Parable of the Sower: Chapter 20 Summary & Analysis

The group decides to skip their usual rest day. Lauren listens to the radio, which advises people to stay away from the Bay Area. The whole region was badly damaged by the earthquake, and is now being further destroyed by scavengers, police, and pyro addicts. Lauren adds that “the rich are flying out in helicopters.”

The group get out their maps and plan a new route. Lauren warns some women traveling alone with children to avoid the Bay Area, but they simply back away from her, looking frightened. The group are all exhausted, but they know that they cannot take a rest day yet. Early the next morning, Lauren awakes to the sound of gunfire. She hisses at the people sleeping next to her to be still and wait for it to pass. In the distance, they can see two groups of people shooting at one another and a large structure on fire, which Lauren realizes must be a truck. She concludes that they are witnessing a hijacking that went wrong.

Lauren reaches for Bankole, but he is not there. She can’t see him, but lies still while the shooting continues. Suddenly the truck explodes, which ends the gunfire and scatters the two groups of people. Lauren checks on everyone; they are all fine, but there is no sign of Bankole. Lauren sets out to look for him, and Harry joins her. They are frightened by sounds in the darkness, when suddenly Bankole emerges, leaving Lauren “almost limp with relief.” Bankole is carrying a child who, he explains, has just been orphaned. The child is a boy of about three; he cries loudly for his dead mother, which makes Lauren nervous. Natividad takes the boy and nurses him at one breast, with Dominic at the other.

Lauren begins her watch along with Allie, telling the rest of the group that she will wake them at dawn. Bankole joins Lauren and they kiss. Lauren would like to have sex with him, but knows she must focus on keeping watch. Bankole thanks her for going to look for him earlier. They agree to talk soon, and Bankole goes to sleep.

The little boy Bankole rescued is named Justin. Justin’s mother had been carrying his birth certificate, along with other important documents and several thousand dollars. Justin warms to Allie, who is at first hostile toward him. Jill explains that Allie previously had a baby called Adam, but that their father killed him when he was only a few months old. It was at this point that Allie and Jill decided to burn down their father’s house and run away. Jill confesses that she is haunted by the thought that her father didn’t die in the fire and will one day find her. Lauren observes that taking care of other people can be a cure for “nightmares.” Later that day, the group stops to purchase more supplies at a town called Hollister. Lauren is surprised to see that rather than wreaking havoc in the aftermath of the earthquake, the residents of Hollister are helping one another.