52 pages 1 hour read

Barbara Kingsolver

Flight Behavior

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012

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Themes

Nature, Life, and Rebirth

The butterflies provide an overarching theme about the connections between nature, life, and rebirth. While Dellarobia learns about the butterflies’ life cycles, she also has the opportunity to consider her own and those of her children. Through her experiences via observation and her work in the science lab, Dellarobia’s understanding of the rules of nature and how human behavior was forcing nature to adapt in ways that could eliminate whole species is amplified. With Ovid and his assistants, Dellarobia fights every day to allow life to continue for these insects. These themes mirror Dellarobia’s life itself, as she learns that she cannot change her nature, that life takes on many forms, and that a rebirth of purpose and self is possible despite the oppressive environment surrounding her.

Marriage

Marriage is an important motif throughout the novel. The dysfunction that can occur when two mismatched people are joined in matrimony is evident in both the marriages of the older and younger Turnbows. Dellarobia has always felt trapped by her marriage, hatched when she was seventeen and became pregnant by Cub. The loss of that child to miscarriage should have brought an end to a marriage between two different individuals with little in common.