Octavia E. Butler - Earthseed, Book 1 -… [820]

Yeah, I hope so. I did it for him. He built this bunch of houses into a community. And now, he’s probably dead. I wouldn’t let them bury him, but I know. I’m no good at denial and self-deception. That was Dad’s funeral that I was preaching—his and the community’s. Because as much as I want all that I said to be true, it isn’t. We’ll be moved, all right. It’s just a matter of when, by whom, and in how many pieces. — , Octavia E. Butler - Earthseed, Book 1 -…, 820

Note

The rhetoric of the sermon is dismantled by the preacher herself one paragraph after delivering it — ‘We shall not be moved’ is answered with ‘We’ll be moved, all right,’ and the grim list of variables (‘when, by whom, and in how many pieces’) converts a hymn into a threat. The reader gets the sermon and its refutation from the same mouth, and both are sincere.