Crafting Creative Concepts with Charlotte

 Before I get into this, I want to start by pointing out that Jill was #1 on my most likely to die list, and she is the one who died. It feels wrong to congratulate myself, but I am a little bit proud. The ending was quite satisfying. It felt almost too good and peaceful for the end of such a wild and tragic novel. Nearly the entire group survived, they moved on from their ghosts of the past, and they have great resources that they can begin their Earthseed community with. I'm a little upset that Lauren is still in a relationship with Bankole, but it's good that there are so many relationships within their community as they plan for the future. The most surprising part of the ending was when Lauren discovered that Greyson, Emery, and their kids are all sharers. I was not expecting this at all, because sharing was Lauren's most unique trait. However, it does alienate her less from the rest of the group, and it makes the former slaves more united with the rest of the group. T...

 I probably should've expected this, but Lauren is spreading Earthseed really quickly among their rapidly growing group. Some are warier than others, but everyone is picking up pieces of Earthseed ideologies and beliefs. Lauren's ideas are unique and intriguing, but I think there are outside factors that are making Earthseed more appealing than usual to Lauren's group. To quote Taylor Swift in her song Soon You'll Get Better , "Desperate people find faith."  Lauren's group is a mishmash of desperate people. In a world where they are constantly fearing for their lives, everyone is searching for something to cling to. Earthseed allows them to cling to faith while staying entirely practical in their day-to-day lives. The idea of God that Earthseed provides is comforting, but gives believers the space to recognize that they need to act for themselves. Earthseed is the perfect religion for Lauren's time.

 Right now, everything in Parable of the Sower  is very stable and calm. Lauren's group is quickly expanding, and everyone trusts each other right now. They're safe, well-armed, and well-supplied. I'm tempted to think that it'll be smooth sailing from here on, but this is a dystopia so there must be something big and horrible coming. I think it's quite likely that at least one member of the main group will die in the next few chapters, so I am going to rank each character in terms of how likely I think they are to die, and explain my reasoning for these rankings. 1. Jill: she's in shock, unarmed, and weak from what we know. Also not a significant character yet, so killing her off would be easy for Butler to do. 2. Harry: his death would completely shake up the book, and further Lauren's detachment from her neighborhood (which would push her further into Earthseed). He's also not cautious enough. Butler has sprung some huge changes on us, and this would...