53 pages 1 hour read

Barbara Kingsolver

Flight Behavior

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012

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Book Club Questions

General Impressions

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of pregnancy loss or termination.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Kingsolver presents monarch butterflies as both a natural phenomenon and a metaphor for Dellarobia’s transformation. How effective did you find this parallel between human and natural change? What other instances of symbolic natural imagery stood out to you?

2. Flight Behavior examines climate change through both scientific and rural religious perspectives. How did the novel’s approach to these different viewpoints affect your understanding of the topic? Did you find one perspective more compelling than the other?

3. Kingsolver’s novels often examine the intersection of personal and political issues. How did Flight Behavior compare to her other works like The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees in balancing individual character development with broader societal concerns?

Personal Reflection and Connection

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Dellarobia feels as though her marriage, which resulted from an unexpected pregnancy, limits her life’s potential.