Memory

The author explores the power of memory through Francie's work to reconcile with her traumatic past. Having left her mother and her hometown as a young girl, Francie continues clinging to her transition between states and families decades later. She is convinced this era of change is defined by the unknown, and uses her mysterious experiences with the butterfly, the beetle, and the roses, to try understanding it. By the end of the novel, Francie realizes that the insects and flowers are symbolic of tickets into a new life. She tells Vicky in the last chapter about"me maybe being a ticket too since I swallowed the butterfly" (280). In this scene, Francie has reconciled herself with all that she cannot fully understand, and with what she cannot change. She embraces her enigmatic objects and experiences in order to live fully in her present life.

The author...