The theme of this novel revolves around kidnap, rape, perversion, murder and......some psychopathic things that I couldn't find the word to describe them. I had a hard time reading through the novel at the beginning, but I pushed on because I wanted to know what happened at the horrible place as described by the main character known as Maya. The butterfly garden is a beautiful illusion where a bunch of kidnapped teenage girls with tattooed butterfly wings on their back stay in a well-maintained greenhouse owned by a rich man known as the Gardener. From time to time, one or two new girls will be kidnapped and with colorful butterfly wings tattooed onto their backs before being raped by the perverted Gardener, over and over again, as long as they are still in the 'garden'. The worst thing is, the girls have a limited lifespan, just like butterflies. When they reached 21 years old, or if they are injured or broken, they will be put to sleep, then......preserved in resin and put up in the glass wall like a collection.
We might feel disgusted by the action of this Gardener that his perversion is evil and intolerable. He takes someone who does not belong to him, alters her body according to his liking, and keeps them like his property. The thing that shocked me the most, was the way he sees his 'butterflies'. He adores their beauty and gently cares for their need by doing whatever he can to make them happy. I see his love towards these unfortunate girls, the twisted love that seems so absurd in our society today. However, I also realize that many of us are directly involved in this action, without knowing how wicked it actually is.
How many of us have shot a stag and mounted his head on the wall?
How many of us wear a coat made of fox fur?
How many of us kept a bird in a cage, with her wings clipped?
How many of us watch a dolphin doing tricks in ocean park?
We like the beauty of the antlers; we enjoy the warmth of the fur coat; we are fond of the chirping of bird; we adore the intelligence of the dolphin. We might feel sad when we lose our possession of them, or angry when someone tries to destroy or steal them from our hands. There is so much love we have on animals that we want to keep them, and there is no difference between what we do to the animals and what the Gardener does to the 'butterflies'. The gardener cries for days for the 'butterfly' who died in an accident; he makes sure the 'butterfly' dies in a painless way when the time comes; he is happy when he sees that the 'butterflies' live well and cheerfully in his greenhouse. My emotion got entangled with the emotion of the Gardener. The fate of animals is so similar with the fate of the Gardener's 'butterflies' that I can't help to mourn for their suffering, their slavery towards mankind. People love animals, we love them to the state that the actions of violence and oppression are seen as the actions of love that it is alright and humane. We care for them till the time when they are ready to die for us, and we will be as humane as possible. Their lives are like the butterflies', short but fulfill our love towards them.
You might think that it is ridiculous to compare an animal life to a human one. But if you are willing to open up your heart towards an animal, look into his eyes, you will see that we are actually not that different from one another.
P/S: I saw that a movie based on this novel is coming out! It will be one of the scariest movies of all time I think, and there is no way I am going to watch it.