barbara kingsolver book about butterflies

She uses the monarch butterflies-which, in the real world, still follow their age-old migratory patterns and winter in their Mexican mountains-as an example of what is likely to be in store: environmental disasters and extinction of species. Part of Kingsolver’s purpose seems to be to shock us into recognizing how dire our environmental plight has become. Soon Dellarobia finds herself navigating between multiple disparate worlds: the world of the scientists, whose respect she must win as she begins to work with them on the butterfly project the world of her neighbors, hard-working farmers struggling to survive while the larger world dismisses them as ignorant rednecks the world of her own domestic life as an unhappily married mother trapped in the tedium of caring for young children in a household with scant resources and the world of a media far more concerned with pleasing its audience than with telling the truth. The monarch phenomenon inevitably brings two groups of people to Dellarobia’s house and its surrounding mountains-serious scientists and sensation-seeking media representatives. But very quickly both pastor and church move to the periphery of the story. Kingsolver’s depiction of that pastor, Bobby Ogle, is one of the most sympathetic clergy portraits in recent literature. At this point it seems that the novel might be about the way a seeming miracle affects the faith and dynamics of a Southern congregation led by an able and compassionate pastor. As the story of her discovery spreads, she becomes a celebrity in her church-the woman Spirit-led to witness a marvelous revelation. Before Dellarobia’s father-in-law can sell the butterfly-covered evergreen trees to loggers, she brings the family up to see what they would be destroying. Alternative ornaments could be purchased from the local dollar store, but Dellarobia is disgusted by their cheap, flimsy quality as well as being daunted by the cost of buying enough to cover the tree.Read our latest issue or browse back issues.īarbara Kingsolver’s novel is about the way Dellarobia’s life and the fate of the butterflies intertwine. Dellarobia wants to borrow some from Hester for her and Cub's Christmas tree, but Cub is too intimidated by his mother to ask. Christmas Tree OrnamentsĬhristmas Tree Ornaments are a bone of contention between Dellarobia and Hester. Sheep are the main livestock raised on the Turnbow farm, shorn for wool sales or slaughtered for meat.

Their mis-migration speaks ominously about the rapidity with which climate change is occurring, and means the monarchs could end up extinct.

Monarch Butterflies are central to the novel, since millions have incorrectly migrated to a rural Tennessee mountain farm for the winter rather than to their usual location in Mexico.

Barbara kingsolver book about butterflies