
The Criterion: An International Journal in English
Comparative Literature
Survival and Power in Climate Fiction: A Comparative Study of The Snowpiercer and Parable of the Sower
Abstract
Survival and Power in Climate Fiction: A Comparative study of The Snowpiercer and Parable of the Sower offers an examination of survival, hierarchy, and power in climate fiction. Both texts construct dystopian worlds in which environmental collapse amplifies existing social inequities and exposes the structural violence embedded in modern civilisation. Drawing on the theoretical insights of Amitav Ghosh, Rob Nixon, Dipesh Chakrabarty, and Michel Foucault, the paper argues that cli-fi operates not only as speculative storytelling but as a critical lens through which to interrogate the political and ethical implications of the Anthropocene. Lob tells the story of the train that houses the last of civilisation, whose rigid class divisions determine access to heat, food, and survival. Butler’s narrative renders collapse as a slow violence embedded in capitalism, resource scarcity, and moral decay. Central to Butler’s work is Earthseed—a philosophy of adaptive survival articulated by protagonist Lauren Olamina—which offers an ethical counterpoint to the authoritarian faith of The Snowpiercer’s Brotherhood of the Engine. Earthseed philosophy reimagines survival as adaptive, communal, and ethically grounded. By placing these texts in dialogue, the paper demonstrates how narratives of collapse illuminate the cultural, political, and ethical dimensions of climate change, urging a reconsideration of survival as not only a material struggle but a profoundly philosophical one.
Keywords
climate fiction, environmental collapse, speculative fiction, dystopian literature, climate crisis, social hierarchy
How to Cite
Shania Murray, Dr. Sujitha. S. “Survival and Power in Climate Fiction: A Comparative Study of The Snowpiercer and Parable of the Sower.” The Criterion: An International Journal in English, vol. 17, no. 1, Feb. 2026, pp. 631-644. ISSN: 0976-8165.
