Flight Behavior (2012) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Characters/People edit see section history

• Bobby Ogle: conflicted preacher who is part of the drama at the very end
• Dellarobia Catie Causey Turnbow: Cub's wife
• global warming: Kingsolver tackles climate change through the eyes of an untapped wanna be questioning scientist and the butterflies wintering on the family farm.
• Cub Turnbow: Dellarobia's husband
• Preston Turnbow: Son of Dellarobia and cub
• Cordelia (Cordie) Turnbow: Daughter of Dellarobia and cub
• Hester Turnbow: Cub's mother, Dellarobia's mother in law
• Burley Turnbow (Bear): Cub's father, Dellarobia's father in law
• Roy: Dellarobia and Cub Turnbow's dog
• Cordelia Turnbow: one of the chillens
• Jimmy: Young man Dellarobia was infatuated with
• Dovey: Dellarobia's best friend
• Valia Estep: Neighbor of Dellarobia; helped with the sorting of the fleece at shearing time
• Crystal Estep: Daughter of Valia; former alcholic saved by AA; two children never married; her children are Mical and Jazon
• Pete: Grad student studying butterfly migration
• Peanut Norwood: Neighbor; helped with shearing
• Lupe: Immigrant from the mountains of Mexico, where the Monarchs used to roost before the mudslide. Lupe takes a job as caretaker for Cordelia and Preston when Dellarobbia works for Dr. Byron.
• Luther Holly: The shearer
• Pastor Bobby Ogle: pastor at the church where Turnbows attended
• Ovid Byron: the only semi-interesting character in the story
• Nate Weaver: Choir director at the church
• Bear: Burley Turnbow's nickname
• Josephina Delegado: A 5 year old who attended the same school as Preston
• Renaldo Delegado: Josephina's father; they came to see the butterflies that had once had come to their small village but disappeared leaving only destruction
• Lupe Delgado: Josephina's mother; they came to see the butterflies that had once had come to their small village but disappeared leaving only destruction
• Dellarosa: Starts conflicted and moves toward clarity--great arc.
• Dr. Ovid Byron: Came from New Mexico to see the butterflies; tall, 40ish and African American; entomologist
• Pete, Mako and Bonnie: Grad students brought by Ovid to study the migration of the butterflies
• Greg: Cub's supervisor at the gravel company
• Dellarobia Turnbow: Whipsmart and strong, a devoted mother who sees her own potential and in the end, stretches out her arm to reach it.
• Reynaldo Delgado: Add a description of this character.
• Johnny Midgeon
• Miss Rose: Preston's teacher
• Moses
• Juliet
• Bob Marley
• Damon
• Blanchie Bise
• Mical
• Everett
• Lincoln P. Brower
• Jane Goodall
• Comorah
• Reggie
• Jill
• Myrtle
• Herbert Hoover
• Mrs. Lake
• Dimmit Slaughter: Dellarobia's former classmate, motorcyclist
• Brenda
• Tina Ultner: Television reporter
• Dellarobia
• Leighton Akins: Man in khaki passing out pledge pamphlets with suggestions for reducing global warming
• Ron Rains
• Bonnie: Grad student
• Billy Ray Hatch
• Mr. Monarch
• Jazon
• Felix
• Roger
• Santa Claus
• Charlie: Hester and bear's dog, sheep-herder
• Nelda
• Thomas
• Josefina
• Noah
• Mako
• Tammy Worsham
• Carlos
• Jack Stell
• Vern Zakas

Quotes edit see section history

• “She frowned at the November sky. It was the same dull, stippled ceiling that had been up there last week, last month, forever. All summer. Whoever was in charge of weather had put a recall on blue and nailed up this mess of dirty white sky like a lousy drywall job.”

  Dellarobia

• “Having children was not like people said. Forget training them in your footsteps; the minute they put down the teething ring and found the Internet, you were useless as a source of anything but shoes and a winter coat. But Preston still asked her questions. That touched her, that they were a team.”

  Dellarobia

• “Will you explain to me why people encourage delusional behavior in children, and medicate it in adults?”

  Dovey to Dellarobia, referring to believing in Santa Claus

• “She wondered if men could even see the messes they made, or if they had differently structured eyes, as Ovid had told her cats and dogs and insects did.”

  Dellarobia

• “A trend is intangible but real. A photo cannot prove a child is growing, but several of them show change over time. Align them, and you can reliably predict what is coming. You never see it all at once. An attention span is required.”

  Dr. Ovid Byron

• “Honk if you love Jesus, text while driving if you want to meet up.”

  Dellarobia to Dovey

• “As long as we won't commit to knowing everything, the presumption is we know nothing.”

  Dr. Ovid Byron

First Sentence edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Self actualization: Describe this theme.
• Family
• Stewardship of creation

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Barbara Kingsolver (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Women's Prize for Fiction (Finalist, 2013, Shortlist)

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction