Butterfly Yellow

Butterfly Yellow is a young adult novel by Thanhhà Lai, a Vietnamese American writer. Her debut novel, Inside Out & Back Again (2011), was based on her experience as a refugee of the Vietnamese war in the United States, and all of Lai’s subsequent books, including Butterfly Yellow, incorporate aspects of the Vietnamese American experience.

The book follows Hằng, an 18-year-old Vietnamese girl who arrives in Texas in 1981, in search of her brother whom she sent to the country alone six years prior, through Operation Babylift. Operation Babylift was commissioned by the US government in the final months of the Vietnam War, in 1975, to transport Vietnamese orphans out of the war-torn country and to Western nations for adoption. American support of the war had been on the decline, especially as the nation came to realize that the American-backed South Vietnamese were losing to the Communists. Operation Babylift was regarded by some as an effort by President Ford to regain some sympathy for the American investment in the war, an effort that also garnered criticism (“Operation Babylift”).

Operation Babylift started out as a disaster, as the first military plane carrying children crashed just minutes after take-off. Although more than 2,000 children were eventually evacuated safely from Vietnam, a number of them were later discovered to still have living relatives back in their home-country—they were not actually orphans. The operation was further criticized in the United States regarding the ethics of taking children away from their culture and community to assuage American guilt over their role in the war (“Operation Babylift”).

However, many Vietnamese families welcomed the initiative, especially those who feared for their children’s fates under Communism. Many Vietnamese women who had children fathered by American soldiers—termed “Amerasian”— were especially fearful for the future (“Misguided Intentions”). Such women, and even other South Vietnamese families, willingly placed their children on US-bound planes, with the hope that they could later reunite with their children by following as refugees (“Operation Babylift”). This is the plan Hằng tries to execute as a 12-year-old, as she unsuccessfully tries to leave for safety with her brother in the hope that her family will follow.

When the birth families of several Vietnamese adoptees later attempted to claim legal rights, they were denied, due in large part to the differences between adoption practices in both countries. Vietnamese families viewed orphanages as “holding stations” where their children could be placed until a time their families could safely claim them again (“Misguided Intentions”). Americans view adoption with much greater permanence, especially as adopted children are regarded as legally the same as biological children. Thus, many adoptees found themselves caught in legal battles between their birth and adoptive families for years. However, with the American courts unwilling to intercede too much on behalf of either party, only 12 out of the thousands of adoptees eventually reunited with their birth families (“Operation Babylift”). In Butterfly Yellow, a version of this plays out: While Hằng eventually finds Linh, she and her uncle have no legal claim over the boy anymore, especially after she confesses the truth about how Linh came over to the United States.

The aftermath of Operation Babylift remains complicated. Many displaced children grew to be well-adjusted individuals with successful lives, but many of them also still grapple with a complete lack of information regarding their roots and history. Furthermore, while the Amerasian children left behind in Vietnam were undoubtedly discriminated against, they did not experience the kind of brutal fate under Communism that had been feared (“Author Examines Life After Operation Babylift”). The question remains of whether the children would have been better off staying with their birth families and home culture.

Butterfly Yellow touches upon some of the complexities surrounding the situation: For instance, Hằng and her uncle’s frustration at being unable to claim Linh is comparable to Cora’s fear that her son will be taken away. Linh, now David, is happy in his new life, with barely any memory of his birth family, and reluctant to leave. Ultimately, though, the book ends on a positive note, with Hằng accepting and reconciling with the reality of the situation, finding a way to stay close to her brother, even as she begins to build a new life.