Utopias and Dystopias 1984 Blogs

  As Lauren tries to convert more and more of the people she meets to her religion, we learn more about what Earthseed really is. She told Travis that Earthseed is not about worshipping a god, but they are kind of creating their own god and own destiny. Both Travis and Zahra agree with choosing a different way of life on earth to support yourself and your community, but are iffy on the part where the “Destiny” is to colonize other planets. That part does not seem like a religion to me because it seems very technologically heavy and quite impossible. I wonder if the people who join Earthseed later will be against or for Lauren’s wish to colonize other planets because right now it just sounds like a crazy idea to them. The whole religion seems very foundational, especially when Lauren mentions that she doesn’t really know what Earthseed will be in the future and a lot of the other travellers critique it. What are your thoughts on Earthseed? How do you think Lauren can improve it?

  In BNW , they banned religion of any god because the government wanted to be the only thing the citizens worshiped, thus giving them the most control over their people. Parable of the Sower is a little bit different because there is no singular government manipulating the people. To be honest, Lauren is kind of on her own. She makes her own religion because she is not satisfied with her family’s religion. Unlike BNW , not everyone in her neighborhood has the same religion and there is a bit more freedom in that extent. People feel like they need a religion to have hope in their dystopia because the government does basically nothing for their safety and is not always there like in BNW . Maybe it is just a way to express themselves or just continue what has been tradition in their family. Less overarching governmental religion and more independent and different based on each person.

       It’s interesting how after the massacre, Lauren had no emotional attachment to her family and was immediately prepared to leave on her own. However, at a turn of events, she made allies with two other survivors that she was kind of acquainted with. When they first meet in the ruins of their neighborhood, Lauren surprisingly gives them a lot of trust and shares her resources with them while also letting them tag along with her. She did mention earlier that she wanted to wait before sharing about her hyperempathy until she knew for sure that they wouldn’t betray her, but after they saw her kill the injured guy, she told them about it so that they wouldn’t leave her. Lauren is showing through her vulnerability that she genuinely wants to be with Harry and Zahra and I’m afraid that later in the book, it will hurt her. There was also this whole thing of Harry possibly liking Zahra which sounds suspicious and feels like foreshadowing of a problem to happen in the fu...

       There’s no wonder why Lauren wants to leave her neighborhood. Although it may be considered more “safe” and she is with her parents, I’m realizing more and more how incapable they are and how she would be better on her own. For example, Lauren’s dad gives Keith a BB gun which is both dangerous and encourages Keith to go into the outside world, not knowing what he’s going to do with the gun and who he is going to be with. Also, Lauren had to step in to her stepmother’s job and teach high school students even though she was just a few years older than them all because Cory did not want to teach. Do those actions of her parents seem responsible in any way? Her father is also a little on the questionable side because he beats Keith and has beaten Lauren once before. That does not seem to be an ideal safe situation for Lauren and it may be even more unsafe than the outside of the neighborhood, seeing how Keith escapes Lauren’s father by leaving. In Chapter 12, Laur...

          Lauren’s father is constantly warning her to not share information that could scare the neighborhood. He also makes her promise not to talk about the potential future dangers anymore and not tell anyone about Joanne. Although Lauren felt comfortable enough with her father to tell him everything she said to Joanne and tell him the truth about what she thinks of the situation, she also goes by her own opinions. For example, she resists her father when he tells her not to frighten the neighborhood and instead thinks to make “earthquake packs” for the people. Her father ends up agreeing and later liking the ideas because both can be used without causing the whole neighborhood to panic and have the potential to save the future of the people. He even adds that they should teach martial arts to as many people as they can, helping Lauren with her plan. Yet from the beginning of the book, she had this rebellion against her father like she did not follow hi...

     After Monday’s discussion, I realized that Lauren has many similarities with Julia from 1984 . Both are more relatable to us as they are closer to our age than the other characters in both books. Since they are on the younger side, both of them grew up only knowing the dystopia that they live in. Unlike the older people who remember the “good old days”, Lauren and Julia were only exposed to their current world. However, that doesn’t stop them from being completely brainwashed and both girls want the upper power (religion/government) to change but keep their opinions to themselves to prevent hurting themselves or those they care about. Julia was against the Party yet pretended to be loyal to them and rebelled in secret. Lauren does not believe in her father’s religion, but decides to get baptized and listen to her father’s opinions even though she secretly disagrees and hopes for change. What are some similarities between the two girls that you can think of? What are ...