Although the narrative commences with Elnora's need to fit in and go to school, Porter weaves an underlying message of the importance of nature through Elnora and the Bird Woman as well as Mrs. Comstock's transformation in "A Girl of the Limberlost." With the opening chapter, we are met with the dichotomy between mother and daughter. Katherine Comstock is reprimanding her daughter, Elnora, who has "given her no peace" (Stratton-Porter 9) and blames her for the death of her husband. Elnora reflects on her relationship with her mother stating that she had been "born to drudgery and a mother who made no pretense of loving her " (Stratton-Porter 13). As Elnora stops and reflects at this junction with the "land behind her and the city before her," (Stratton-Porter 13) Porter depicts the disconnect between people and nature and utilizes Elnora as a transcendentalist. In this moment, Elnora becomes the only hope to reconnect the people with the land. Juxtaposed next to her mother, Elnora is the symbol of hope as she is the "member of society most suited to translate Nature into comprehensible truths" (Phillips 155). Her transcendentalist qualities are further shown when Elnora enters the high school and prays to God to "hide [her] under the shadow of Thy wings" (Stratton-Porter 18) illustrating Elnora's ability to become one with nature.
Furthermore, the "Bird Woman" symbolizes the connection to nature and hope for Elnora. Unlike her mother, the Bird Woman serves as a saving grace for Elnora, offering her money in exchange for moths for her collection. The Bird Woman and Elnora are transcendentalists in which, Porter connotes a better future because of their connection to the land. First, Elnora displays this connection as she finds pure "joy in the outdoors" (Stratton-Porter 83) and is filled with knowledge of the swamps that substitutes for "a mother that doesn't care for her" (Stratton-Porter 81).
