Butterflies (Visual Imagery)
The butterflies are often described as a fire or as resembling flames, since their orange wings mean that as a group, they blend together and come to resemble a blaze. Their large numbers—there are so many butterflies that they cover an entire hillside—mean that the sight of them inspires awe, drawing many people to the mountain in order to see the butterflies. The visual power of their presence also first pushes Dellarobia to reconsider her desire to start an affair.
Sheep-shearing (Tactile Imagery)
The task of keeping the farm going is a difficult one that involves a lot of physical labor. Descriptions of sheep-shearing, wool-gathering, and dying all emphasize just how exhausting Dellarobia's life on the farm is, a set of chores that she takes on in addition to all of her regular duties as a housewife.
Dead butterflies (Visual Imagery)
After winter hits, the butterflies begin to die. There are so many that the dead butterflies cover the ground, creating a tragic image of natural death that reinforces the depressing fact that this is not the butterflies' intended habitat. One of Dellarobia's research tasks is to count the number of dead butterflies—an act that also reinforces the difficult nature of ecological research, which involves confronting natural tragedies like the thousands of dead butterflies in order to understand climate change.
The knit butterfly (Visual Imagery)
The knit butterfly is a project that some of the visitors take up after seeing the butterflies. They intend it as a protest symbol to draw awareness to climate change. Its knit quality and somewhat haphazard appearance draw attention to the disorganized nature of climate protesters that come to see the butterflies. Many are unsure of their real goals and fail to create a unified movement. The visual image of the butterfly facilitates its value as a symbol within the novel for climate protesters today, who often lack unity and direction, leading to frustrations among the groups.
