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Pathos
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
The Parable of the Sower takes place largely in California between 2024 and 2027. Lauren and her family initially reside in the city of Robledo, a fictional location set 20 miles outside of Los Angeles. They, alongside with several other families, live within the remnants of a gated community, which gives them some amount protection against robberies and the overall unregulated chaos of the outside world. Within the larger apocalyptic setting of the U.S., where violence, drug use, and environmental disaster appear to run unregulated, many of the gated community's residents see it as a safe haven. Lauren, however, recognizes that even within their walls, her community cannot remain unaffected by the surrounding chaos. This is partially what inspires her to develop her religion, Earthseed, making this initial neighborhood setting crucial to the overall evolution of her character and ideology.
After her home community is looted and destroyed by outside attackers, Lauren begins her journey up the coast of California. Along the way, she is joined by several other roaming individuals, and they eventually end up in Northern California, where Bankole owns land. As Lauren experiences life outside the wall for the first time, she comes to face more directly the violence and poverty that run unregulated in her home state. This situation only confirms her belief that there is little hope for past ways of life and further spurns her passion for not only continuing Earthseed, but preaching and spreading its ideology. The book demonstrates how new seeds of hope can be discovered and sewn amidst the extreme ruin of existing environmental and political settings.
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