Parable of the Talents

In the final section of the novel, Larkin’s narrative becomes more dominant and her character experiences more developed. Although Larkin feels disconnected from her mother, Butler carefully develops strong similarities between the two women. Like Lauren, Larkin is independent and strong-willed from a young age, and these traits are even more striking in Larkin’s case because she was raised in a faith and community that strongly discouraged a young woman from thinking for herself. Butler implies that nature is powerful, perhaps even more powerful than nurturing, by representing similarities and characteristics that Larkin inherited from her biological parents even though they did not raise her.

Despite her intelligence and independence, Larkin’s lack of family and community leave her vulnerable to being seduced and manipulated. Because of the narrative structure, Larkin has hinted since the very beginning of the novel that she has a bond with her uncle but not with her mother. In this section, readers witness Larkin bonding with her uncle and becoming fiercely loyal to him; unlike her uncle and mother, Larkin does not latch on to any religious convictions, but she sublimates this attachment into the way she bonds with her uncle. She states that “there were times when I was more than half in love with him” (307), highlighting the intensity and passion of their bond. The novel repeatedly shows how, over multiple generations, individuals who suffer traumatic loss cling to something else in the wake of that loss as a way of coping. This response might be understandable, but it also leads to trauma reproducing cycles of violence, repression, and further trauma.

The primary plotline climaxes with the reunion of Larkin and Lauren, but the reunion offers little resolution. Butler undermines the traditional plot of a quest or hero’s journey; traditionally, when two characters have long been separated and seeking one another reunite, it would be a joyful moment. However, both women have been driven apart by their losses and divergent belief systems. Although she is a historian and a writer, Larkin fails to correctly interpret her mother’s writing and see the message of love and devotion found there. Instead, she fixates on feelings of abandonment, jealousy, and bitterness. Larkin uses the language of a jealous child when she complains that “no wonder it [Earthseed] was her favorite” (292). Larkin remains trapped in a childish state of development, unable to objectively analyze why Lauren made some of the choices she did.

Lauren blames her brother for alienating Larkin, but she fails to show compassion for all the loss Larkin has lived through. The narrative does not cover the more than 30 years between 2035, when Earthseed began to surge in popularity, and 2067, when the two women reunite, leaving readers to decide for themselves what Lauren may have experienced in that time. By deliberately keeping mother and child apart, Marcus emerges as an antagonist figure. He has needed to assert power and dominance over Lauren ever since he realized she was the leader of Earthseed; ultimately, he couldn’t undermine her role as a religious leader, but he was able to undermine her role as a mother. While Lauren succeeds at achieving many of her goals, she arguably loses this power struggle with Marcus, conceding “how completely, how thoroughly he has stolen my child” (405).

The novel’s resolution is bittersweet and ambiguous; on the one hand, Lauren achieves her greatest dream after battling almost insurmountable obstacles. Lauren feels a deep sense of triumph and completion, but as Bankole predicted at the beginning of the novel, she is too elderly to directly see the fruits of her labor herself. Poignantly, Lauren cannot see her daughter or biological descendants going to Earthseed’s new interstellar colony. Lauren has the comfort of seeing all of Earthseed as her extended family, but it is not clear whether or not this is truly a comfort in the absence of her biological family. As a woman, Lauren couldn’t experience both the success of her ambitions and the joys of being with her child, and while she may be content with the choice she made, a truly utopian future might allow her to have both.

The realization of Lauren’s ultimate ambition also potentially reproduces colonial ambitions: the followers of Earthseed are voyaging to a new place, motivated by zealous religious faith, and planning to lay a claim to land that is not their own. In a final irony, the voyage of the shuttle to outer space can be read as either a utopian hope for a better future or a repetition of a cycle of conquest, dominance, and colonialism. Butler directly addresses this tension since the shuttle taking the settlers to space is called the Christopher Columbus, alluding to a European explorer who “discovered” North America without regard for the peoples and societies that were already established and thriving there. Lauren consoles herself that “this ship is not about a shortcut to riches and empire. It’s not about snatching up slaves and gold and presenting them to some European monarch” (404), but given that her leadership is coming to an end, the future ambitions and philosophy of Earthseed remain uncertain.