Survival by Any Means: Race and Gender, Passing and Performance in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents

This project focuses on race and gender in the works of author Octavia Butler.
The primary texts analyzed are Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. In these
novels, Butler alludes to slavery in antebellum America by drawing strong parallels
between the roles race and gender played in the survival of the escaped slaves of
America’s past and the role they play in the survival of the main character of Butler’s
apocalyptic future. The themes of race and gender frequently intersect and maintain an
important role throughout the novels. I argue that, by reading Butler’s novels within this
significant historical context, Butler’s use of passing as a tool for subverting both racial
and gendered identity as a means to secure the safety and privilege necessary for survival
emerges. Further, the parallels between racial and gender passing serve to expose the
performative nature of these identifying characteristics.