Why did Barbara Kingsolver choose monarch butterflies to symbolize the environmental changes in Flight Behavior, and how does their shifting migration pattern reflect the broader themes of climate change and human impact in the novel?

    In Flight Behavior, Kingsolver uses the monarch butterflies' shifting migration to explore how climate change quietly but drastically affects the environment—and how people often struggle to connect those changes to their everyday lives. At first, Dellarobia sees the butterflies as a rare "bonus" for her town, a way to make a little money in a place that doesn’t see much good fortune. As she says, “Is that so bad? They’re beautiful. We don’t get a lot of bonuses around here, let me tell you” (p. 147). For Dellarobia, the butterflies represent something unexpected and positive—an opportunity to escape her financial worries. But when Ovid explains that the butterflies' migration has been disturbed by climate change, Dellarobia realizes that the butterflies are not just a happy surprise but a sign that something much bigger is wrong with the world. Their disruption is a clear signal that the environment is changing in ways that are out of our control. This moment highlights how, just like Dellarobia, many people don’t see the long-term consequences of climate change until it hits them in unexpected ways. The butterflies are beautiful, but they’re also a warning—something that at first seems good may actually be pointing to a deeper problem.

    Flight Behavior also dives into the tough reality of balancing immediate human needs with the long-term health of the environment. Dellarobia and her family are stuck financially, and the temptation to log the trees for a quick paycheck is hard to ignore. The “butterfly money” from tourists provides a brief escape from their struggles, but Dellarobia also understands that this relief is temporary. The pressure to solve immediate problems often leads people to make choices that harm the environment—choices that may seem necessary at the time but only make things worse in the long run. For Dellarobia’s husband, Cub, the promise of quick money from logging is more important than any concerns about the ecosystem. This tension reflects a larger, real-world issue: people in struggling communities often don’t have the luxury of thinking about the long-term environmental impact when their survival is on the line. Kingsolver shows how tough it is to make choices that benefit the planet when you’re barely scraping by. At the same time, she hints that there are alternative ways to balance these needs—like the possibility of green jobs in renewable energy—that might offer a way out of the destructive cycles many communities face. For real change to happen, there needs to be a shift in how people think about the environment—not just as something we care about, but as something that affects everyone’s future.