Analysis Of Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior

Life on earth depends purely on climate, changes in it will directly affect the well-being and health of the population. Society fears climate change for its possible effects, such as rising sea levels and the melting of glaciers, which will ultimately result in health consequences towards mankind and environmental catastrophes. Humanity has to rely on their government to figure out ways of how this problem can be either reversed or slowed down as well as depend on their government to provide them with recent and valid information so they are aware of the problems they are facing. Climate change is a constant problem to all, even the characters in The Netherlands Live with Water written by Jim Shepard have to experience it firsthand. They are

Viramontes uses the repetition of a question to characterize Estrella’s struggle to acquire the knowledge she seeks at the beginning of the text. Immediately, Estrella wonders, “So what is this?” when she finds Perfecto’s tools in his tool chest and again when she fails to decipher the alphabet on the chalkboard. The repetition of this inquiry not only represents Estrella’s confusion with the function and purpose of tools and letters, but her curiosity and persistency to gain a deep understanding of the “confusing and foreign” knowledge of tools and letters that only she seems to lack. Furthermore, since she is specifically wondering about both tools and letters, the two are compared to each other and form a connection that is fleshed out later in the passage. Estrella constantly seeks after the “secret” behind the power of tools and words even if she is “silent with rage” at the fact that the adults in her life keep it hidden from her. Even though she is quite eager to learn, her teachers don’t jump at the opportunity to expand her knowledge or equip her with the essential tools to progress in life since they are more concerned with her migrant status and dirty appearance. The “secret” that words are the tools for success which remains hidden from Estrella, causes her to remain confused and hostile at the beginning of the text.

The lengthier sentences also help to explain the wonder and awe that Woolf expresses towards the moth. The wonder and awe that she expressed was due to the power and inevitability of the death. Woolf was in awe that death is inevitable and that she could not do anything about it.

Powerful diction aids in the portrayal of the deep-seated agony in Luis’ core due to his mother passing. One thought passing through Luis’ conscious was regarding a woman that came to the junkyard. He dreamily thought, “She was like a smooth wood carving. Her skin was mahogany, almost black, and her arms and legs were long and thin, but curved in places so that she did not look bony and hard -- more like a ballerina.” This reason for his affection towards her is possibly because of the lack of a woman in his life. The death of his mother led him to desperately desiring a feminine figure in his life. Seeing someone beautiful like her, he wanted her to be in his life, therefore he instinctively felt affection toward her. The diction assists in showing his feelings of affection. Without diction, the author would be unable to fully show his want for a woman in his life. An additional example that displays the gaping hole left in his life at his mother’s eternal departure was shown through a memory he has concerning her delectable food. Luis recalls, “yellow rice and red beans, the fried chicken, or the mouth-watering sweet plantains that his mother had cooked for them.” This shows the want that Luis had for his mother to be back in that he remembers vividly how great food was made by her. Even more, though, he remembers the underlying love in her making the food for him. He greatly desires to have that back.

“Flying,” by Alice Miller is a complex story about a woman named Allie, who reminisces about a time spent when her cousin Mack taught her to fly when she was just a young girl. On different occasions when Mack visited, he would show her how to do new things. As Allie grew up she found herself thinking of the secret that Mack shared with her and how he told her not to tell anyone or she may get hurt. Allie longed for the feeling of flying, if she could just reach out and talk to Mack but too much time had passed. She dreams of flying in her sleep, not for long periods of time, but just enough to embrace that feeling she had years ago. She wonders if many people have experienced flying the way that she has and if she could fly by herself without Mack. One day, Allie tries to fly on her own and succeeds, soaring higher than she did with Mack. Before Allie knew it, she was flying through the clouds and around town. Now that Allie has experienced the feeling of flying again, more than ever she wanted to share with her kids. One night after the children were asleep she wanted to share her secret with her boys but instead chose her daughter. Miller suggests that when a person is afraid of doing something on their own, sometimes it just takes a little bit of courage to step out and let go of the things that could be holding a person back.

“Flying,” by Alice Miller tells the story of woman reminiscing on the time that her cousin taught her how to fly when they were kids. It begins with the main character, Allie, flying in the air with her cousin, Mack, when she was six years old. Allie has many questions and Mack tells her that all boys can fly and instructs her to not tell anyone that she knows this secret. He also tells her not to ever try to fly without him and compares this secret to the myth about Prometheus giving the God’s fire to man and being punished for it. As the years went by, Allie wonders if she would ever fly again and even doubts if the memory was real. She becomes a wife and a mother to two sons and a daughter but still wonders if flying is possible. One night, she decides to test her memory and tries to fly out of her backyard. She slowly ascends just as she did when she was young but even higher. Over the next few days, her urge to fly again grows. One night, she sneaks into her children’s room and picks up her daughter to take her outside and show her how to fly. The story ends with Allie telling her daughter to promise not to tell the boys what she is about to experience and excitement building in Allie for her daughter. The central idea of this story is the pursuit of satisfaction never ends.

Beliefs and values are the characteristics in humans that help determine how one reacts to their surroundings. In the story, “Flight Patterns” by Sherman Alexie, William, being of Spokane descent and a constant target of discrimination, his beliefs heavily influence his behavior throughout the story. William’s value of family, heritage and his compassion can be seen as influencers in the story. As and the make to me by we are now saved in the touch I can wait.

In this book, Kolbert travels to many places to find out what is happening with global warming. Quite often she ran into the same fear at the places she went, the fear for loss before the next generation. When she went to Alaska, many people were fleeing from their homes because the sea ice surrounding them, creating a buffer zone for storms, was melting and that was causing houses to just be swept away.

In Part 3, Flannery broadly discusses many circumstances that will result in climate change affecting the world for the worst. His main point throughout this section of the novel is that humans must become aware of what is predicted to happen and to do something to prevent it. He firmly believes that if the human race recklessly continues emitting CO2 into the atmosphere, the human race, along with many other species, will be

Amidst the melodramatic narratives and heightened realism of these cinematic texts, global warming becomes something that audiences can grasp onto and wonder if perhaps this is what their world might actually look like in the not-too-distant future. (Rust, 26)

Many of Barbara Kingsolver’s characters in her novel Flight Behavior, are living within these limits. Dellarobia, for example, is a small town woman who would be classified under the first or second quintile. During a conversation about using less fossil fuel, with educated urbanite, Leighton Atkins, it becomes apparent that she cannot afford to enlarge her carbon foot print: “‘Okay, this is the last one,’ he said. ‘Fly less.’ ‘Fly less,’ she repeated.” (Barbara Kingsolver 329). Dellarobia, having never flown before, is relatively cynical when such is suggested. Many in situations like Dellarobia’s are restricted in ways to produce greenhouse gas, while those in the higher income quintiles are not. Jeremy, a retired climatologist in the short story, In-flight Entertainment, says:

Having read many pieces of literature through short stories, it is evident that each story has its own unique use of symbolism. Diverse characters in each work of literature are used to demonstrate these forms of symbolism. The boss and his inner conflict illustrate a great deal of symbolism in “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield. The boss’s perception of the actions of the fly creates an interesting view of the comparison of his father-son, father-fly relationship. Katherine Mansfield, a famous realist, who uses concrete images, appeals to many readers because she incorporates her life into the stories she writes.

When you hear the words “climate change” what comes to mind? Probably weather and the changes. Many of us watch the news or use an app on our cellphones/electronic devices to keep an eye on the weather for the day, week, or even the month. But, there is actually a difference between weather and climate. Weather is actually “the changes we see and feel outside from day to day. It might rain one day and be sunny the next. Weather also changes from place to place” (Dunbar, 2014). Whereas “climate is the usual weather of a place. Climate can be different for different seasons. Different places can have different climates” (Dunbar, 2014). This paper will focus on the ins and outs of climate change, specifically focusing on what climate change

Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, “Flight Behavior,” strays from the customary novel average readers are used to. Kingsolver’s education in biology is exposed throughout her novel causing the readers to experience a more scientific perspective on the story. The story takes place inside Dellarobia Turnbow’s mind; a restless farmers wife who got pregnant at seventeen and, as a result, had a shotgun marriage. Her life since then has been a wreck. Her marriage is deteriorating, her farm is failing and she finds no more joy in her life. She attempts to rendezvous with a man to temporarily help fill the emptiness in her life. However, on her way to the tryst she sees a remarkable sight which she believes to be a treacherous forest fire.

Climate change. A phrase that encompasses a vast wealth of information, the totality of which is difficult to fathom let alone concisely elaborate upon in a condensed format such as a course or writing assignment. Through this course, the interconnectedness with which humans influence the balance of climate change is abundantly clear. Ecosystems plants and animals depend on are all connected and influencing one another but these scales are imbalanced, mostly as a result of human activities. The web of interconnectivity in climate change is complex, but there is a reemerging consensus at it’s core that human actions, such as global development, has major ramifications and the health and welfare of people and the environment are paying the price. Those daring enough to say they aren’t influencing climate change haven’t truly examined the many facets of their lives consuming energy and in turn increasing carbon emissions that alter climate. For most, transportation is a necessity. This usage requires energy consumption, most likely in the form of fossil fuel resource depletion and in turn the generation of carbon emissions. Transportation routes by land or sea may alter ecosystems that further elevate carbon emissions. With an understanding that the topic of climate change and carbon emissions is massive at best, the aim of this assignment will be to provide the reader with a basic understanding of greenhouse gases and carbon emissions and the relation to climate change. A