The Butterfly EffectThe Butterfly Effect

‘Flight Behaviour’s’ Connection to Mexico

Barbara Kinsolver’s Flight Behaviour is a story which tells us of the devastating effects of what could happen if man does not look at the issues of global consumerism and climate change. The disaster which is covered in the story is of Angangueo, which is in Mexico, and how deforestation has affected the town with landslides killing thirty people in the process.

‘The butterfly effect is a term used in chaos theory to describe how small changes to a seemingly unrelated thing or condition (also known as an initial condition) can affect large, complex systems. The term comes from the suggestion that the flapping of a butterfly's wings in South America could affect the weather in Texas, meaning that the tiniest influence on one part of a system can have a huge effect on another part. Taken more broadly, the butterfly effect is a way of describing how, unless all factors can be accounted for, large systems like the weather remain impossible to predict with total accuracy because there are too many unknown variables to track.’ Michael Anissimov

Barbara Kingsolver’s views of why she wrote ‘Flight Behaviour’During a speech that Barbara Kingsolver gave at the Book Expo America (BEA) in 2012, she spoke about her book ‘Flight Behaviour’ and what prompted her to write the book. She said how she always starts by asking questions. The questions she asked are “Why is it that a lot of people can look at the same set of facts, and come away with completely different conclusions? How do we do that? Why do we do that? Can we change?” These questions led her to write a book about climate change, and what it means to live in the world today, because of all the climate issues which are happening all over the world, and how we cannot now predict ‘the biological future.’ Due to her scientific back-ground, she has a unique perspective as a writer, when writing fiction on climate issues.

The butterfly effect analogy can be used for consumerism as well, in that if people stopped buying goods from the big chains, then the effect is that companies would collapse due to not being able to sustain its economy. This ripple effect would effect not just the local economy, in that there would be massive job losses, but it would affect the global economy as well, due to supply and demand of products, which could lead to other smaller companies eventually closing down.

Reviewer’s Opinions of ‘Flight

Behaviour’At the time ‘Flight Behaviour’ was released, there was a lot of scientific talk about the climate and how the changes were due to global warming, and this is attributed to how man is burning fossil fuels and devastating the land by deforestation and agricultural use. This thought of climate change is also reflected in what people thought of the book in reviews and blogs which were written in response after reading the book. The similarities between what happened in Angangueo and what could happen if Bear, Dellarobia’s father-in-law, decides to cut down the trees from their land are echoed throughout the book.

The connotations within the book and people’s views when the book was released, are that there are a lot of biblical inferences. From the great flood of Noah, to the burning bush of Moses, you get a feeling that climate changes within the book are connected to the Old Testament biblical references. The social aspect within the local community through the belief that this is a miracle, and in the scientific community that this is a disaster, are brought together in the book showing that different social communities pull together when a rare phenomenon or disaster occurs.

‘Every bough flowed with the orange blaze. “Jesus God,” she said again. No words came to her that seemed sane. Trees turned to fire, a burning bush.’ Barbara Kingsolver, ‘Flight Behaviour’, (London, 2012), p. 14.

‘By recruiting traditional images of Heaven, Hell and sacrificial lambs to convey the impact of climate change on a community, an ecosystem and a species, the repercussions of man-made disaster lie firmly where they belong.’ Liz Jenson, ‘Barbara Kingsolver’s climate change tale is urgent and masterly’, The Guardian, (London, 2012).

‘The precarious paradise of the mountainside, Dellarobia realises, will be lost to her son and daughter. But there’s no Tree of knowledge involved.’ Liz Jenson, ‘Barbara Kingsolver’s climate change tale is urgent and masterly’, The Guardian, (London, 2012).

Reader’s Also Voice Their ViewsFor anyone who has not read any of Barbara Kingsolver’s novels before, then the consensus is that this is a good book to read as it keeps you engaged in Dellarobia’s struggles as a farmer’s wife, and her eventual metamorphosis into a confident young woman ready to take control of her life, coupled with the events which transpire around her. This leads to her eventual decision to take those first few steps to a different life and shows her as a metaphorical butterfly.

For those readers who have read her work before, ‘Flight Behaviour’ was not highly rated and was even thought to be too descriptive and long winded, with a lecture type feel on the plight of the butterflies and people spending money in the second hand and dollar stores. The thought that the characters were overshadowed by what was happening with the butterflies was also the opinion of several reviewers, and that the characters were weak, especially Dellarobia, who came through as behaving childish at times.

However you perceive this book, it has the same structure as her previous books. Dealing with ecological, ethical and environmental issues, as well as delving into the relationship between science and religion, this book takes you into the rural lives of farmers in the Appalachian hills. The ignorance of the people who live around Dellarobia is due to a lack of education, from both school life and home.

Flight Behaviour is an impressive work. It is complex, elliptical and well-observed. Robin McKie, Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver – review, The Observer, (London, 2012).

'There are some beautifully written set pieces..... The last section has an almost epic quality as Dellarobia, ... alone on the mountain, moves outside herself and watches in a state of mind akin to ecstasy the apocalyptic fate of the family farm below. It reminds us that humanity seeks destruction as much as we seek stability and happiness.' --Irish Times (2012)

As a fan of Barbara Kingsolver I was eagerly awaiting her new novel. For me Flight Behaviour was quite pedestrian in comparison to her other works...... yes, it had her strong themes (ecology, environment, family and other relationships) but I'm afraid it lacked sparkle or intrigue. B. E. Clements, 2012.

ConclusionWhile ‘Flight Behaviour’ echoes previous books written by Barbara Kingsolver, people who have read her previous books are of the opinion that it is long winded, and lectures about climate change, rather than engaging the reader in the lives of the characters. They feel the characters are weak, and that Dellarobia is childish in some situations, although her life takes on a metamorphosis, like the life of the butterflies she is trying to understand.

The blending together of the scientific and religious aspects of the book, by using metaphors of biblical events, with what is happening in the world of Dellarobia, gives this book a different perspective, as well as Dellarobia’s life on the farm which is compared with the life of Ovid Byron’s, showing the lack of education in the rural community, as compared to the education which Ovid was able to access on his island home. The lack of education is echoed throughout the book, from school to home, and how rural farms only deal with the here and now, not what could happen in the future. This is echoed in Barbara Kingsolver’s speech at the Book Expo, and the fact that she has a scientific background as well as being a farmer, helped her formulate this book on what could happen if man does not change his ideas about how to treat the land around him.

Media portrayal in ‘Flight Behaviour’Some reviews picked up on the negative portrayal of the media, showing how plastic the world of fame is. The use of the internet, as well as mobile phones, are also integrated into the story, and how accessible data is to anyone who is inquisitive enough to look for the information they require. This accessibility can be both a negative and a positive, depending on the information you are trying to access, or convey.