Parable of the Sower Summary
Description
Here you will find a Parable of the Sower summary (Octavia E. Butler's book).
We begin with a summary of the entire book, and then you can read each individual chapter's summary by visiting the links on the "Chapters" section.
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Last Updated: Monday 1 Jan, 2024
Chapters
Chapters Parable of the Sower Summary Overview
In a dystopian Los Angeles of 2024, 15-year-old African American girl named Lauren Olamina exists in a walled-off neighborhood, insulated from the neighboring perils of poverty-stricken masses and fire-setting drug addicts. Raised by a Baptist pastor father and educator stepmother, Lauren is distinguished by her hyperempathy, a condition resulting from her biological mother's drug abuse that causes her to vicariously experience others' feelings. Lauren's skepticism towards established religions sparks the conception of her own belief system, Earthseed, which she records in her journal and which posits God as an entity of change, unable to be resisted but susceptible to influence. Among Lauren's four younger brothers, her stepmother's favored child, Keith, mirrors Lauren's religious skepticism but differs in his reckless pursuit of independence. He abandons home at 13, existing as a successful street thug and sporadically providing his family with cash before eventually being tortured and killed, his identifiable face left as a grim testament to his chosen path. Shortly after, Lauren's father mysteriously vanishes and his fate remains unknown. The subsequent summer, an onslaught by pyro addicts decimates their neighborhood, but Lauren, white friend Harry, and Zahra -- the youngest wife of a local polygamist -- manage to escape to the coast before heading northward. The trio, with Lauren disguised as a man for safety, gradually amasses a diverse group of survivors during their journey, including a doctor of similar age to Lauren's father. Despite the looming threats of pyro addicts, an earthquake, and firestorm, Lauren shares her Earthseed ideology with the group, envisioning it as a future interplanetary belief system but aiming to establish an initial community on Earth. Bankole, the doctor, becomes Lauren's partner and provides land for the new Earthseed community, despite not subscribing to the belief system himself. The group eventually reaches the land, only to discover that Bankole's family had fallen victim to violence. Undeterred, they decide to build their Earthseed community on this land, naming it Acorn after holding a commemorative service for their lost loved ones.
chapter 1
Our storyteller, a recently turned fifteen-year-old African American girl later identified as Lauren Oya Olamina, recounts a recurring dream. The dream stems from her wish to satisfy her father, and it shows her slow progress in flying, yet she struggles to maintain direction. Trying to navigate through a doorway, similar to her bedroom's, she ends up colliding with a fiery wall. The dream then shifts to a real-life recollection of her gazing at the star-studded night sky. Lauren's stepmother, using Spanish, informs her that more stars were visible before when cities didn't emit as much light.
chapter 2
Lauren's father, a Baptist minister and college lecturer, along with his second wife Cory, their four young sons Keith, Marcus, Bennett, and Gregory, make up Lauren's family. Lauren suffers from hyperempathy, an intense reaction to other people's emotions, a condition she inherited from her biological mother's prescription drug abuse. After her mother died during childbirth, Lauren and her family settled in Robledo, a fictional Los Angeles area town. The town had transformed from a prosperous community to a group of small, fortified neighborhoods due to social unrest. Lauren's family resides in one such walled-off cul-de-sac. The majority of the town’s churches have been devastated by fires, which led her father to preach from their home. The family along with a few neighbors, all armed for safety, cycle to a neighboring district to attend the only remaining church. Here, Lauren, Keith, Marcus, and four other kids are baptized. But in truth, Lauren had stopped believing in her father's God a while back. Keith, only twelve, is also a non-believer but he goes through the baptism to please his father. He fancies himself an adult and dreams of escaping the neighborhood for the city's riches. Despite Keith not being one of Lauren's favorites, her stepmother adores him.
chapter 3
Lauren's community is struggling with the scarcity and high cost of water. Gasoline is now a luxury only the wealthy and arsonists can afford. The trauma of this dystopian world becomes too much for Mrs. Sims, a local woman, who takes her own life after her son's family perishes in an arson attack. The community's only television set, Mrs. Yannis’s “Window Wall”, ceases function following a news segment about the death of a Martian astronaut. Despite her posthumous wish to rest on Mars, her remains are being returned to earth. Lauren's father, among many others, views the space exploration program as a costly distraction from Earth's problems. He supports presidential candidate Christopher Donner's idea to end the Mars program. Despite the mainstream view, Lauren is drawn to the astronaut's ambition and the broader aim of cosmic exploration. Since the age of twelve, Lauren has been reflecting on the concept of God in her writings, which she shares at the beginning of each chapter. She has started forming her own beliefs, with the primary assertion that God is all-powerful and ever-changing. She believes that although God’s power is irresistible, human actions can help direct and shape it.
chapter 4
Amy Dunn, a product of incest and neglect, unknowingly ignites a fire in her home garage. Despite her circumstances, Lauren identifies Amy's intelligence and potential. Cory, the local school teacher, agrees to instruct Amy with Lauren's supervision. The home of the deceased Mrs. Sims is inherited by twin siblings, Wardell Parrish and Rosalee Payne, who aren't particularly charming. Mrs. Payne's seven children, however, are more agreeable to Lauren. Lauren, her boyfriend Curtis, and a diverse group of neighbors are taken by Lauren's father for shooting practice in a canyon, a ritual for those fifteen and above. Lauren has mixed feelings about her father's ardent focus on firearms and protection. Among the neighbors is Richard Moss, a polygamist who fashioned a religion to validate his lifestyle. During the practice, his daughter Aura nearly injures Curtis's sibling while attempting to shoot a wild dog. After the incident, Lauren's father discovers the partially devoured bodies of a woman and two children, resulting in a hasty exit. As they exit the canyon, Lauren kills a dog her father had injured, to put it out of its misery. Her hyperempathy syndrome causes her to feel the extinguishing life of the dog.
chapter 5
After a period of drought, a sudden rainstorm lures Amy Dunn out of her home, only for her to be struck and killed by a stray bullet breaching the neighborhood's protective wall. A conversation ensues between Lauren and her close companion, Joanne Garfield, about the state of things. Lauren is apprehensive of the increasing anarchy threatening their area, with the spread of a new, fire-inducing drug and rampant deaths from natural disasters and disease back east. Joanne, however, optimistically believes that humanity will eventually overcome the current calamities and reestablish order. She sees no other option but to bide their time. Disagreeing, Lauren advocates for a contingency plan, having immersed herself in survivalist literature. She encourages Joanne to do the same by lending her a book by her father on edible local plants indigenous to the West Coast.
chapter 6
Joanne leaks Lauren's predictions about imminent danger and possible evacuation to her parents, causing them to confront Lauren's dad. Lauren is taken aback when her father confesses to sharing her anxieties. He had even provided the recipe for the acorn bread the community has been consuming from his book on native plants. He encourages Lauren to guide people through fear by teaching survival skills like earthquake readiness and martial arts. On the following day, Lauren's dad delivers a sermon about Noah, emphasizing trust in God and hard work as means to survival. When fruit theft arises in the community, he initiates a neighborhood armed patrol. Two weeks on, the patrol successfully deters thieves from the Moss family’s rabbits. Cory objects to this approach, fearing lethal encounters. However, Lauren's father insists that they have been living this way already.
chapter 7
Lauren finalizes the name for her novel religious concept - Earthseed, hoping to train herself and others to be 'seeds' that will propel mankind wherever life leads them. She packs a survival kit comprising durable food, tools, cash, and essential goods, along with actual seeds. Her father turns down her appeal for a firearm, possibly out of fear that Keith, her half-brother, might find it. His refusal persists when she suggests the family moving north - he plans to stay in Robledo, having a job and acquaintances there. Lauren records a thought in her journal, "A tree cannot grow in its parents’ shadows," and after learning about planets around nearby stars, she adds, on her sixteenth birthday, "The Destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the stars." Following Amy Dunn's death, her mother, Tracy, drowned in grief, expressing suicidal tendencies. The day prior, she ventured beyond the wall and has vanished since.
chapter 8
Lauren's friend is expecting a baby and looking at wedding arrangements. Lauren can't understand why anyone would bring children into a world in its current state. She has feelings for Curtis, but the future her friend is facing seems unbearable. In another shooting practice session, they stumble upon a woman's body, decomposed and crawling with maggots. Aura refuses to continue shooting. Lauren, though she feels no joy in it, is frustrated at how some like the Moss women avoid community duties like learning to defend themselves and night watch shifts. Keith, only thirteen, is impatient to assert his masculinity and frustrated by his exclusion from shooting trips. He swipes Cory’s gate key and ventures beyond the wall single-handedly. He returns as Lauren's father is about to search for him, worn-out, bruised and barely clothed. He was ambushed by five men who stole the gate key. His father is enraged, not just about replacing Keith's clothes but also changing the gate lock. Keith maintains he's not at fault but is made to publicly apologize in church the next day. The sermon draws from scripture on respecting parents and not thieving. Lauren notes that Keith is Cory’s favorite.
chapter 9
In an effort to make Keith feel more grown-up, his parents give him a BB gun as a gift. Despite this, Keith leaves home once more. His father searches for him and even contacts the police, straining their already tight finances. Two days into his disappearance, Cory, driven by distress, accuses her husband of favoring their daughter Lauren over Keith. Lauren's father attempts to smooth things over, but Lauren is acutely aware that Cory's love for her is not as deep as for Keith. A week and a half later, Keith returns home dressed in costly attire. His refusal to reveal his whereabouts leads to a severe beating from his father, which triggers Lauren's hyperempathy to the point of her fainting. After a month, Keith departs again, this time with Cory's gun. His father, tired of his antics, doesn't pursue him. Lauren's resentment towards Keith grows due to the havoc he's causing in their family. Upon his return a week later, Keith hands Cory a substantial amount of money and leaves before his father comes home. Keith vows not to endure another beating from his father and boasts about making more money than his father ever could.
chapter 10
Keith returns the subsequent summer, appearing much more mature than his years and brandishing a handgun. He's been living with illiterate young lawbreakers who rely on his literacy to utilize the contraptions they pilfer. Keith reveals that he managed to secure this position by murdering a dormant hitchhiker who had a significant amount of money on him. He expresses no guilt for his actions. A month later, he gifts Lauren a stack of bills for her birthday. She plans on giving the money to Cory. A month later, Keith is murdered. His parents are summoned to identify his mutilated body. His eyes were burnt out and his corpse was deliberately left in a conspicuous location, as if to send a message to his family. The authorities mistakenly believe that Keith’s parents can identify the culprits, but there's no evidence to support this. Lauren doesn't mourn for Keith; she despises him and views him as a sociopath, even though he's her brother. The day their father severely beat Keith was the day their familial bonds irreparably shattered, she finally realizes.
chapter 11
Criminal activities are on the rise in the neighborhood. The latest incident saw three criminals brutally murder elderly Mrs. Quintanilla. Two invaders were subsequently killed by other family members, with the third escaping. Ironically, Keith's stolen money is now being repurposed to help victims of such crimes. Olivar, a nearby prosperous town, is grappling with similar issues as well as the threat of coastal erosion. KSF, a multinational corporation, convinces most of Olivar's population to privatize the town. This means KSF will own all the land, act as the primary landlord and employer, and handle services and infrastructure. Although this promises increased safety, it also means lower wages for residents and rent payable to KSF. Cory and other locals consider relocating to Olivar, but Lauren and her father recognize this as a historic ploy used by company towns to trap people in debt by charging exorbitant rent. They also believe that Olivar wouldn't welcome Black and Hispanic residents. Lauren reflects on the cliché of science fiction novels where the protagonist doesn't join "the company", but rather fights or escapes it. She decides to leave her neighborhood when she turns eighteen, heading north to seek opportunities to teach literacy. Meanwhile, she has titled her growing series of verses—Earthseed: The Book of the Living.
chapter 12
Soon, the white Garfield family will move to Olivar. As Lauren and Joanne Garfield harvest fruit together, Joanne criticizes Lauren's bleak outlook on the future. Lauren conveys her sadness over Joanne's imminent departure, and Joanne expresses regret. Soon after, Lauren's father goes missing when returning home from work. Community search parties spend days looking for him fruitlessly. A found severed arm isn't his, confirmed by fingerprint analysis. When a nearby man's painful screams ring out, evidently under torture, Kayla Talcott, the mother of Lauren’s boyfriend, confirms it's not Lauren’s father’s voice. The following Sunday, Lauren prevents the church service from turning into a memorial for her missing father. She gives an unprepared sermon about a persistent widow in the Bible who convinces a hesitant judge to grant her justice. She encourages her community to continue their search for her father. However, privately, Lauren feels as though she just delivered a eulogy at her father's funeral, not entirely believing the hopeful words she spoke to her congregation.
chapter 13
The Garfields are transported to Olivar in a bulletproof KSF vehicle. Lauren bids farewell to Joanne and spends intimate time with Curtis, something they haven't done recently. After their intimacy, they contemplate their future. Curtis suggests moving north, maybe even to Canada. This leaves Lauren torn; she desires a northern journey and yearns to be with Curtis, yet she can't abandon Cory and her siblings. She realises she must reveal to Curtis her hyperempathy and Earthseed. Pyro, a drug that encourages fire-setting, becomes increasingly problematic in California. On the eve of Christmas Eve, a blaze engulfs the Payne-Parrish house. Neighbourhood attempts to quench the flames are fruitless and the fire brigade's late arrival proves unhelpful. Amidst the chaos, robbers who initiated the fire pillage three homes, including the Olaminas'. The fire claims the lives of Rosalee Payne and her offspring, sparing only Wardell Parrish. Shattered by his loss, the Olaminas take him in, but he soon returns to his previous relatives whom he resided with prior to inheriting Mrs. Sims's house. Cory clings to her aspiration of moving to Olivar, but her family's immediate concern is their dwindling income in the absence of Lauren's father. Having previously taught at the same college as Lauren's father, Cory decides to take up his teaching position. Consequently, Lauren will replace Cory as the local schoolteacher. Church leadership will be shared between Kayla Talcott and another woman.
chapter 14
The following summer as Lauren turns eighteen, her community is invaded by pyros. Pyros, who are identifiable by their bald heads and painted bodies, are drug addicts who perpetrate uncontrolled arsons. They crash a stolen vehicle into the community gate, set homes aflame, and engage in murder and rape. Lauren gets separated from her family in the confusion. She procures a gun from a dead boy's body, kills a pyro, manages to escape the neighborhood, and finds shelter in a nearby abandoned, charred house's garage. When dawn breaks, Lauren ventures back into her wrecked neighborhood to seek survivors and salvage what's left of her house. She discovers people looting the ruins. Unseen, she retrieves a stash of money from her backyard. She spots the bodies of her friends and neighbors, but there is no sign of her family or Curtis. Returning to her temporary shelter, she encounters two survivors - Harry Balter, Joanne's cousin and boyfriend who chose to stay in Robledo with his family over joining Joanne in Olivar, and Zahra Moss, the youngest spouse of now-deceased Richard. Zahra witnessed the deaths of Lauren's family while she was being violated. In trying to rescue Zahra, Harry was gravely injured and is now unsteady and prone to vomiting. Seeing him in such a state makes Lauren feel unwell.
chapter 15
Harry is given time to recuperate as Lauren and Zahra take care of him. Zahra, who is more savvy to the ways of the street, manages to pilfer some ripe peaches. Despite her upbringing as a pastor's child, Lauren partakes in the stolen fruit, much to Harry's subtle astonishment. She discloses to them about the deceased bodies she encountered, which include Zahra's spouse, Harry's grandparent, and Harry's juvenile siblings. Lauren and Harry express their desire to migrate north, and Zahra willingly accepts their offer to accompany them. Disguising herself as a man, Lauren plans to travel with Zahra as her lady friend, and Harry as their Caucasian associate. They take turns visiting Hanning Joss, a heavily fortified supply store. Lauren purchases inexpensive sleeping bags, jackets, and bullets, while Harry and Zahra each get a blade. The highways, although still accommodating some vehicular traffic, are now mostly frequented by pedestrians. The trio commences their journey west on the 118 freeway, intending to reach U.S. 101 that will lead them to Oregon. Lauren senses a lack of cohesion among them. They must work on fostering trust, and she needs to reveal her hyperempathy to them.
chapter 16
Following an exhausting journey, Lauren, Zahra, and Harry establish a temporary camp, risking a small fire despite its potential to draw attention. They instruct Harry to exercise caution with newcomers, however, he is soon assaulted by two individuals during his watch. Harry manages to wound one, while the other is brutally incapacitated by Lauren, who bashes his skull with a stone. The traumatic event resonates with Lauren, making her physically ill. In an act of mercy, she ends the man's agony, shocking Zahra and Harry with her ruthlessness. Lauren, in order to justify her actions, discloses her hyper-empathetic nature to Harry and Zahra, labeling herself a "sharer". Zahra reacts nonchalantly, having witnessed more severe consequences of maternal drug abuse on children. Harry, on the other hand, is more skeptical and probes Lauren with hypothetical situations. After getting satisfactory answers, Harry opts to stay with the group. His curiosity then shifts towards Lauren's evening writing ritual, prompting him to inquire about her journal. Lauren reluctantly reveals that she's been penning down the beginning of her book, Earthseed, which delves into the concept of God as Change.
chapter 17
Harry begins to show curiosity about Lauren, even expressing interest in her written verses. One night, he and Zahra disregard their watchful duties to be intimate, and Lauren reprimands them both, causing Harry to feel more shame than Zahra. At a water stop, they prevent two men from robbing a racially mixed family of their water supplies, after which the family sticks close to Lauren's group on their westward journey. Not one in Lauren's group has ever set eyes on an ocean. Their joy is palpable as they frolic in the Pacific upon reaching it. The family they saved – a couple with a baby – camp near them. The family is wary when Lauren attempts to befriend them, but she wins their trust by saving their baby from a dog attack that night. The couple, introducing themselves as Travis and Natividad Douglas and their baby Dominic, are surprised to discover Lauren is a woman when Harry inadvertently refers to her as "she". Natividad is fascinated by Lauren's literacy. Lauren proposes their groups merge for improved safety. Travis initially rejects the idea of a woman's protection, but Natividad encourages Lauren to share her poetry. The groups decide to unite.
chapter 18
Upon arriving in Santa Barbara, the team's trust in each other amplifies. They stock up on necessities at a local store, Hanning Joss, and take a day off to recuperate. Travis, being literate due to his mother's influence, shows interest in Lauren's belief system, Earthseed, particularly the idea that God equates to Change. The two discuss complex concepts like entropy and thermodynamics. Lauren asserts that Change cannot be resisted and is better to be cooperated with. She enlightens him on Earthseed's definition of heaven - the mission to establish roots in outer space. Despite initial skepticism, Travis keeps conversing with Lauren, while Natividad shows curiosity. Harry, however, remains dismissive and finds it amusing. A week later, Travis becomes the first one to embrace Earthseed, followed by Zahra, who's more attracted to Lauren's idea of a terrestrial community than space travel.
chapter 19
The team experiences an earthquake south of Salinas that sparks a fire in a nearby town. Lauren chats with a congenial Black man named Taylor Bankole, who she feels a sense of trust towards. As they continue, they discover a collapsed house with trapped individuals, and manage to rescue two white siblings, Allie and Jill Gilchrist. With new, wounded additions to the group, they attract the notice of attackers. Lauren is forced to kill one assailant which distresses her. They find some valuable items on the deceased attackers. When asked about their identity, Harry names the group "Earthseed", sparking a short, serious discussion about faith. In Salinas, despite heavy police presence, the group is allowed to shop. At a store, Bankole encourages Lauren to purchase a displayed rifle. Allie seconds the suggestion and Lauren acquires the gun while Bankole gets ammunition and a cleaning kit.
chapter 20
Lauren, using the earring radio, discovers that the Bay Area is in disorder and dangerous to traverse. Deciding to divert their path, the group heads inland towards the Interstate 5, settling near San Juan Bautista for the night. Their slumber is disrupted by a clash over a truck, ended by the vehicle's explosion. Bankole, who had disappeared during the conflict, comes back with a three-year-old boy, identified as Justin Rohr through his mother's documents. The child clings to Allie, who takes on the role of his guardian, possibly longing for her own deceased baby. Allie and Jill had escaped from their abusive father, who was exploiting them and had killed Allie's son, by setting their Glendale home on fire with him inside. In Hollister, they have another opportunity to gather supplies. The locals display a sense of community, assisting each other in post-earthquake recovery and providing for those left destitute.
chapter 21
The group, consisting of eight grownups and two kids, halts at San Juan Reservoir for a couple of nights. Harry jests about Lauren's budding romance with Bankole, humorously cautioning her not to “give the poor old guy a heart attack.” As Lauren and Bankole's bond deepens, she learns about his past; he lost his wife five years ago after she was cruelly attacked by drug-seekers. He resided in his fenced San Diego community until it was invaded and set aflame by looters. Bankole, whose wife was a Methodist, accompanied her to church but lacked faith. He maintains his skepticism towards Earthseed, yet he admires and listens to Lauren's passionate explanation. Bankole, like everyone, is heading north in search of a safer life. However, Lauren feels he has a specific destination in mind—like a relative's or friend's place. She yearns to fully trust him. Their intimate connection strengthens while at the reservoir, even though Bankole is initially surprised to discover that his new romantic partner is only eighteen.
chapter 22
Fewer pedestrians traverse I-5 than U.S. 101, but it's bustling with trucks. Near Sacramento, the group witnesses four kids consuming a human leg. They briskly navigate through the city, restocking supplies and projecting a formidable presence yet trying to avoid attention. Relaxing at their next stop, Bankole requests Lauren to abandon the group and accompany him alone. Initially, she declines as she's devoted to establishing the primary Earthseed society. However, he reveals his destination: he owns three hundred acres of land near Cape Mendocino, where his younger sister and her spouse have constructed a home. The location is secluded, secured and has water wells. Bankole declares his desire to wed Lauren and agrees to accommodate her friends too, if required. She is delighted to accept his proposal, but also shares about her hyperempathy, cautioning that it might hinder her capacity to assist him if he's hurt. Unfazed, he continues to express his desire to marry her.
chapter 23
In the midst of a morning gunfight nearby, a woman of mixed race, Emery Solis, and her young daughter, Tori, sneak into the camp. They are visibly malnourished. Emery, once a farm worker, was held in a state of servitude due to debt to her employers. Following the death of her husband from a stomach ailment and the loss of her two sons, she fled with Tori. Their life has been spent on the move in the north, surviving off the land. Their prior enslavement, Lauren speculates, is likely the reason for their apparent fear of others, as if anticipating imminent harm. Emery shares that the gunfire they were evading was the result of rival gangs vying for territory. After some discussion, they are welcomed into the camp. Lauren, noting their entrance went unnoticed during Jill's watch, firmly requests Jill to stay more vigilant. After a couple of days, Tori befriends a girl they meet on their journey, named Doe. Doe and her father, Grayson Mora, also exhibit signs of apprehension and social withdrawal, similar to those who've been enslaved. Grayson shows interest in Emery, but displays a strange resentment; he only agrees to join the group at Doe's insistence. Lauren observes that he is well-equipped with essentials like a sleepsack, food, water, and cash, suggesting he probably took them from someone else.
chapter 24
The crew suffers a surprise attack during a roadside break, where Lauren shoots a man attempting to kidnap Tori. The emotional shock from her hyperempathy causes her to faint several times. After the conflict, she wakes up to discover that Jill was killed while trying to protect Tori. The group has already laid Jill to rest. It's soon clear that the four new members of the party also have hyperempathy, explaining their strange behaviour. Emery reveals that while not all offspring of hyperempaths inherit this trait, many do, and slave masters prefer slaves with hyperempathy as it makes them easier to control. The group narrowly escapes a fast-approaching wildfire when it suddenly changes direction. Tensions arise between Lauren, Bankole, and a restless Grayson who showed signs of fleeing during the shootout, and is now upset about not being trusted with a firearm. Despite this, his concern for Doe signifies his capacity for selflessness. Following a resupply stop at Clear Lake and two days of rest, the group discusses their experiences and shares about Earthseed. Eventually, they arrive at Bankole’s land in the Mendocino hills. They find the house, once occupied by Bankole's sister's family, reduced to ashes.
chapter 25
Amidst the wreckage of Bankole’s sister’s estate, they find five skulls, evidence of the devastating fire. Bankole, despite Lauren's concerns, feels a need to investigate and find answers. He and Harry travel to the nearest town to seek help from the sheriff’s office. The authorities search Bankole, pledge to investigate, and take his cash as payment for their services. Harry, unable to find work in town, joins Bankole in buying supplies before returning to the group. During a group discussion, Lauren convinces them that Bankole’s land is still a suitable location for their community. She believes they can provide better protection than Bankole’s late relatives did. She shares the variety of seeds she has for farming. The majority, including Grayson, are willing to settle, but Harry is reluctant. Only after Emery hints that Harry could potentially become a slave overseer in the north does he agree to stay. When they realize that the sheriff's office won't be helping, they bury Bankole's family members and pay tribute to all their lost loved ones. They memorialize the deceased by planting acorns and sharing personal stories, scripture, Earthseed verses, snippets of songs and poems. They christen their new home "Acorn."
