The Parable of the Sower Characters Analysis

Lauren Oya Olamina -

The protagonist of the novel. Lauren has hyperempathy syndrome, and it allows her to experience both the pleasure and pain of the people around her. Lauren is young and resourceful from a very early age. She has an extremely close relationship with her father and often refers to him as the best person she knows. Lauren is the only survivor from the Olamina family, she manages to survive because of the preparations she had made in anticipation of a disaster. She teaches young children of the neighborhood at Cory's school and continues to teach reading to the other members of her group as they journey north. She invents Earthseed by making observations and writing down her thoughts.

Reverend Olamina -

He is Lauren's father and the husband to Cory. He is a baptist priest, professor, and Dean. Despite the dangers of the world, he needs to go to his place of work every so often. He has a close relationship with his daughter and does all he can to ensure that her Hyperempathy syndrome remains a family secret. His relationship with Keith begins to deteriorate as Keith becomes rebellious and endangers the lives of the other people in the neighborhood. He disappears one day as he's returning home, Lauren never learns what happened to him.

Cory -

She is Lauren's stepmother, and although Lauren had always thought of her as a mother, this begins to change after Keith's second disappearance. Lauren begins to realize that Cory doesn't see her like she sees Keith and the rest of her children. Zahra Moss tells Lauren that she saw her mother and her brothers being killed by the painted people.

Keith Olamina -

He is Lauren's stepbrother and Cory's eldest son. Lauren believes that Cory had babied Keith too much, and this had led to him developing a difficult personality. Keith runs away from home at 14 and begins to kill and rob people. Eventually, Keith is killed horribly, as his skin and eyes are burned while his face is left intact.

Harry Balter -

Harry is a young white teenager, who had been dating Lauren's best friend Joanne Garfield before she left for Olivar. Harry is one of the three survivors from the cul-de-sac. He later ends getting together with Zahra Moss during the journey north.

Zahra Moss -

The youngest wife of Peter Moss who was an engineer with a local water supply company. He had started a polygamous religion, and Zahra Moss was his third and last wife. Peter Moss had bought Zahra from her homeless mother at the age of 15. Zahra had a small baby who was killed during the attack on the neighborhood. Harry Balter had rescued her from being raped by the painted men.

Travis Douglas -

He was among the first people to be converted to Earthseed by Lauren. Lauren and her group from the Cul-de-sac had rescued Travis from a couple of thieves near a water station, and later from an attack by feral dogs. Travis had escaped with his wife, Natividad, and son, Dominic, after his employer had begun to lustily eye Natividad.

Jill and Allie Gilchrist -

They were both sisters who had been forced into prostitution by their father. They decided to set their house on fire and escape, after their father killed Allie's young baby boy, Adam. Jill was killed by the bald man as she attempted to rescue Tori.

Bankole -

A middle-aged widowed black doctor who was forced to leave his neighborhood after it had suffered an attack like the one Lauren's neighborhood had seen. Lauren settles her Earthseed community on his land after he invites her and asks her to marry him.