Motifs

  • butterflies
    The butterflies are symbol for captivity and thus for Miranda. This firstly shows up in the beginning of the novel where Frederick is observing Miranda in the same way he observes butterflies, which is also read in this quote: ‘’Seeing her always made me feel like I was catching a rarity, going up to it very careful, heart-in-mouth as they say. A Pale Clouded Yellow, for instance. I always thought of her like that, I mean words like elusive and sporadic, and very refined (...)’’ (p.1) Later on Miranda is being captured in the same way as a butterfly, because she lives in a cell. This also shows that Frederick sees Miranda more as a ‘’collector’s item’’ rather than a real human being.
  • photography
    Frederick is a big fan of photography, which is shown throughout the book. It begins with photographing butterflies, but when Miranda is captured, Frederick wants to photograph Miranda as well. The similarity between Miranda and the butterflies is that they are both being captured by Frederick. The photographing of the victims is symbolising the capturing of Miranda/ the butterflies, since a photograph is actually freezing of time. the victims are thus ‘trapped’ in the moment. Throughout the book, it is mainly at times that Miranda wants to escape when Frederick photographs her. For example, the night that Miranda and Frederick have a big fight, Frederick undresses Miranda and photographs her. It is also possible that Frederick does this so he feels that he is regaining power over Miranda, because when Miranda has to stand in front of the camera, Frederick is able to tell her everything she has to do (for example posing a certain way).

 

  • escaping
    In total, Miranda tries to escape from Frederick seven times. Apart from that, Miranda also tries to escape reality by writing in her diary about her life before the capturing. in contrary to Frederick, Miranda tries to escape to freedom, while Frederick escapes his hometown to captivity (he is always tied to the house in Lewes, as he has to check on Miranda. In some sense he is thus holding himself in captivity as well).
    Additionally, Frederick also tries to escape from loneliness, which is repeatedly shown in the book. In the beginning, it is shown that Frederick did not have a good childhood as he did not grow up with his parents. Also, he did not have a great relationship with his family and did not have any friends either. Thus, he tries to find company in the butterflies he captures. Later on he captures Miranda, partly because he feels lonely and he sees Miranda as the ideal girl. He then goes to Lewes, which means he is literally fleeing from his hometown to start a new part of his life.