Sorry_Library_7086 t1_jcsvaeh wrote on March 19, 2023 at 8:37 AM

Reply to comment by 13ventrm in Lauren Oya Olamina from Octavia E. Butler’s “Parable of the Sower/Talents” - is she a Mary Sue? by Pink_Blue1214

I have also only read Sower, but I think the importance of Lauren as our protagonist AND narrator can’t be understated.

Everything we are told about her and the world is her opinion, voice, best recollection. I don’t think she is necessarily an unreliable narrator, but she does minimise her faults and maximise the ill actions of others in her narration (particularly regarding Keith for example). I think this adds to her humanity, rather than detracting from it.

Phanton97 t1_jctbmge wrote on March 19, 2023 at 12:16 PM

That is a really good point. We shouldn't forget that we are supposed to read her diary. As others mentioned, I think Parable of Talent really adds to her character, since we get the perspectives of other people, like her daughter, who sees her mother in a much different way.