Abbott’s “Pasadena on Her Mind”

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Contribute to a class-wide discussion about the setting of the novel Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler.
Initial Discussion Post (due Wednesday, 11:59pm)
Before writing the discussion post, read at least chapters 1-2 of Parable of the Sower (Links to an external site.) and the secondary source “Pasadena on Her Mind: Exploring Roots of Octavia E. Butler’s Fiction”Links to an external site. by Carl Abbott. (To access these texts, you will need to log in with your Lancerpoint username and password. See the library’s troubleshooting tips if you have any trouble logging in. To read Abbott’s article, click on “PDF Full Text”—for how to do this, see image below.)

How to access PDF of Abbott’s “Pasadena on Her Mind”
According to Abbott, Pasadena in the 1950s and 1960s—when Butler was growing up there—was “a city where racial tensions grew as the African American population increased” (327). What type of racial tensions does Abbott describe, and how did they impact Butler’s life?
Abbott explains that early versions of Parable of the Sower are set in Pasadena, but the final version is set (at least in the beginning) in the fictional city of Robledo in the San Fernando Valley. Describe the city of Robledo in the novel.
Finally, Parable of the Sower begins on July 20, 2024, almost exactly three years in the future. The novel was first published in 1993. In your opinion, is Butler’s vision prophetic? That is, based on your own personal observations and experiences, do you think that the greater Los Angeles metropolis today resembles the fictional world in Butler’s novel? Explain why or why not.

Sample Solution

ers an incredible variety of social life, as well as diversities of ethnic, linguistic, regional, economic, religious, class, and caste groups crosscut Indian society. Often there is also a difference in gender respect between urban and rural areas. The difference between the North and the South of the country are vast, especially when it comes to marriage and kinship. When it comes to themes in the Indian society there are three things we mainly need to focus on. One being hierarchy and the other being purity and pollution. In a social aspect India is still a hierarchical society, no matter if north or south, hindu or muslim, urban or village, virtually all things, people, and social groups are ranked according to various essential qualities. This leads to certain difficulties in the society and on a political level. Although india is a democratic country there rarely is a complete equality between people, simply because of their social level. (“Asiasociety”). In India it can happen that individuals are officially ranked according to their wealth and power. This means that successful or rich people are more important or have a higher say than people who are not successful. This does not happen all the time but it certainly can. (“Asiasociety”) Now even in countries such as Germany, USA, France, UK, etc. you can tell that individuals who are very successful often have a higher input simply through lobbying or contacts. The big difference is that it is not officially accepted by society, like it is in India. Some status differences in India are expressed by their laws of purity and pollution. This includes different castes, religions, and regions around the country. In general a high status is associated with purity and a low status as polluted. Some rankings of purity are inherited as for example in the caste system. An Individual is born into a caste and cannot change it or rank up into another caste. Individuals might be born into a caste with a higher title than others in the same caste. Usually it is not permitted to marry outside of their caste, but it has been happening increasingly. Although the standard of living in India is growing steadily as well as their middle class, in March of 2019 compared to the US the cost of living in India is 65.31% lower (aggregate date for all cities, except rent)(numbe

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