The Word and the Deed: A Study of The Sower and the Seed, The Imperial Message and the Purpose and Message of the Parable

The parable, according to M.H. Abrams' A Glossary of Literary Terms, "is a very short narrative about human beings presented so as to stress the tacit analogy, or parallel, with a general thesis or lesson that the narrator is trying to bring home to his audience" (8). Yet most creative literature-fiction, poetry, and drama-employ the metaphorical or the allegorical, albeit in longer forms, to deliver a message or narrative to its audience that stresses on moral or ethical dilemmas as a thesis or lesson about the human experience. 

The parable, though, is differentiated by its dependence on an audience to puzzle through its metaphorical meaning. Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies can be enjoyed simply on their own terms without the audience having to critically analyze them. A parable, on the other hand, can only derive true significance from an understanding of its implied message. As Jesus says in the parable "The Sower and the Seed": "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Scholes). The listener, the recipient of the message, is more than a passive follower of the tale, but an active character within the parable. 

The interactivity between the messenger, the message, and the recipient of that message is a theme that runs parallel in two examples-the aforementioned "Sower and the Seed" and Franz Kafka's "The Imperial Message." Both examples provide contrasting views on the purpose of the parable, but are comparable in terms of structure and dramatic tension.

In "The Sower and the Seed" and "The Imperial Message," Jesus and Kafka both employ the parable to deal with spirituality and matters of faith. In "The Sower and the Seed," Jesus and his disciples address the masses with a parable:
"A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold (ibid.)."