The Media and Class in Relation to Climate Change in Flight Behavior

In Flight Behavior, Kingsolver uses the media and class to define and structure ideas of climate change throughout the novel. She tells the story of Dellarobia and how her sighting of butterflies led to her journey of climate change activism. In the novel , she encounters many different people with different approaches and ideas about what climate change is or isn't. This divide in the ideas about climate change is often implemented by using characters of different class backgrounds and how their use and intake of media alters their own ideas.

 The media plays a substantial role in how Dellarobia and the people of Feathertown view climate change. Dellarobia is able to see the butterflies in her town, giving her first-hand understanding of the effects of climate change and initially solidifying that it is real. This discovery brings in tourists and reporters who elevate the media coverage of climate change. In chapter two Kingsolver writes, “The last generation's worst fears become the next one's B-grade entertainment.” The people around Dellarobia don't see climate change as something to fear but more of something to revel at. This change of the situation is the cause of the media surrounding the event. People believe that because it is not directly affecting them, they shouldn’t care about it, and see the butterflies as an attraction. As soon as they were seen, they were made into a spectacle for the internet, completely closing off the butterflies' reason for being there. Another major character, Ovid Byron, uses the media to educate and spread awareness of climate change. Ovid says, “the damn globe is catching fire, and the islands are drowning. The evidence is staring them in the face.” His statement is addressing the media's fascination with the event and implying that it is undermining climate change and skewing peoples thoughts on what is really happening. When seeing it through a screen people gain awareness of the situation but put it back into their pocket without a second thought. Seeing the two different sides of the situation being broadcasted differently through the media and how that media is received by society.

The use of social class in the novel helps highlight how things like the upbringing of someone or financial situation can create different ideas about climate change. The novel says, “When you're fighting for survival, it doesn't matter if it's a flood or a fire or a fungus. The sudden, overpowering change feels the same.” When Dellarobia’s husband, Cub,  is dealing with issues financially with their farm his response of disbelief of climate change is realistic. When people are working-class or low income it is reasonable for them to put current needs over the long term needs of the Earth. A change in lifestyle to benefit the Earth can lead to worse situations for families like Dellarobia or the people of Feathertown. People of lower class are often more affected by the idea of climate change, but cant do anything to make change for it. The people who have resources to change are often of higher social class but don't see climate change as a big or real issue because they are not directly seeing its effects on them. The book reflects Dellarobia’s thoughts, “In her experience people had worries or they had tons of money, not both.” There is a clear divide in socioeconomic standing when it comes to climate change and that is reflected in the novel through the experiences of Dellarobias family in contrast to Ovid Byron and the other reporters. They have the luxury of devoting their time and research to the issue.

The addition of varying classes and media intake in the novel helped bring out the divide in the argument of climate change. Kingsolver flawlessly uses the relationship between characters and introduction of media in Feathertown to reinforce these ideas. In doing this she delves into the real issue of the environmental crisis and how it is responded to by people of different identities and lifestyles.