The Butterfly Circus

The screen version of the short story The Butterfly Circus is about a man called Will who is born without any limbs. He is presented in a sideshow at a carnival as an object for humiliation and laughter. People gather from far apart to examine this extraordinary creature. The carnival is presented at night, and everything is chaotic and blurry, and we get a feeling that this place is quite slovenly. The carnival manager introduces him this way: "I present to you a man, if you can call him that, that God himself has turned his back upon". Everybody whispers about him to each other. A little boy throws a tomato right at him, and he has no way of blocking it. He just has to let it hit him.
The manager of the Butterfly Circus turnes up at one of these shows. This man is someting different from the other spectators at the show. He is genuinely trying to understand him, and consider him as an equal to himself, not an object for amusement. After this incident, the Limbless Man decides to join the Butterfly Circus, to start a new life.

The new circus Will now comes to is a different kettle of fish, entirely. They base their show on the feeling of equality. The manager presents each number and the participating acrobat with respect and dignity. The music is filled with light tones and gives the whole setting a light and worriless atmosphere. The show is based on talents and the beauty of each of them, not the abnormality of the acrobats. The audience is to be astonished by the view, not laugh at their misery and distinction. The circus is providing each of its members with a new chance. The circus manager is telling Will that he's not helpless, and that he can achieve great things, if he allows himself to. This works as an eye-opener for Will, and it helps him take the step that changes everything. This feeling to be in control of his own body and limitations gives him great confidence, as well as happiness and joy. In addition to all these emotions, he has also found something that he can do in the show. His performance is consisting of being thrown into a pool of water from the astonishing height of 50 feet!

The driving power of this short story, and the thing that binds it all together, is the Caterpillar that the boy possesses throughout the story. At the time when Will falls into the water, the boy comments that his caterpillar is gone! His mother tells him that it is in the cocoon, transforming into something unrecognizable. Here, we can draw a parallel to the alteration of Will himself, who has gone from something miserable and ugly, into a state where he is finding his true potential, and then the transformation into someone that other people look up to.
In the end of the short story, the boy sets the butterfly free. Personally, I think this symbolizes the end of Will's suffers and the dawn of a new day as a better and more appreciated human being.

This is a very touching story, of an ugly caterpillar’s struggle to reach the light of accept and glory.



The first picture is the logo of the screen version of the short story. The picture is from the page: www.liveaction.org/blog/butterfly-circus
The second picture is of the actor Nick Vujicic, in the role as Will. The picture is taken from:
www.chriscade.com/2009/09/the-butterfly-circus-inspirational-video

The screen version of this Short Story is to be found at:
www.thedoorpost.com/hope/film/?film=4dd298f102c77b625cf37a9e7744ac68