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Work #1059 · Mature

Parable of the Sower

Octavia E. Butler
1993 · English
Novel (epistolary-journal form) · African American speculative fiction / Afrofuturism

Near-future America collapsing into climate breakdown — and Lauren Olamina's Earthseed religion

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Parable of the Sower (Mature)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Cosmic-ordering
Observer · Moral Authority Experience
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Variable
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Variable
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Parable of the Sower

Near-future America extrapolated from 1993.

Space

Parable of the Sower

Southern California; collapsing American polity.

Matter

Parable of the Sower

Embodied Lauren Olamina.

Observer

Parable of the Sower

Lauren as protagonist-prophet.

Energy

Parable of the Sower

Energies of collapse; energies of Earthseed.

Information

Parable of the Sower

Earthseed verses; Lauren's journal.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Parable of the Sower

Prescience about contemporary conditions makes it more read in 2010s-2020s than 1990s.