The Injustice In Brian Caswell's A Cage Of Butterflies

It is just not right

“Who got crucified and made you God? You maniac” (Caswell, 1992, p. 149). This quote is at the heart of A Cage of Butterflies, a novel written by Brian Caswell. It makes people think about what is happening in the book to make someone explode like this. The novel is Caswell’s opinion on scientific research performed on humans is clearly displayed. Caswell is very clear with his opinions about the injustices that occur and because Larsen, the antagonist, is the major cause of most of the injustices, a heroine emerges, Susan Grace, a defender of the children. Susan’s involvement is essential to the story because without her Larsen would have continued to exploit the children’s wellbeing and only focus on the fame and fortune of his research. Caswell’s major points that he is trying to make about human injustice are at the forefront of this book.

Caswell’s opinion on scientific research performed on humans is the major reason for this novel.

One example is shown in an argument between Larsen and Susan, “I won’t let you do it! Is your bloody career so important that you’d risk their lives?” Larsen replies with, “...This is my project. They’re my subjects…” (Caswell, 1992, p. 149). Larsen was treating the Babies quite inhumanely. His “treatment” was to dose them with Sodium Pentothal and observe and question them in their relaxed and truthful state. This experiment is considered cruel because Larsen drugged them against their will. In most cases consent would have to be given by the parents but because Larsen had taken them away from the parents he could do whatever he wanted to figure out their secrets, even going to the point of harm. The wrong doings of scientific research is at the heart of this novel, all the major plot points revolve around the fact that it is all an experiment to start with. Larsen’s inhumane treatment of the children is exactly the point Caswell is trying to get across to his

audience.

Susan Grace is one of the many main protagonists in the narrative. She becomes the defender of the babies and the “think tank” kids. Susan’s drive is that she can see that Larsen is mistreating them and she decides to stop him in his tracks. Part of Susan’s resolve to help the kids is when she gets to know them, and they begin to trust her so they decide to bring down Larsen. Once Susan, Erik, the tank kids and the Babies have all come together to overthrow Larsen, Pep comes up with an idea, “… we must learn to … lead him on … to throw him a little … bait …” (Caswell, 1992, p. 93) They intend to play Larsen and send him off on a wild goose chase, which is exactly what they do. By the end of the novel Larsen is pretty much pulling his hair out because of the false leads they had been giving him. The reason Caswell wrote Susan into the story was so there would be someone to battle Larsen.

By the end of the novel Larsen had become quite obsessed with his research. The only thing that was keeping him sane was the thought that his research could be ground breaking, not to mention the fame it would bring him. Larsen’s thoughts tell the readers how he thinks the babies ability will go down in history, “They would name the discovery after the discoverer. Larsen’s Syndrome. It had a nice ring to it” (Caswell, 1992, p. 39). This thought process shows Larsen’s character, a man who is so focused on his work that he did not see what was going on around him and he did not care about anything but his research. Larsen’s drive for his research meant absolutely nothing could get in his way. This negligence is what Caswell was trying to make a point of. Caswell believed that scientific research is something that needs constant and continuous care and is not something that is casually done. Larsen’s research was too important to him that he overlooked the fact that the care of his subjects is much more important than any fame or fortune.

In conclusion, this novel is all about Caswell’s thoughts on scientific research on humans. Caswell’s guidelines are hidden throughout the story in clever ways in which Caswell writes. His novel has many points about the moral implications of scientific research on humans such as needing a protagonist to battle the antagonist, not worrying about what fame or fortune the discoveries might bring, and how society’s opinion on this subject needs to be altered. In the eyes of readers, this book displayed the ethical and principled ways to go about scientific research on people. He wants people to not see them as subjects or guinea pigs but as living, breathing people who have their whole life ahead filled with joy, love and life experiences. Caswell asked his audience to remember that people who are different from them are still humans too.

Bibliography
Caswell, B. (1992). A Cage of Butterflies. (1st ed.). QLD Australia: University of Queensland Press.