Clegg’s butterfly collection represents his desire to capture beauty via inherently violent processes. Clegg is an amateur entomologist (someone who studies insects). In particular, he likes to show off his butterfly collection, which he keeps in a drawer in his house. Miranda thinks almost everything about Clegg and his taste is ugly, but even she admits that his butterflies are beautiful. However, she also recognizes that Clegg had to kill the butterflies in order to showcase their beauty. Like the beautiful butterflies who are now sealed away in a drawer, Clegg has captured Miranda and sealed her away in his cellar. The end result of both Clegg’s entomological pursuits and his kidnapping of Miranda is death, suggesting that Clegg cannot appreciate beauty without eventually destroying it.
Clegg’s Butterfly Collection Quotes in The Collector
I know what I am to him. A butterfly he has always wanted to catch. I remember (the very first time I met him) G.P. saying that collectors were the worst animals of all. He meant art collectors, of course. I didn’t really understand, I thought he was just trying to shock Caroline—and me. But of course, he is right. They’re anti-life, anti-art, anti-everything.