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By the end of the last class, we spent some time talking about Butler’s prose. Last night while having a conversation about narwhals (and how if narwhals ran the world, everything would be much more peaceful) in the hallway, Meredith and I somehow managed to start talking about Parable of the Sower. It was then I realized that though the book has somewhat of a doomsday warning feel to it (society is on a slippery slope to nowhere, better make changes now or perish!), I was never really that frightened when reading it. I am not sure whether it is the fact that the book is set only fourteen years from now so it seems almost likely to happen (or not likely at all? – I cannot decide),  or that after the fifth rape and third cannabilistic event I was desensitized.That would be an issue with Butler’s style with me. However, it may not be that. We might all be desensitized to the violence in Parable of the Sower because we see so much everyday on the news and in smaller, subtler ways on our own streets (Anne mentioned the homeless people she frequently sees on her way to work). The hidden and outright violence behind all of these occurrences has changed our reactions to fictional violence (and everyday strife). Maybe this is part of the slippery slope Butler is warning us about?

 ps i know of an interesting study that links the existence of evidence of violence on streets (broken glass, etc) to more violence.