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different person in a different station in life. Captivity to freedom. King to commoner. Zemblan to American. The kind Charles has essentially died and a different Charles is taking his place in the world. Shade’s poetry has crossed the seas to Zembla before Charles reaches America. Charles had read his work and heard his name before becoming his neighbor. It is important that we know that Kinbote’s, Charles’, obsession with Shade began before their actual introduction because it is one of the few things that the king has been able to carry over from Zembla and reintroduce in his new life. The poem of Shade’s that he saw many years ago was “The Sacred Tree.” In this poem there is yet another mention of the butterfly. “An old-fashioned butterfly, ill-spread,/ In shape” (pg. 93). Perhaps this is an old-fashioned butterfly because Kinbote’s memory of this poem comes from his old life, his life as king. The constant contrast between perception and misperception plays an important role in the text, especially when dealing with Kinbote’s true identity. The butterfly theme is touched on in reference to the play between perceptions and misperceptions. “In life, the mind/ Of any man is quick to recognize/ Natural shams, and then before his eyes/ The reed becomes a bird, the knobby twig/ An inchworm, and the cobra head, a big/ Wickedly folded moth” (pg. 59, lines 710-15). Moths are insects known to look like butterflies. However, they are not butterflies, but only appear to be. Shade is commenting on his failure to see the misrepresentation of his white fountain for a sign of the afterlife. Finally, Kinbote summarizes what he has attempted to do in his commentary. “I do not consider myself a true artist, save in one matter: I can do what only a true artist can do – pounce upon the forgotten butterfly of revelation” (pg. 289). As anyone who has ever tried to catch a butterfly will attest to, it is a very difficult task. Also a difficult task is the task that Kinbote undertook by trying to immortalize for readers the life of his friend, the creation of a piece of art, and the mystery of an exiled king. The facts and the fiction weaves in and out together like a butterfly flying through the text, landing here and there. The butterfly motif is the most interesting, in my opinion, and the most pertinent to the intricate artistry of this text.

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