Caterpillars and Butterflies Symbol Analysis

The caterpillar, which turns into a butterfly, symbolizes Francisco’s potential as a newcomer in the U.S. In the story “Inside Out,” Francisco attends school for the first time, and he struggles because he doesn’t understand any English. This makes Francisco feel ashamed and alienated from his English-speaking peers. He finds comfort in staring at a caterpillar that his teacher, Miss Scalapino, keeps in a glass jar in their classroom—Francisco seems to feel a connection with the caterpillar because they both have great potential that they haven’t yet reached.

Later in the school year, Miss Scalapino gives Francisco a prize for a drawing he makes, and he is delighted. That same afternoon, he sees the butterfly emerging out of its cocoon in the glass jar: the caterpillar has undergone metamorphosis. This parallel suggests that the positive experience of winning a prize for his art helps Francisco break out of his symbolic cocoon and undergo a kind of metamorphosis himself. Much like the caterpillar in the jar, Francisco needed care and attention to fulfill his potential—without it, he would have continued feeling alienated and inferior at school. Miss Scalapino gives him the honor of releasing the butterfly into the world, and the butterfly’s flight symbolizes that Francisco, too, now feels capable of success. His positive experience at school helps him to transform into a more confident student, just like the caterpillar transformed into the butterfly.