Parable of the Sower

    It is a person’s natural instinct to either rise up and be a leader or be a person who seeks out someone that can be a leader. In the community of Robledo, Reverend Olamina is that patriarchal leader. Through a Marxist lens, Reverend Olamina and his family would be seen as the upper class just based on their leadership role. Richard Moss actually holds more money than the Olamina's but in this community people rely on their faith to get them through. The community as a whole exchanges necessities which takes out some of the need for tangible money. 

      In a time of complete chaos like there is, people have little to nothing to believe in besides their faith. In Lauren’s community they choose to believe in their faith and not focus on how bad the situation is around them, and Reverend Olamina helps them do just that. Not only does he give people something to hope for, he truly is their leader. He is the one that will set up a night watch when needed and delegates tasks to people in the betterment of the community. Like most people however he has something to hide which is his daughter, Lauren. Lauren was a child of another woman but not only that, she also inherited hyperempathy from her mom making her extremely vulnerable to people around her. Lauren's hyperempathy makes her an easy target in the outside world but the Reverend doesn't want anyone inside their community to know about her condition either. This is not protection for Lauren but protection for the Reverend's reputation as well. We think he is scared that not only will it make Lauren look weak but also the family as a whole. 

     Lauren always clung to the motto "God is Change" however Reverend Olamina always fought against her and told her to put her faith in God. In Ecclesiastes 3:1 it states "For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." The Reverend completely rejects this by not conforming with the times like Lauren did which is ultimately how she survived.