Parable of the Talents

Larkin reflects that her mother and the Acorn community enjoyed a period of relative stability in the spring and summer of 2033. This tranquility gave Lauren time to envision plans for spreading Earthseed more widely and eventually founding other communities modeled after Acorn. On July 20, 2033, Lauren’s 24th birthday, she gives birth to Larkin. Both Lauren and Bankole are very happy and love their daughter very much, but the baby’s birth makes Bankole increasingly convinced that they should look for a more secure life in a nearby town.

Lauren, however, is more convinced than ever of the need to grow Acorn and continue to develop Earthseed into a widespread religious faith. She sees these as the necessary steps towards fulfilling Earthseed’s destiny: setting up colonies on other planets. Lauren passionately argues that “if we’re to be anything other than smooth dinosaurs who evolve, specialize, and die, we need the stars” (177). Bankole agrees to support her unconditionally, but he also warns her that realizing this vision will take a very long time, and Lauren may not ever live to see the culmination of her hopes.