Where Butterflies Wander

Marie is a complex protagonist who appears on the surface to be extremely flawed, self-centered, and narrow-minded. Her role in the novel is as an anti-hero, and her character drives the tension of the novel in a way traditionally associated with an antagonist. Through Marie, the narrative explores the challenges of grief, especially a bereaved mother, and this enables Marie’s difficult behaviors to be perceived as the result of intense loss. This is supported by the dynamic nature of her character, as she is able to reflect and learn by the end of the novel.

Throughout much of the novel, Marie has a one-track mind and a goal of selling off her grandfather’s property so that her family can move to a nearby small town and start over following her daughter Bree’s death. Marie is the only one in her family who actually wants to start over in this way, with the exception of Brendon, who goes with whatever his mother thinks. Marie hated being in the old house and constantly being reminded of Bee and has convinced herself that moving away will help her get over Death and the Grieving Process. Marie’s focus on selling the house and evicting Davina puts a huge divide in her family, one that takes time for Marie to realize she is responsible for. She emotionally neglects her family and is often lost in her own thoughts. Despite this, Marie is a strong person whose main goal is to push forward and carry on for the sake of her family.

Marie has strong reactions to minor events and judges Davina immediately. She demonstrates The Problem of Superficiality by making assumptions about Davina almost until the end and becomes panicked when she finds out that Hannah was given some natural medicine. Marie also feels betrayed by her daughters when they visit Davina, feeling that they are choosing sides, driving a wedge between them. Marie tries to confront Davina several times before legally evicting her and then having her arrested. After Brendon lights the cabin on fire, Marie finally starts to feel guilty about being so brash and spends time sitting amongst the rubble and reflecting on everything that has led her to this point. As part of her emotional arc, Marie starts to understand How Memory Shapes the Present and that it is useless to try and outrun her past. She takes her family back to their old home and finds that she starts to heal once she stops running.

Leo is Marie’s husband and a key secondary character in the story. He is the father of the Egide family and is a fiercely protective person, especially since Bee died. Leo’s role is as a foil to Marie, as he often provides the emotional support that she is not able to give in her grief. He also differs from her in her decisions to move the family and evict Davina.

Leo was on a run when Bee drowned and lives every day feeling like he should have been there to save her. Since Bee’s death, Leo takes his time and tries to go about life with patience. He finds himself unable to discipline his children and feels like his happiness, when it does manifest, is an act. Leo and Marie are opposites in many ways, and since their daughter died, they have failed to connect like they used to. Marie is focused on getting a new house and turns away from her family to hide her grief, while Leo leans into his family but disagrees with Marie’s plans to evict Davina. Leo and Marie also have different parenting styles and are cautious about different things. Leo sees no issue with Davina’s medicine, while Marie sees no issue with letting Penelope go into the woods alone. Leo proves himself to be a heroic figure when he protects his family and attempts to put out the cabin fire with his bare hands. Although he is well-meaning, his attempts to improve situations often only make them worse, like when he tells Davina about her father’s wealth.

Penelope is the youngest child in the family and a character whose full personality comes out gradually as the story progresses. The dynamism of her character is the result of the healing process, especially as she reconnects with her family and the natural world. Through Penelope, the novel explores the grief responses of a young child, especially one who had a special connection with the deceased.

Penelope is the twin sister of Bee, who died by drowning in the family pool. Penelope reacts to Bee’s death differently from the other members of her family, and she looks for signs of Bee to remain connected to her. Penelope talks to her sister often and sees butterflies as manifestations of her. Penelope is young and still has a fanciful mind, which can be both positive and negative for her. It works in her favor as she copes with Bee’s death, but it plays against her when she meets Davina and thinks she is a monster. Penelope eventually meets Davina properly and finds her to be a safe and understanding presence. Davina lost her daughter when she was close to Penelope’s age, so she instantly bonds with Penelope in return. She understands how Penelope sees Bee in butterflies and gives her a special bee balm flower to attract more of them: “She nods to the bee balm, and as if the words are a spell, I feel it. Looking at the flower makes me think of Bee like she is here” (74).

In her family, Penelope has to deal with the fact that when they look at her, they are reminded of her identical twin. They were seen as separate but combined in such a way that it became almost impossible to see one without the other: “Now there’s only Pen, still marvelous but only half as wondrous without there being two such creatures spinning like tops around each other” (93). Penelope understands intuitively why her family reacts this way and distances herself from them at the novel’s beginning. She defends Davina and helps her in any way she can, and Penelope demonstrates that she has the same characteristic strengths as her older sister, Hannah. Increasingly, the novel shows that Penelope is able to reconnect with her family, especially through a strengthening bond with Hannah.

Hannah is the eldest daughter in the family and is a key secondary character. The novel presents a dynamic shift in her character throughout the story and her time in the New Hampshire wilderness. Hannah is wiser than her mother and realizes that moving away will not solve Death and the Grieving Process. She says,

It’s not like trading in a car. You can’t simply replace your old life with a new one and think that’s going to fix things. It seems to me, wherever we go, the dents and scratches are going to go with us and that it’s going to take more than a new house in a new town in order to set things right (37).

Hannah is a teenager and is preoccupied by the prospect of love. She enjoys reading classic literature and writes letters from Juliet to people all over the world who are experiencing a broken heart. Hannah also has debilitating migraines, which render her unable to do anything but lie in the dark for hours or days at a time. She doesn’t see herself as the kind of person who is “made for miracles” and has little hope for her life to improve any time soon (18).

Hannah is kind and understanding by nature, so when Davina leaves her the medicine, Hannah reacts with a feeling of curiosity and affection for the woman. She quickly bonds with Davina and is the first in the family to do so, and Hannah doesn’t judge Davina for her scars. Hannah starts swimming in the river every day and feels empowered and goes against her nature by breaking her mother’s rules. She also falls for Rock and has her first experience of love. While her mother battles back and forth with Davina, Hannah attempts to stay above the conflict and refrains from choosing sides. She also bravely helps in putting out the fire and acts as a constant source of support for her younger sister, Penelope.

Brendon is an important secondary character in the story. While his character is not a primary focus of the narrative, his actions have drastic consequences. Brendon is also a dynamic character, as he spends most of the story feeling hate toward Davina and devoted to his mother’s cause but later tries to make amends for his mistakes. His character can be read as expressing the difficulty that boys especially may feel when processing and communicating difficult emotions such as loss and guilt.

Brendon was the one who was watching the twins while they were swimming in the pool, and he didn’t notice that Bee was drowning because he was too busy on his phone. Nobody knows that he was there when she died, only that he pulled her out of the water. Brendon lives with this guilt, compounded by the fact that he keeps it a secret. He isolates himself from his family and finds that Penelope reminds him too much of Bee. Brendon spends most of his time with his dog, Banjo, or hiding away in his room.

Brendon tries to steal Davina’s internet signal and regularly refers to her as “the witch” instead of by her name (125). He dehumanizes her and sees her from the perspective of superficiality. Brendon lights Davina’s cabin on fire because he is tired of seeing his family fighting and his mother so angry. He convinces himself that the only way to solve the issue of the cabin is to get rid of it and ends up consumed by guilt all over again. When Banjo is caught in a trap, Davina helps Brendon free his dog, sacrificing her own hands in the process. Brendon sees that she is a kind and forgiving person, and he uses the opportunity to atone for his past misdeeds. Brendon starts helping out the family and reminding himself that he has the ability to be a better person.