference theme was ‘Get ready, stay ready.” The thing for Brown folks is, the things we're going through now, we've seen these kinds of things before. We can’t let ourselves be surprised when injustice happens. We have to be prepared.

“In Butler’s imagined future, although bleak, she paints a picture of a place where we can thrive and live in joy and build communities that take care of each other. Clearly, at the moment, our government doesn't care about people, much less people of color.

"I get emotional about it because it speaks so much truth, that we always have to be ready. Bad things are going to happen. We should be prepared. But beautiful things are going to happen, too.

“In Parable, the character's dream is that, some day, there will be the seeds of this religion and it will spread this kind of love."

Is there a moment in the book that sticks with you?

"Early in the book, the main character's father doesn't return from his route home. The main character, Lauren, realizes things are getting worse on the outside of their gated community. There's a scene where she has to decide whether she goes, where she'll go, what she'll take with her, and who.

“I thought of it recently, because I was having this conversation with my partner, who is trans. And as we know, trans communities are under attack right now. For us the questions were, Do we stay in an environment that's increasingly hostile to trans and queer people? What do we do? Where do we go? Who would we leave?

“In general though, because of threats to their safety, my partner has decided not to travel right now."

Do you still have the book? Where is it now?

"It's close to me right now, on a shelf in my bedroom. I have a picture of Octavia Butler above my desk at work (from an event at the Huntington Library, which holds her archive). I've read it many times. I’ve marked it up with pencils. I star things and underline and love re-reading to see what I marked previously. You pick up different things as each time to revisit a book as a reader."

Do you recommend others read it?

"All the time!"