Caterpillars

Throughout the novel, drawings of caterpillars and moths interject, presented with facts about the critters. From the opening section, their presence makes the islanders wary as they are compared to an army (27). The caterpillars represent a change that is about to occur, yet no one in the town is clued in as to what that change will be. Girls scream as caterpillars touch their hands and the general reaction to their presence is disgust. The island has suffered from infestation before and knows what the insects will do to their foliage. As the plot thickens, the caterpillars become an overbearing presence.

Moths

After the increase of caterpillars becomes overbearing and the novel is on its way to its climax, the newly hatched moths riddle Avalon Island. The moths continue the metaphor that the caterpillars set up - change is inevitable and something nefarious is on the...