The Character of Dellarobia in Flight Behavior: Gender Norms and Resisting Them Essay

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Introduction

Some things that are evidence of destroying the world have fantastic beauty. An example is hordes of giant monarch butterflies, predicting the inevitability of climatic changes that threaten all living creatures. The novel Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver is the exciting story of a young woman Dellarobia, closely connected with the unexpected appearance of a butterflies’ colony in her town. The heroine sometimes feels as lost in her life as these tiny insects, by chance, flew into these lands. In Flight Behavior, society wants the main character, Dellarobia Turnbow, to meet gender norms customary in their culture, to be a good mother and wife, but her inner spirit strives for freedom and new horizons.

Dellarobia at the Novel’s Beginning: Fear of not Meeting Public Opinion

In the first pages of Flight Behavior, readers see a woman tired of the life the local community attaches her to lead. The 28-year-old Dellarobia grew up in Tennessee, early married to a farmer, and became pregnant, losing the opportunity to get an education and work elsewhere. As a mother of two kids to date, the novel’s heroine spends her days almost monotonously and sometimes regrets the time when she could work as a waitress (Kingsolver 13). Dellarobia realizes that she is no longer in love with her weak-willed husband, Cub, who always “moves in slow motion” and “lets his mother boss him around” (Kingsolver 11-12). Therefore, the woman decides to start an intimate relationship with Jimmy, whom she calls “a telephone man” (Kingsolver 13). Thus, the reader can see the heroine’s dissatisfaction of current life.

Simultaneously, Dellarobia has no idea how she will live if someone knows about her adultery with Jimmy. Moreover, the heroine has not worked anywhere for many years, and it is unlikely that she will be hired here if Cub leaves her. Therefore, the woman is at a crossroads without knowing how she should act. Dellarobia is afraid of social opinion and being “that one” everyone will point at because of her unfaithfulness (Kingsolver 4). Moreover, the woman fears that “the shame and loss would infect her children, too” (Kingsolver 4). Wishing to shed the fetters limited her freedom; at the beginning of the novel, Dellarobia fears not meeting the gender norms of the culture.

Working in the Laboratory as a Challenge to Social Gender Norms

The rural heroes in the pages of Flight Behavior have a specific norm regarding how a woman should live, and Dellarobia hardly puts up with it. In this provincial town, education and carrier are not considered essential to women’s lives. The college seems to her husband and her in-laws the “enemy territory, the presence of which made them prickly as if the whole town were given over to the mischief of privileged” (Kingsolver 339). Dellarobia cannot work as a tour guide even when a lot of tourists visit their city. The community “would not let her show up wearing a toddler as a pendant and a kindergartner for a shin guard” (Kingsolver 110). Society wants Dellarobia to raise children and busy herself with household chores. According to the belief of the residents, she should not also be interested in science and research. Dellarobia seems to defy social norms by taking part in studying the appearance of butterflies with professor Ovid Byron in the lab made “in the sheep barn” (Kingsolver 258). In the opinion of rural people, her behavior is strange and incomprehensible.

The local community does not appreciate the wish of a young woman to work and have financial stability. Dellarobia is only a “piece of work” for her mother-in-law, who thinks that Dellarobia pays too little attention to the family and that she and Cub “were no match” (Kingsolver 13, 381). Simultaneously, Byron does not consider that Dellarobia devotes herself to affairs, which are not appropriate for women. Thus, it is difficult for Dellarobia to meet the expectations of the community. Unable to give up her inner desire to study, the novel’s heroine puts her aspirations above other people’s opinions.

The Character’s Connection with the Novel’s Themes and Dellarobia’s Transformation

Flight Behavior is a novel attributed to climate fiction (cli-fi); therefore, the main themes are climate change and environmentalism. Seeing monarch butterflies for the first time, Dellarobia takes them as a sign of God, who is against her desire to commit adultery. Other rural people also do not associate the appearance of insects with climate changes. It indicates that many people are not aware of natural problems. It would be wrong to blame them because it is pretty difficult to notice something that is not striking: the naked eye cannot see the melting of glaciers or the ozone holes. Just starting to communicate with Byron, Dellarobia learns about the problems of the environment and wants to protect it. Dellarobia feels “abashed for the huge things she did not know” (Kingsolver 141). Realizing that God’s creatures are going to “meet their End of Days” due to climate change, the woman feels that “the forest of flame has lifted her despair” (Kingsolver 270-272). Dellarobia acutely feels the need to help nature, not even fully understanding how to do it.

The end of the novel reveals that Dellarobia has changed. She divorces her husband and leaves to study in college, taking children with her. It indicates that the girl has conquered her fear of public opinion. It was not Dellarobia who did not meet the norms of the local community; the community just had outdated standards. Like butterflies revive after the snowfall, the heroine also decides to start all over again because everything cannot stay how it is, no matter how grown-ups want it (Kingsolver 458). Therefore, the main character of Flight Behavior has undergone a significant transformation from a confused girl to a woman who knows how she can be happy.

Conclusion

Dellarobia Turnbow is the main character of the novel Flight Behavior, who has overcome her fear of someone’s judgment. The heroine comes a long way; as a result, she allows herself to start a new life where there will be no need to meet outdated social standards. This woman turns out to be strong enough to resist social norms because they are not appropriate to her inner convictions and desires. She leaves her husband, who she does not love, and chooses to go to college without fear of being misunderstood or blamed. Dellarobia has understood that the fusty norms of this community do not allow her to become happy and make this world better. Therefore, she spreads her wings like a butterfly and goes toward a new life, where she will be able to make her dreams come true.

Work Cited

Kingsolver, Barbara. Flight Behavior. HarperCollins, 2013.

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IvyPanda. (2022, November 13). The Character of Dellarobia in Flight Behavior: Gender Norms and Resisting Them. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-character-of-dellarobia-in-flight-behavior-gender-norms-and-resisting-them/

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"The Character of Dellarobia in Flight Behavior: Gender Norms and Resisting Them." IvyPanda, 13 Nov. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/the-character-of-dellarobia-in-flight-behavior-gender-norms-and-resisting-them/.

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IvyPanda. 2022. "The Character of Dellarobia in Flight Behavior: Gender Norms and Resisting Them." November 13, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-character-of-dellarobia-in-flight-behavior-gender-norms-and-resisting-them/.

1. IvyPanda. "The Character of Dellarobia in Flight Behavior: Gender Norms and Resisting Them." November 13, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-character-of-dellarobia-in-flight-behavior-gender-norms-and-resisting-them/.


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