"You're allowing the public to be duped by a bunch of damned liars."
Ovid's anger at Tina, the journalist, rises to the surface when she attempts to interview him. As he tries to tell her about climate change, she repeatedly tells him that she can't air what he's saying or that what he's saying isn't true. He accuses her of concealing information and being paid off by a public relations firm, allowing the media to become a vehicle for lies rather than the truth.
As habitually as a prayer, Dellarobia wishes she were a different wife, for whom Cub's good heart outweighed his bad grammar.
Dellarobia feels guilty that she cannot appreciate Cub's kindness. Instead, she continuously feels frustrated by his lack of interest in the things that she finds gratifying, like research and education. This rift leads to Dellarobia to later realize that they simply aren't compatible.
Why did the one rare, spectacular thing in her life have to be a sickness of nature?
After learning that the butterflies are a symptom of climate change, having been displaced by a flood in Mexico, Dellarobia is angry that their beauty has been marred by this tragic fact. They no longer possess the meaning that they originally had for her as a symbol of her return to Cub.
Dellarobia wondered how that would feel in adulthood, to be freed from the flirtations and oppressive rules of sex, a dread and thrill she could never seem to escape.
After watching Bonnie and Mako's friendship, Dellarobia realizes that she has never had a friendship with a man that hasn't been overshadowed by the fact that she must present as a woman. She feels confined by gender norms, stuck in her role as a wife and mother.
"Terrible things can have beauty."
Ovid explains that the story of the butterflies is not as magical as it may seem; they've come to the mountain after their natural habitat was disrupted by a torrential flood. Ovid's comment emphasizes that even though changes in the environment may at first appear to be normal, or resemble miracles, they are actually a symptom of disastrous disruptions that will affect our world.
But being a stay-at-home mom was the loneliest kind of lonely, in which she was always and never by herself.
Dellarobia hates her life as a housewife, here thinking about the nature of her role and how she is at once around her children all the time, but also totally alone, as she cannot pursue work or have friends that are intellectually fulfilling.
She felt shamed by her made-up passion and the injuries she'd been ready to inflict.
After seeing the butterflies, Dellarobia realizes she cannot follow through with her original plan to start an affair. This change makes Dellarobia feel guilty, because even though she chose not to cheat, she still knows that the impulse was there.
Everything always happened over at Bear and Hester's: sheep shearing, tomato canning, family discussions, wakes.
Hester and Bear's presence within Dellarobia and Cub's life overwhelms Dellarobia, who feels it is unfair that Bear and Hester still control what Cub does and do not give him the freedom to do what he wants with the farm.
"Once you're talking identity, you can't just lecture that out of people."
Juliet disagrees with Ovid and points out that although Ovid may think that the truth about climate change is obvious, it doesn't mean that everyone will be willing to accept the truth. Their identity and background may have given them a set of values that make it hard for them to accept information just because it appears obvious to Ovid. Condescension doesn't make people listen or feel any more inclined to believe the truth.
"But there's your regrets of thirty years ago, still just sitting there. A-looking you in the eye."
When Hester tells Dellarobia about her first son, who she had to give up in order to marry Bear, Dellarobia is surprised to hear that Hester is not who she originally thought she was. Hester tells Dellarobia that she cannot run away from her regrets, forcing Dellarobia to realize that she must leave Cub in order not to regret the rest of her life.
