Earthseed Values Analysis

Therefore, Lauren prepares for the future, where she will eventually have to disclose her values and condition. Although Lauren cannot share her condition or her values, she postulates "in time, I'll have to do something about it...in spite of the poisonous rottenness outside of the wall where I might be exiled" (23). Lauren longs to confide in her community about her values, but she cannot since they are clouded by their despair. The information she has kept hidden plagues her day and night. Eventually, Lauren decides to tell her best friend Joanne Garfield about her thoughts. Upon telling Joanne her values, Lauren chides Joanne's response and to her surprise and annoyance, Joanne leaks the information to her parents (55). This leaves Lauren
She talks to Travis Douglas, a character she approaches after the fall of Robledo, about Earthseed. She states, “I wasn't looking for mythology or mysticism or magic. I didn’t know if there was a God to find, but I wanted to know. God would have to be the power that could not be defied by anyone or anything” (195). Travis questions Lauren’s values, as its relation to God. Lauren defends her values by stating that she was not studying the religious context of God. Alternatively, she wished to create a deeper connection to life; to intellectually and emphatically “seed” herself into the Earth. She develops her fundamental values, as a means of coping with the world. Thus, sprouts her notion of God and by any means cannot be “defied” so long, as people like her are alive to “shape” the world. She claims that change is a potent force, where many will not be able to fight it. Furthermore, Lauren describes what her Earthseed verses have taught the community. She postulates, “Even new people joined in, asking questions, thinking aloud, applying the verses to their experience” (264). Lauren teaches the notion of self-reliance and individualism to her community. Many are able to integrate the Earthseed values into their life to fully understand the meaning of these values. Essentially, Earthseed values can be earned through life and can be integrated into one’s life for the
Lauren, states “The world is full of painful stories. Sometimes it seems as though there aren’t any other kind and yet I found myself thinking how beautiful that glint of water was through the trees” (236). Lauren sees that within darkness there is also beauty around her. Lauren has heard the stories of her comrades and all show sorrow, despite the painful memories she still wants to show the group that they are able to overcome their past. Lauren as well signifies this notion when the members of her group remember their lost and departed friends. She states, “We spoke of our individual memories and quoted Bible passages, Earthseed verses...Then we buried our dead and we planted oak trees. Afterwards, we sat together and talked and ate a meal and decided to call this place Acorn” (295). Even though some are in despair over the loss of their loved ones, Lauren teaches them to be hopeful and optimistic. Lauren is finally able to sprout her seeds and create a safe haven for her and her friends. Conclusively, Lauren notes a Bible verse: “A sower went out to sow his seed…; and as soon as it sprung up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell upon the thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And others fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bore fruit an hundredfold” (295). Part and parcel of this is in relation to Lauren’s hometown. Many individuals were not able to survive and adapt to the