Empathy and Survival Under Late-Stage Capitalism: Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower as Regional and World Literature.

The novel Parable of the Sower serves as a warning to society. It illustrates the very real possibility of collapse and irreversible damage caused by capitalism and its contribution to the climate crisis if things continue the way they are. Therefore, the importance of Parable of the Sower, as a call to change and act for modern society, is undeniable. Despite being written in “1993”, “years after her early death” in “2006” (Anderson, 2022), Butler’s novel continues to remain relevant even as time passes. With the novel being “regularly cited as one of the earliest examples of climate fiction” (Clausen, 2021, pg. 269), this continues to show society fulfilling the prophecy of the novel. As no change seems to be occurring and instead the prophecy of destruction and complete commodification of humanity, is being enacted as can already be seen with the world not being far from being completely dominated by late-stage capitalism. Within the novel, the economic disparities, environmental degradation and fragmentation of society reflect current real-world issues. Yet at the time of writing, Butler wrote this novel as a form of “speculative fiction” (Clausen, 2021, pg. 269), which saw her writing to look at possible alternate realities that lie in store as a consequence of the trajectory of the world because of capitalism.

Through the illustration of life under late-stage capitalism, of the increased isolation of communities, scarcity of resources and unevenly distributed vulnerability, Butler shows how survival is dependent on cooperation and resilience. Therefore, by embodying empathy as “hyperempathy” (Butler, 2019, p. 12) in the novel, Butler expresses how this can serve as a radical survival practice. She also emphasises how humanity is interconnected and how empathy is necessary as a survival tool. According to Suzanne Keen, empathy is defined as “a vicarious, spontaneous sharing of affect, [which] can be provoked by witnessing another’s emotional state, by hearing about another’s condition, or even by reading” (2007, p. 4). Therefore, through Butler’s discussions, utilisations and characterisations of empathy, through the main character, Lauren Olamina as “hyperempathy” (Butler, 2019, p. 12), she evokes the feelings of the reader and demonstrates how empathy is an adaptive solution for continued existence in a world where feelings are simply becoming another commodity. Butler also situates this text as a piece of regional and world literature, as “[l]ike much of her writing, Butler’s book was a warning about where the US and humanity in general might be heading” (Anderson, 2022). Therefore, it can be seen that Butler used her writing to “[craft] potent calls to socio-political action that seem ever more pertinent to our survival as a species” (Anderson, 2022). Butler especially achieved this through situating the novel within the socially and politically rotting near future America, whilst addressing and questioning the state of global systems to bring awareness to the realities of humanity’s relationship with capitalism and the environment.

Butler’s regional dystopia of “ruined […] California” (Morris, 2015, pg. 270) serves as a microcosm of global systematic collapse and illustrates the reality of a society decaying under late-stage capitalism. Late-stage capitalism “[i]n Jameson’s account, […] is characterised by a globalised, post-industrial economy, where everything […] becomes commodified and consumable” (Espinoza, 2022). Butler embodies this commodification and subsequent deterioration through her depiction of a failing society; public institutions are corrupt and failing to serve their original purpose as “police are no threat to criminals” (2019, pg. 132), corporate power domineers daily life, and human survival is dependent on economic logic. Ultimately, the systems that once held society up have now crumbled and are rendered useless. The irony of Butler’s depiction lies in how this resonates in contemporary society, where even our fundamental functions have been ruined. Espinoza (2022) notes that “Jonothan Crary, in his book Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep , argues our current version of [twenty-four seven] capitalism, […] is eroding basic human needs such as sufficient sleep”. This portrayal of how extreme the effects of capitalism have already become, highlights Butler showing how everything can be used to serve under the function of late-stage capitalism, including relationships, feelings and even survival.

Through the main character of Lauren Olamina, Butler subverts traditional narratives of science fiction as Lauren is a black protagonist. Butler also structures the novel as a “dystopian bildungsroman as Lauren comes of age in a United States (destabilised) by climate change, rising sea levels, and political and economic breakdown” (Clausen, 2015, pg. 271). Via literary techniques such as Butler’s use of first-person narrative, focalisation and immersive world building, readers embody Lauren’s emotional and sensory world. Lauren’s identity as a black, disabled, feminist protagonist (pg. 270), allows Butler to move away from the white, male saviour archetypes of science fiction (Butler, 2005, pg. 133). Furthermore, Butler shows Olamina’s disability of “hyperempathy syndrome” (2019, pg. 11) as a form of empowerment and illustrates how black, female, and disabled people are no longer marginal, but central to the survival of humanity. This is especially shown through empathy becoming the foundation for world building and shifts perspective from a capitalist individualistic morality system to a morality system rooted in community, change and reciprocation. This is done through Olamina’s disability becoming the basis around which she builds the community of Earthseed. The ideologies of the community functioning to serve the needs of one another, stemming from a place of community and unity, rather than individualisation, directly contradict the selfish individualised morality system of late-stage capitalist society. Therefore, the survival mechanism created because of “hyperempathy” (2019, pg. 11) and its prioritisation of unity, reciprocity, and mutual aid allows Butler to deconstruct the self-serving logic of capitalism and demonstrates the ability to survive through collective human interdependence and reliance.

Moreover, as a result of Butler’s own identity as a “black feminist” (Frazier, 2016, pg. 41) and being quoted in The New York Times as saying “I wanted to write a novel that would make others feel the history: the pain and fear that black people have had to live through in order to endure” (Flood, 2014), Butler uses Lauren as her philosophical mouthpiece in the novel and as her alter ego in embodying her own ethics. Moreover, this is shown in Butler’s protagonists of black women who refuse silence, endure marginalisation and rebuild futures from devastation. The reason for Butler’s writing being her own form of resistance is because “[a]t that time, nearly all professional science fiction writers were white men” (Butler, 2005, pg. 133) and Butler chooses to turn her own marginalisation into a creative force, much like how “hyperempathy” (2019, pg. 11) is used to turn vulnerability into a powerful resistance. Likewise, Butler’s “[p]ositive obsession” (2005, pg. 133) parallels Lauren’s “Earthseed” (Butler, 2019, pg. 3) philosophy. Both are about persevering, changing and adapting in the face of systematic oppression. Butler also questions “[w]ho was [she] anyway?” (Butler, 2005, pg. 133), mirroring the early self-doubt Lauren exhibits as a young black woman leading others to survival within late-stage capitalist collapsing society. Therefore, in the same way Butler writes Lauren as persistent in her refusal to stop building community in a decaying world, dominated by commodification, Butler herself shows her persistence and resilience in her refusal to stop writing in a field dominated by white males. As a result, Butler ultimately shows that it is possible to change marginalisation into a driving creative force. This is especially seen through Butler using Lauren’s blackness, womanhood and “hyperempathy” (Butler, 2019, pg 11) as the tools that allow her to navigate beyond the systems of patriarchy, capitalism and ecological devastation.

In Butler illustrating the breakdown of society because of late-stage capitalism, she can introduce the value of her character Lauren Olamina’s “hyperempathy” (2019, pg. 12) as both a vulnerability and as a form of much needed resistance. Olamina’s “hyperempathy” (2019, pg. 12) is seen to have the power to allow her to “see others feeling” and to “share [both] pleasure and pain” (Butler, 2019, pg 12). Through this illustration of empathy Butler shows the potential risk of having such a vulnerability. She highlights that the “pain” (pg.12) created and felt through empathy can also be debilitating, abused or weaponised. Such depictions show its complexities, whilst critiquing simplistic ideas surrounding empathy in society, especially the assumption that having it is enough to transform people and create change. Keen reflects on such claims that empathy is enough to cause change and has “sought to mitigate the effects of exaggerating the prosocial value of narrative empathy” (2007, pg. 198). Although Keen is not denying the power of empathy, she seeks to reduce the exaggerations often associated with simply reading, being able to empathise and causing action as a result. Butler illustrates Lauren reflecting on if “hyperempathy” (2019, pg. 12) “were a more common complaint, people couldn’t do such things. They could kill if they had to, and bear the pain of it or be destroyed by it” (2019, pg. 108). This highlights the complexities of empathy beyond a simplistic notion. It is not protective or morally sufficient on its own. Rather, it is immersive, ethical and physically destabilising and demonstrates Keen’s ideas “of the intrinsic value of human empathy, nor […] regard[ing] narrative empathy as a cheat or a fake. Readers’ empathy clearly exists and quite likely contributes to the success of emotionally evocative fiction in the marketplace” (2007, pg. 198). Here Keen reaffirms that empathy holds value but does not always produce moral action from a reader. This duality that Keen discusses is mirrored in Butler’s writing of how empathy is powerful and can be ethically enlightening yet, has its constraints in the novel too. Empathy is seen to be limited under the constraints of a society undergoing systemic collapse under late-stage capitalism, whilst also holding the power to “[destroy] it” (Butler, 2019, pg. 108).

Empathy’s failure to create change while functioning under systemic limitations demonstrates the consuming nature of capitalism. This is seen in empathy/”hyperempathy” (Butler, 2019, pg. 11) alone in the novel being unable to morally transform society due to the overwhelming nature of commodification. Thereby, this resulting breakdown of societal structures causes scarcity, violence and the inability for humanity to function as a human conscious any longer. Frederick Jameson discusses commodification’s consuming ability in his idea that the “semiautonomy of the cultural sphere […] has been destroyed by the logic of late capitalism” (1990, pg. 48). This suggests that all aspects of life have become increasingly determined by the imperatives of capitalism rather than the independent autonomy of the individual and their own distinct moral reasoning. As a result, through Butler creating the “hyperempathy syndrome” (2019, pg. 11) against the backdrop of a landscape devastated by systemic and global exploitation, she continues to show both its necessity in humanity’s morality and ethics, as well as it’s insufficiency in battling the effects of late-stage capitalism alone and without action.

Therefore, in creating “Earthseed” (2019, pg. 3), Butler establishes the physical movement and call to action in resisting late-stage capitalism that empathy/“hyperempathy” (2019, pg. 12) alone is unable to achieve. In these evolving forms of empathy throughout the novel, Butler structuring of Olamina’s “hyperempathy” (2019, pg. 12) can be said to align with Suzanne Keen’s three types of “Strategic [Empathising]” (2007, pg. 196). Initially we see that Butler characterisation of Lauren’s empathy can be said to act as “bounded”, empathy that is limited to people, groups or social contexts that are familiar (Keen, 2007, pg. 197). Lauren can also be said to function using this type of empathy until her home and community in “Robledo” (Butler, 2019, pg. 10) collapses. Thereafter, Lauren’s empathy is seen to transform into “ambassadorial” (Keen, 2007, pg. 197) in the form of “Earthseed” (Butler, 2019, pg. 3). Butler is seen to utilise this type of empathy through the way in which “ambassadorial” empathy allows Lauren to form communities and build trust beyond groups that are familiar and form connections to strangers and those from cultural and socially diverse backgrounds whilst motivating these individuals into taking action to structure and enact their collective survival (Keen, 2007, pg. 197).

In understanding the shift in empathy from individualised through Lauren, to then becoming a collective resistance in “Earthseed” (Butler, 2019, pg. 3), Butler begins to demonstrate how empathy can be effectively used beyond its limitations, previously mentioned, in a collapsing late-stage capitalist society. Butler’s creation of “Earthseed” (2019, pg. 3) rejects the “interlocking structure of [labour] delivered to the states and privileged classes of the core the chief benefits of capital accumulation in the world system as a whole. The latter, by these processes, is eventually divided into core, semi-periphery and periphery” (Jacob, 2023, pg. 17) as discussed by Wallerstein in his world systems theory. According to his theory, Wallerstein describes the global economy as an individual interconnected system in which different regions have different roles within this system. These can be categorised into three classes, core, periphery and semi-periphery. We see the economic disparities seen on a global scale in the novel, specifically in how we see the “core” (2023, pg. 17) wealthy upper social classes drain resources like Olivar from the “periphery” (2023, pg. 17) who are the vulnerable, ethnically diverse, poorer social classes such as Robledo. However, in the novel Butler depicts the destruction of capitalism affecting everyone regardless of class as “even the politicians […] [t]he whole state, the country, the world needs help” (Butler, 2019, pg. 99) and uses “Earthseed” (2019, pg. 3) to flip this hierarchal structure on its head. Therefore, in the novel Butler encourages the idea that helping one another and standing in unity is far more beneficial than the previous system of domination and capitalisation of everything. Butler illustrates the significance of foregrounding survival as a collective action rather than an individualised competition for power as “if we fail one another”, “[s]tarvation, agony at the hands of people who aren’t human anymore. Dismemberment. Death” (Butler, 2019, pg. 127) are what remains. Without empathy and coming together to enact this resistance, the community of “Earthseed” (Butler, 2019, pg. 3) will mirror the collapse of the structures of power, the ecological collapse and in continuing to perpetuate the logic of late-stage capitalism this will propel them further to the inevitable end of everything, as Lauren outlines in her speech aforementioned.

However, “Earthseed” (Butler, 2019, pg. 3) is seen to be the redeeming grace and serves as a microcosm of resistance. This is seen in the next part of the speech in which Butler outlines the benefits of a community that works together to create a reciprocal economy. Butler writes “[w]e have God and we have each other. We have our island community, fragile, and yet a fortress” (Butler, 2019, pg. 127). Butler uses this speech to show the significance of empathy and solidarity in a late-stage capitalist world. The use of “island community” (pg. 127) highlights “Earthseed” (pg. 3) functioning on the margins and is seen to reject the core and periphery hierarchy of global capitalism through the creation of its resistance. Butler contrasts the core and periphery through “Olivar” (pg. 111) and “Earthseed” (pg. 3) and sees the strength and fragility of the community to illustrate the paradox of survival under late-stage capitalism. The use of “fortress” (pg. 127) shows the power of ethical solidarity, collective empathy and united purpose in the destructive face of commodification. However, in comparison “Olivar” (pg. 111) despite being a whole “lot richer” (pg. 111) and “an upper middle class, white literate community of people who once had a lot of weight to throw around” (pg. 111) compared to the “Earthseed” (pg. 3) community, it is still shown to suffer under the effects of late-stage capitalism and ecological collapse. The community of “Olivar” (pg. 111) is seen to reflect the consequences of believing the false promise of capitalism, that through control you are protected. Within the novel Butler exposes the fallacy of “[c]ities controlled by big companies [to be] old hat in science fiction” (pg. 116). This allows Butler to demonstrate the moral and ethical bankruptcy of late-stage capitalism and neoliberalism, as the reality is that people are “taken in and underpaid by the company” (pg. 116). Instead, Butler is seen to use the “ambassadorial” (Keen, 2007, pg. 197) empathy form to invite readers to feel beyond their individualised personal perspectives, and to recognise the power of unity in transforming empathy into this active resistance that challenges these traditional power structures of patriarchy and capitalism.

Where “Olivar” (pg. 111) commodifies labour and safety, “Earthseed” (pg. 3) shows humanity working together and surviving. Specifically, Lauren’s tenet of “God is change” (pg. 3) in the religion of “Earthseed” (pg. 3) restructures the divine as adaptability and Butler uses this tenet to illustrate the possible ecological and spiritual responses to systematic decline. Therefore, through “Earthseed” (pg. 3), Butler imagines a post capitalist society and shows readers that there is a possibility of achieving that reality through empathy and action.

The third type of “Strategic [Empathising]” (2007, pg. 196) discussed by Suzanne Keen is “broadcast strategic empathy” (pg. 197). This is relevant to the novel because it is the narrative device that bridges Lauren’s intimate “bounded” (pg. 197) empathy and “ambassadorial” (pg. 197) empathy into “broadcast” (pg. 197) empathy. This continues to allow the reader to engage with the global emergencies. Through these different forms of empathy, Butler interweaves individual survival with community morality and holding one another accountable to global discussions of the effects of capitalism and climate change. It is simply not enough to read and ponder on the message of a novel as “[p]eople have changed the climate of the world. Now they’re waiting for the old days to come back” (Butler, 2019, pg. 52). This portrays how the dystopian Californian setting acts as a microcosm of the global climate crisis and illustrates how local experiences are reflective of consequences for the planet. The local systemic collapse of the community of “Robledo” (Butler, 2019, pg. 10) acts as a microcosm of the planet’s instability and mirrors “the post-apocalyptic world surrounding them [that] lacks any form of permanence or stability” (Nilges, 2009, pg. 1332). This emphasis on the failure of societal structure relates back to Jameson’s idea that the “semiautonomy of the cultural sphere […] has been destroyed” (1990, pg. 48), as social, economic and moral systems collapse together. This breakdown and instability of the world also emphasises the importance of Lauren’s “hyperempathy” (Butler, 2019, pg. 11). Readers are drawn in once again via the “broadcast” (Keen, 2007, pg. 197) empathy of the novel as they are continually brought back to a society where human vulnerabilities and relationships are the prime means of survival.

Once again, the lack of acceptance that anything is wrong shows the relevance of Lauren’s tenet that “God is change” (Butler, 2019, pg. 3), as it demonstrates why such philosophy is necessary and urgent. As without embracing change, accountability and solidarity nothing will change as it is assumed that “waiting” (Butler, 2019, pg. 52) is enough. That ignoring the problems and destruction means that change will instigate the necessary change and survival that can only ever be activated and created through action. However, Jameson’s outline of the completely commodifying nature of capitalism shows that Butler writing “[a]s far as I am concerned, space exploration and [colonisation] are among the few things left over from the last century that can help us more than they can hurt us” (2019, pg. 20) is a possible rational strategy. However, it also shows how the complete consuming of late-stage capitalism and commodification infiltrates every single facet of life, to force extreme ideas of even needing to leave Earth and consider colonising elsewhere. Yet, Butler also demonstrates that humanity can not continue to cling to the past and must instead rely on creating new alternatives of saving ourselves. As such, readers are again invited to reflect on the long term inter-generational survival of humanity, as a characteristic of “broadcast” (Keen, 2007, pg. 197) empathy which forces readers to move beyond the immediate social and environmental context, and to instead think of the possibilities for a better future through Butler’s writing.

It is necessary to reflect on empathy and survival under late-stage capitalism: Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower as regional and world literature due to its projections of society if action is not taken humanity will not change its current path of destruction. Through her writing, Butler appeals to humanity and asks readers to reevaluate their core moral values and the writer NK Jemisin says she does this by illustrating “all the ways people [are] alien to themselves. She [uses] that one step removed to turn a mirror on us, […] and say 'look at how horrible we are, let's not be that bad'” (Flood, 2014). Therefore, Butler refusing to shy away from difficult truths by portraying the risk, and the vulnerability of empathy, she shows how empathy is a necessary hazard to undertake as survival can not be successful without it, as she shows it is a part of what it means to be human. Butler asks us to shift from the material and transactional system of capitalism before it is too late to mitigate the effects of the Anthropocene’s ecological collapse, through “participating in a historical tradition of antiracist and even anarchist mutual aid” (Clausen, 2015, pg. 270). As without such utilisations of empathy to create communities of care that work in unison, people will remain stuck within their individualised selfishness and continue to be consumed by capitalist society. Therefore, “Earthseed” (Butler, 2019, pg. 3) becomes more than a religious endeavour, it becomes the model for what a community of care in action could potentially achieve.

Moreover, in Butler creating multiple microcosms across her novel, she illustrates how the global disaster is complied of the collapse of multiple systems, the economy, the environment and our morals. The speculative nature of her writing also continually expands the local into the global, allowing Parable of the Sower to function as both a regionally and globally relevant piece of literature, whilst also addressing, reimagining and empowering race, gender, and disability. This is seen in Butler having “produced a rich body of criticism that celebrates the narrative as a “critical dystopia” representing interracial community, depicting empowered Black motherhood and disability” (Clausen, 2015, pg. 270). Through these intersecting lenses Butler rejects the white, male centric domination in science fiction, but also embodies the rejection of patriarchal and capitalist individualisation in her novel too. As a result, Butler shows race, gender and disabilities as sources of strength and shows consciousness on multiple ideologies can be reimagined through the transformative action of the united collective.

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Espinoza, D. E. A. (2022). Unpacking late capitalism . The University of Sydney. https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2022/12/20/unpacking-late-capitalism.html

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Nilges, M. (2009). “We Need the Stars”: Change, Community, and the Absent Father in Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” and “Parable of the Talents.” Callaloo , 32 (4), 1332–1352. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27743152