Parable Of The Sower And Invisible Man Essay

Whether its preparing for one’s community to crumble or one’s inability to escape the past, we see in both Parable of the Sower and Invisible Man how different characters react to change. Where as some characters embrace it, some seek to avoid it or use it for their own personal gain. Most if not all of characters in the novels previously mentioned express their own individual reactions to change. However, for the sake of this analysis, Lauren and Dr. Bledsoe will be the characters primarily inspected on. This is because both of these characters display drastically different traits with regards to how they respond to the change encroaching upon their individuality. For how one deals with change, in turn, affects their actions toward obstacles in their society. In the case of both of the novels mentioned, that obstacle is oppression. One must analyze how this change towards or against oppression originates in each of the novels. From there, one must examine how the characters of Lauren and Dr. Bledsoe react to this societal change, and whether or not their reactions are justifiable in counteracting oppression. Only by doing so can one see from both points of view on

whether to embrace or not embrace the societal changes enacted by this oppression. It should also be noted however, that change is an unstoppable force. As Lauren claims, “the only lasting truth is change” (79). Therefore, this means that change could only be delayed or slowed, never stopped.
In Parable of the Sower, Lauren’s world is changing around her at a gradual rate. She supports this claim by stating, “I used to wait for the big crash, the sudden chaos that would destroy, instead things are unraveling, disintegrating bit by bit” (123). This slow change causes the characters to react in a more inactive manner. People in this novel want to avoid the oppressive forces coming, rather than face them head on. Lauren tries to justify why people react to change in this way by stating, “our adults haven’t been wiped out by a plague so their still anchored in the past, waiting for the good old days to come back. But things have changed a lot, and they’ll keep changing more” (57). Yet as Lauren preaches in her teachings of earth seed, change cannot be stopped, whether the people of her community want to admit it or not.
It isn’t difficult to see that this oppressive change to Lauren’s community has both a classist and racial origin.

For in Octavia Butler’s novel, the poorest of the citizens are predominantly colored. Many of the squatters in the streets, or people migrating are of an ethnic minority or of mixed heritage. Therefore, one can conclude that this oppressive society is not strictly imposed onto Lauren’s ethnicity, but every other non-Anglo European citizen. One can argue that Butler’s world is progressing toward a neo-segregated America. Where slavery of the ethnic minority is returning, and the migration of colored citizens to the north has returned, harkening back to the period of reconstruction. This change back to a segregated society is arguably the opposite as to what is happening in Invisible

Man.
In Ellison’s novel, society is instead steadily changing toward an unsegregated America. The country is in the process of healing from its oppressive past rather than heading back towards it, as one sees in Butler’s novel. Yet there is still racial oppression in Invisible Man. African Americans migrating toward the north to find better opportunity is present in Ellison’s novel, just as it was in Butler’s. We see this when the narrator travels north in order to seek better opportunities after having to leave the college. Also, the working class/poor is expressed to be a by-product of racial segregation. In Invisible Man, just as in Parable of the Sower, we see black characters such as the narrator living in the shadow of society. With regards to the positions they hold, or the value of their individuality, the characters are still segregated against. This shows that even though change is coming, due to its slow process, in both novels characters have a difficult time adapting to the changing world in which they live in. One of the characters, Dr. Bledsoe, seems to represent how one delays the progress of change.
Bledsoe is perceived by society as conforming to the ideology of humble contentment. In other words, Dr. Bledsoe seemingly does not embrace or accept the change of social equality. On the surface he even mirrors Booker T Washington’s stance on humility and being complaisant with regards to one’s place in society. However, this is a façade that he lives by in order to mask his true intentions of obtaining power. Bledsoe believes that only through deception can change occur for himself as a black individual. When he becomes enraged that the narrator didn’t lie to Mr. Norton to protect the college’s image, he claims that the narrator’s actions “have caused this school incalculable damage. Instead of uplifting the race, you’ve torn it down” (140). For according to Bledsoe, the black community can only progress in society if it does so in the shadows. Yet Dr. Bledsoe deceives the narrator with this accusation, as his character does not care for the betterment of the black community, only for himself. This statement is supported when Bledsoe claims, “I’ve made my place in it, and I’ll have every Negro in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning if it means staying where I am” (143). Through the character’s selfish goals and deception, he is in return slowing the change of equality taking hold in America. For by playing the part of a humbled complacent black man, no change can arise. And by doing so out of selfish gains, Dr. Bledsoe is in a way betraying the black community, and halting their progress towards equal rights. Lauren’s character on the other hand embraces change openly, and for unselfish reasons.
Lauren seeks to learn how to survive the coming change, and in so doing save her community in the process. When talking to her friend Joanne she states, “None of us knows very much. But we can all learn more. Then we can teach each other. We can stop denying reality or hoping it will go away by magic” (58). This selfless characteristic Lauren holds is what defines her as a character, and is the major difference between her and Dr. Bledsoe. By accepting it and not denying its existence, Lauren believes she and her followers can survive the coming danger and oppression. That is not to say Lauren is necessarily comfortable when it comes to change, for no one is. Nor is Lauren successful in saving the community, for indeed she isn’t successful. The community rather than take on Lauren’s ideals decided to surrender to the coming change, and in turn was destroyed because of it. This only reinforces the notion that one must change in order to survive. By facing change openly and as a community, rather than discretely and selfishly, one can seek to rise above oppression.
From what has been gathered, it is plausible to conclude that embracing change rather than delaying it results in a more positive outcome with regards to combatting societal injustice like oppression. The settings of both novels Parable of the Sower and Invisible Man can be seen as two different example of how oppression is strengthened and weakened. Having now delved into the mindset of Dr. Bledsoe and Lauren, one can see how oppression distinctively changes an individual ‘s perception. Thus resulting in their actions toward it to either change or delay its inevitable rise or decline in society. For according to Lauren, one can only rise by changing one’s self. A specific example she gives with regards to this claim is, “In order to rise, from its own ashes, a phoenix first must burn” (153).