Joanne Garfield: Skepticism and Survival in Parable of the Sower
Overview
Joanne Garfield is a minor but significant character in Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower. She is a longtime friend and peer of protagonist Lauren Olamina, growing up inside the same walled community in a dystopian near-future California. Unlike Lauren, Joanne represents a more conventional, cautious response to societal collapse—one rooted in denial, risk-aversion, and a longing for stability. Her character serves as a foil to Lauren's proactive, visionary survivalism, and her eventual decision to move with her family to the privatized city of Olivar underscores a central tension in the novel: whether safety can be purchased at the cost of freedom.
Plot Role
Joanne appears primarily in five key chapters—5, 6, 11, and 12—according to the outline and evidence. Her role includes:
- Chapter 5: Joanne is the recipient of Lauren's first attempt to share survival warnings. Lauren urges her to learn wilderness skills and gives her a book on California plants. Joanne listens but remains skeptical.
- Chapter 6: Joanne tells her mother about Lauren's dire predictions, leading to a confrontation between Lauren's father and the Garfields. This breach of trust causes Lauren to lose confidence in her.
- Chapter 11: The Garfields apply to enter Olivar, a privatized city run by KSF company. Joanne's family is accepted.
- Chapter 12: Joanne and Lauren discuss the move. Joanne expresses fear but insists she has no choice. She acknowledges her love for Harry Balter, who refuses to go with her.
In this way, Joanne is a catalyst for Lauren's growing isolation within the community and a mirror for the community's broader inability to face the oncoming disaster. She also provides a concrete example of the "Olivar option" that tempts many families.
Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions
Joanne's actions reveal a character driven by self-preservation and a desire for ordinariness. She wants a future that looks like her parents' present—a stable home, a garden, a marriage. When Lauren warns that such stability is impossible, Joanne's initial response is to retreat: she tells her mother (Chapter 6), hoping that parental authority will make the danger disappear. This reveals her faith in hierarchy and adult protection.
Her skepticism is not mere foolishness; it reflects a rational preference for known risks over unknown ones. She says to Lauren, "I have to go. What else is there for me—for anyone? It's all going to hell here. You know it is" (Chapter 12). She recognizes the community's decline but fears the open road more than corporate servitude. This makes her pragmatic but also conservative—she cannot envision a different path.
Joanne also displays loyalty (she loves Harry but cannot marry him without economic prospects) and fear of change. When Lauren asks if she is scared of moving to an apartment, Joanne hugs herself and admits she is (Chapter 12). Yet she suppresses that fear in order to survive.
Chronological Arc
The evidence traces Joanne's chronological journey:
- March 2025 (Chapter 5): Joanne discusses Amy Dunn's murder with Lauren. She admits she thinks about the danger but is shocked when Lauren outlines a full collapse. Joanne takes a survival book but remains unconvinced.
- March 2025 (Chapter 6): Joanne tells her parents. Lauren’s father scolds Lauren for spreading panic. The friendship is damaged.
- September–October 2026 (Chapter 11): The Garfields apply to Olivar. Lauren learns from Marcus that Joanne is leaving.
- November 2026 (Chapter 12): The Garfields are accepted. Joanne and Lauren have a tense final conversation. Joanne reveals Harry will not go with her. Lauren lies about her own departure plans.
- After this, Joanne disappears from the narrative. She is mentioned indirectly when Lauren thinks about the Garfields having left before the final attack (Chapter 14).
Thus Joanne's arc is one of departure from the community and severed connection to Lauren's emerging Earthseed group. She chooses security over solidarity, and the novel never reports her fate—a purposeful silence that suggests the uncertainty of the Olivar promise.
Relationships
With Lauren Olamina
The friendship is tested throughout. Initially, Joanne is one of the few people Lauren trusts enough to warn. After Joanne breaks that confidence (Chapter 6), Lauren feels betrayed: "She told. She told her mother who told her father who told my father … Damn her." Lauren later lies about her own plans, indicating permanent loss of trust. In Chapter 12, they still speak, but the warmth is gone; Lauren notes, "We've had our differences, but we grew up together." The relationship illustrates how survival pressures destroy intimacy.
With Harry Balter
Joanne is romantically involved with her first cousin Harry, who lives in the same neighborhood. According to Chapter 12, they have been together for years and everyone expects them to marry. Harry refuses to go to Olivar, believing it's a company town trap. Joanne must choose between love and security; she chooses security. This decision marks her as someone who prioritizes immediate safety over long-term community ties.
With Family
Joanne is close to her parents, Phillida and Mr. Garfield, enough that she reports Lauren's concerns to them. This is both a sign of filial obedience and a strategic decision—she hopes adults will solve the problem. Her parents are protective but also contribute to the culture of denial.
Key Decisions and Consequences
| Decision | Consequence |
|---|---|
| Telling her parents about Lauren's survival warnings (Chapter 6) | Destroyed Lauren's trust; caused a community rift; reinforced denial rather than preparation. |
| Applying to Olivar (Chapter 11) | Gained immediate security but severed ties with Harry and the neighborhood; entered into potential debt-slavery, per Lauren's father's warning. |
| Not persuading Harry to come (Chapter 12) | Ended the relationship; likely deepened Harry's isolation and eventual death (he later escapes with Lauren after the neighborhood is destroyed). |
These decisions show a pattern of deferring to authority and choosing the known evil over the unknown. Joanne lacks Lauren's creative vision—she cannot imagine building a new society from nothing.
Theme and Symbol Connections
Denial versus Facing Reality
Joanne embodies denial. Although she acknowledges the neighborhood's decline, she actively resists Lauren's insistence that the walls will fall. In Chapter 5, she says, "You can't read the future." Her method of coping is to avoid discussing the worst possibilities. This contrasts sharply with Lauren's Earthseed philosophy, which demands accepting that "God is Change."
Community and Interdependence
Joanne's departure weakens the community. Without her and other families, the walled neighborhood becomes less viable. Her choice to leave underscores the theme that communities disintegrate when members prioritize individual safety over collective resilience.
Survival and Adaptation
Joanne adapts, but only by moving from one walled compound to another. Her adaptation is passive: she accepts the terms set by KSF. Lauren's adaptation is active and creative. The juxtaposition questions what true survival means—mere continuation of life, or preservation of freedom and purpose.
God is Change
Joanne is a character who tries to resist change. She wants things to stay the same. Earthseed's central teaching—that God is Change and humanity must shape it—is anathema to her. Lauren writes, "God is Change" after the Garfields leave (Chapter 12), implicitly acknowledging that Joanne's worldview cannot accommodate this truth.
Questions and Answers
1. Why does Joanne tell her parents about Lauren's warnings?
Joanne tells her mother because she is frightened by the implications—that the walled community will be destroyed. By reporting Lauren, she hopes to shift the emotional burden to adults and restore the illusion of safety. This is a form of denial: if an authority figure dismisses the warning, the danger becomes less real. (Chapter 6 evidence)
2. How does Joanne's move to Olivar affect her relationship with Harry?
Harry refuses to go to Olivar, believing it is a modern company town and a trap. Joanne chooses to move without him, effectively ending their romantic relationship. She acknowledges that she loves him but feels she has no other viable option. (Chapter 12 evidence)
3. What does Joanne's reaction to Lauren's survival preparation reveal about her character?
Joanne's skepticism and eventual betrayal reveal her discomfort with proactive change. She prefers to rely on existing structures—her family, the community walls, parental authority—rather than acquiring skills for a nomadic life. This marks her as conservative and risk-averse, valuing immediate emotional stability over long-term adaptability.
4. In what ways does Joanne represent the theme of denial?
Joanne articulates the belief that "things are bad" but refuses to extrapolate to total collapse. She dismisses Lauren's predictions as "too negative" and later characterizes them as Lauren "always having a disaster up her sleeve." Denial is her coping mechanism, and her retreat to Olivar is a physical manifestation of it.
5. How does Joanne's family's decision contrast with the Olamina family's?
Lauren's father refuses to apply to Olivar, calling it "debt slavery" and warning that freedom cannot be sold. The Olaminas choose to stay and prepare, even though their preparations ultimately fail. Joanne's family chooses immediate safety, while the Olaminas choose to preserve autonomy. Both strategies have tragic consequences, but only the Olaminas' approach allows for the eventual creation of Acorn.