In the novel Flight Behavior, written by Barbara Kingsolver, the trajectory of the protagonist, Dellarobia’s life is forever changed by her discovery of a swarm of monarch butterflies, migrated to the forest by her suburban home in Tennessee. This novel begins with the third-person narrative of Dellarobia as she begins her journey to the man she plans on having an affair with, despite her husband Cub. We learn more about Dellarobia as a character as she takes us through her narrative on this long hike through the forest. Conflicted by the obvious repercussions that having an affair would bring upon her, Dellarobia knows that she shouldn’t be doing this, yet she can’t help it. Having been married young with two children, she expresses her need for rebellion and even a moment of pleasure in her unsatisfactory life. As she almost reaches the man with which she would be committing adultery, she stumbles upon something great.
A small shift between cloud and sun altered the daylight, and the whole landscape intensified, brightening before her eyes. The forest blazed with its own internal flame. ‘Jesus,’ she said, not calling for help, she and Jesus weren’t that close, but putting her voice in the world because nothing else present made sense. The sun slipped out by another degree, passing its warmth across the land, and the mountain seemed to explode with light. Brightness of a new intensity moved up the valley in a rippling wave, like the disturbed surface of a lake. Every bough glowed with an orange glaze. ‘Jesus God,’ she said again. No words came to her that seemed sane. Trees turned to fire, a burning bush. Moses came to mind, and Ezekiel, words from scripture that occupied a certain space in her brain but no longer carried Honest Weight, if they ever had. Burning coals of fire went up and down among the living creatures.
The flame now appeared to lift from individual treetops in showers of orange sparks, exploding the way a pine log does in a campfire when it’s poked. The sparks spiraled upward in swirls like funnel clouds. Twisters of brightness against gray sky. In broad daylight with no comprehension, she watched. From the tops of the funnels the sparks lifted high and sailed out undirected above the dark forest.
Immediately with this passage, the entire tone of Dellarobia’s environment is changed. Using an immense amount of visual imagery, Kingsolver describes this new landscape using words with a happier connotation, such as brightening, brightness, explode, light, and sparks. She utilizes the tool of repetition with these in order to maintain this new tone. Brightening before her eyes, explode with light, exploding the way a pine log does, showers of orange sparks, sparks spiraled upward, twisters of brightness, the sparks lifted high. There are many other descriptive words synonymous with explode and brightness that could’ve been used within this passage, yet I believe Kingsolver intentionally repeated said words so much in order to communicate the awe and overwhelm that Dellarobia was feeling at this extreme view. This is further proven by Dellarobia’s repetition of Jesus. Although not the most religious woman as she states she and Jesus weren’t that close, Jesus seems to be the only fitting term to describe her complete and utter disbelief.
In addition, Kingsolver further uses the tool of descriptive imagery, in particular visual, with the use of similes and juxtaposition. Describing the rippling nature of the brightness, Kingsolver writes like the disturbed surface of a lake. Describing the explosion of the sparks, Kingsolver compares it to the way a pine log does in a campfire when it’s poked, as well as to funnel clouds. And when further describing the sparks, she writes, Twisters of brightness against gray sky. The juxtaposition between the brightness of the sparks and the grayness of the sky gives remembrance to the dark forest that Dellarobia was surrounded by not a moment ago.
Throughout this novel, there is a lot of mention of religion. Dellarobia and her husband’s family are active members of their local church, to which she attends but is not highly devoted to. During a later chapter of this novel, Dellarobia finds that these butterflies bring her closer to her faith, and I believe this is slightly alluded to with the mention of religion in this passage. The only word Dellarobia finds to voice her awe is Jesus. Repeating it twice throughout this passage, Kingsolver then describes the scene as a religious experience. Trees turned to fire, a burning bush. Moses came to mind, and Ezekiel, words from scripture that occupied a certain space in her brain but no longer carried Honest Weight, if they ever had. Quoting the bible, she writes Burning coals of fire went up and down among the living creatures. I believe that all of this mention of religion, even though not written in an extremely significant way to Dellarobia, gives foreshadowing to the significance that these butterflies will have in her life, as well as the parallels between the two. Both seemingly looming powers, bigger than herself, with a cause to have faith in.
The sudden magical quality of this passage as compared to the paragraphs before it, seems to signify the upcoming change in Dellarobia’s life. Although this novel is not entirely consistent with the template of “The Hero’s Journey,” the passage in which Dellarobia discovers these butterflies seems to parallel the “Call to Adventure” step of the journey – the step in which the protagonist is usually pushed out of their comfort zone. The imagery with which this scene is described makes it clear that this was an experience that changed Dellarobia, similar to the trope of the “Call to Adventure.”
The abundance of positive language used throughout this passage, and the literary devices used to communicate this language insinuate that this event is a positive experience. At first, Dellarobia isn’t sure what to think as she believes that she’s come across a great wildfire. However, I believe at this point, the reader can infer that this event she is witnessing will be impacting Dellarobia’s life in a large way.
It’s been clear from the start of the novel that Dellarobia was in desperate need of a change in her day-to-day life. She needed a little rebellion – something to get her heart racing, distracting her from the pit of discontentment that is her life. Once this passage is written, I believe it becomes clear that an affair will no longer be that escape for her. The start of the journey of self-realization and knowledge that Dellarobia continues to embark on throughout this novel, this beautiful passage entices the reader and implies the start of a new beginning. Through the intended destruction of her life, Dellarobia unintentionally discovers the event that will drive her towards her new, passionate life path.