Flight Behavior Literary Elements

Novel; climate fiction

Feathertown, a fictional town located in the Appalachian region of rural Tennessee

Limited third-person narrator, from Dellarobia's point of view

The novel explores contentious political and social issues through the lens of Dellarobia's own personal anxieties, giving the novel an urgent tone and mood. Moments of humor come through in scenes involving Dellarobia's children, Preston and Cordie, but for the most part the novel remains serious.

Dellarobia is the protagonist. Hester, Cub, and the media all serve as antagonists at various points in the novel.

The novel's conflict centers on two relationships: the conflict that Dellarobia feels within her life as a housewife, including the frustrations she has within her marriage; and the conflicts that spin out from the effects of climate change, which Ovid brings to the forefront through his research and work with the butterflies in Feathertown.

The novel has several turning points due to the overlapping conflicts that it explores, including Dellarobia's decision to leave Cub and Ovid's interview with Tina.

Weather events throughout the novel foreshadow the serious consequences of the climate crisis.

At several points, inhabitants of Feathertown, including Cub and Bear, understate and refuse to believe the gravity of climate change and its effects on the world.

The novel alludes to Philip Morris, a tobacco company that paid off the media in order to endorse false health benefits of tobacco, and compares it to the actions of ExxonMobil, a fossil fuel company that promulgates research denying climate change. Various portions of scripture are also referenced during Bobby Ogle's sermons.

The novel relies heavily on elaborate descriptions of nature, especially with scenes involving the butterflies, the forest, and the changing seasons. This focus reinforces the novel's thematic exploration of climate change and human-nature relationships.

Dellarobia, Crystal, and Dovey all parallel each other as young women who grew up in Feathertown. Because they come from similar backgrounds, they also are a good example of how differently people can adapt to similar circumstances. Their similarities help highlight the differences that they do have and the contrasts between the three women's lives.

Nature is often personified using figurative and highly descriptive language. This description helps the reader sympathize with nature and strengthens the tragic depiction of climate change's effects on ecosystems.