The Fruit of the Fallen discussion
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Symbols & Themes
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J.C.
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Jun 10, 2011 10:50PM
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I haven't read your book yet, but I am planning on it :) I'm curious. Why the butterfly and what does it symbolize?
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From Chapter 7...
She sat on the white steps leading to the building entrance for a few minutes and then stood and walked to a small garden next to the music hall. It was filled with rose bushes of red, white, and yellow blooms. The fragrance in the air was rich and sweet, and she breathed in the scent. A nearby flutter caught her eye. She turned and drew in her breath. Resting majestically on a white rose was a blue butterfly. She froze in wonder, afraid that the smallest movement would frighten it away. Her mind was swept back in time.
“Sit here my little butterfly.” She remembered her grandmother’s words while holding her as a young child. “You must learn not to listen to what other people say. No one can hurt you unless you allow them to.” Her grandmother had wiped away her tears with a tender and loving hand. For a long while, she wept silently, remembering the harsh words of the other children. She swore she would never trust them again. She would never let anyone hurt her again.
Serenity remembered the story as if it had been told to her just yesterday. “Do you know why I call you my little butterfly? My grandmother believed butterflies were the most precious of all creatures. She believed they were messengers created to carry prayers to heaven and back again. She always said, ‘If you make a wish when a butterfly is upon you, then your wish will come true.’ The day you were born, I saw the most unusual little blue butterfly land on your finger while you slept. It was a sign from heaven. I watched as it rested and marveled, for the other butterflies had long since fled winter. I wondered how it had survived. It was so delicate, but also strong and beautiful- just like you”
Serenity looked at the butterfly before her and, like her grandmother so many years before, wondered from where it had come and where it was going. Did it also carry a prayer? Somewhere along the way, she had adopted butterflies as her own. They were her favorite of all God’s creations. Like the butterfly, she often wanted to hide away from the cold rain in her own private little cocoon. She promised herself that one day, she would emerge beautiful and bold. She knew it was a child’s fantasy and laughed at herself for harboring such romantic notions.
The butterfly before her felt a breeze under its wings and was lifted into the air. It flew toward Serenity and fluttered before her momentarily. Then it soared upward and disappeared over the trees. Serenity watched it go and smiled. She approached the flower upon which it had rested. Pulling it toward her face, she thought of the poem they had been discussing only minutes before. She said aloud in the original French, “…il est le roman de Rose, dans laquelle l’art entier de l’amour est contenu.”
A voice behind her translated the text, “It is she who is so precious and so worthy to be loved that she should be called Rose.”
Startled, Serenity whirled to face the intruder. Her finger scraped across the sharp edge of a thorn, and it pierced the skin. A small drop of blood instantly oozed from the spot. She winced and put the finger to her lip. The pain lasted for but a brief moment, for all thought of the thorn was erased when she saw that the voice belonged to Talmadge Valentino.
He regarded her with a curious expression, and she felt vulnerable under his gaze. He looked as if he was about to speak, then stopped. Still, he looked at her as if he were trying to understand something beyond his comprehension. Then he said with a confident voice, “I know this poem, ‘Roman de la Rose.’ I will admit I like it best in the old French like you have said it, or . . .” He smiled, and she felt color and heat coming to her cheeks from the way he was gazing at her. “Perhaps it is just the orator.”
I also haven't read Fruit of the Fallen... but it's on my radar now! :)
