Butterfly Yellow

LeeRoy is an 18-year-old aspiring cowboy. His parents are professors in Austin, and until embarking on his journey across Texas, he has led a cushy life with them. Although LeeRoy dreams of the cowboy life, he is unaware of the hard labor it entails.

LeeRoy is naturally social and communicative; he demonstrates this ability especially in the relationship he establishes with Hằng, despite the language barrier and her natural reticence. Not only does LeeRoy enjoy language and conversation, but he is also equally perceptive of the things left unsaid around him. Owing to this, he picks up on the dynamic Mr. Morgan has with Cora, and strikes up easy relationships with David and even Hằng’s uncle, despite their disastrous first meeting.

LeeRoy is inherently kind. Despite all his protests and complaints, he is easily convinced into chauffeuring Hằng across the state to help her find her brother. He barely knows Hằng but understands her desperation at wanting to be reunited with Linh. LeeRoy unhesitatingly puts his truck, his prized possession, in danger for her sake.

LeeRoy also demonstrates a fair amount of self-awareness regarding his emotions. He recognizes his changing feelings toward Hằng, even as they leave him overwhelmed and confused. He behaves tenderly and protectively toward Hằng, content to soothe her with his presence, and is careful not to push her about her past. Hằng’s relationship with LeeRoy, thus, brings out the best parts of his nature, and she in turn becomes the most enjoyable part of his unexpected summer. Like Hằng, LeeRoy, too, was faced with the reality of a dream that turned out very differently from his expectations; like Hằng, he, too, displays an ability to adapt, learn, and move forward.

Linh is Hằng’s younger brother. He was brought across to the United States when he was five years old but was mistaken to be a three-year-old orphan. Brother Grady, the volunteer who originally brought Linh over, died in a car crash, after which Linh, renamed David, came to live with his aunt, Cora, whom he addresses as “Mama.”

David does not remember anything of his life in Vietnam; the names of people become wisps of memories to him over time. The first time he feels at home and like he belongs is when he encounters a foal. Although he is unaware of the significance, readers see the connection to his sister, who originally lured him to the airport with promises of horses waiting for them in America.

David adapts well to his new life in Texas. When Hằng meets him again years later, he is settled into his new life and views his sister, whom he cannot remember, as a disruption. He fears she will rip him away from everything that has become safe and familiar to him. Only when the threat she poses disappears does he relax around her and begin to acknowledge the few memories that have been returning to him.

Bà is Hằng and Linh’s grandmother. She only appears in Hằng’s recollections, having already passed away when the book begins. In Hằng’s memories of her, Bà comes across as intelligent, wise, strong, and resilient. Even though she loses a son and a grandson over the course of the war, she does not fall apart; rather, she holds the family together and moves forward, keeping them alive and safe while at the same time making plans to retrieve Linh. Bà is the one who saves money to buy Hằng and her mother passage out of Vietnam on a fishing boat; even when she is unable to accompany them, she accepts the circumstance with strength and equanimity.

Hằng falls back on Bà’s wisdom and the example of the life she led when trying to process her own mixed feelings about the situation with Linh. As Hằng acknowledges that her brother will never leave his life on the ranch, Bà’s wisdom regarding the balance found over the course of life gives Hằng the strength and acceptance to move on.

Chú Quốc is Hằng and Linh’s uncle, their father’s younger brother, who has been settled in Texas for years working as a doctor. He is a serious and intense man, with rigid plans for his niece’s future. In fact, Chú Quốc entirely forbids Hằng from looking for Linh on her own; he chases after her when she defies him, and relentlessly pressures both her and Linh to come back home with him.

Chú Quốc’s behavior is motivated by the guilt he feels for his family’s suffering throughout the war while he built a comfortable life across the world. His guilt manifests in the intensity with which he tries to take care of his niece and nephew, even as he discards their actual wishes in doing so. After Hằng’s confession and his own daughter’s counsel, however, Chú Quốc is forced to accept the reality that neither Hằng nor Linh will come and live with his family. Though Chú Quốc’s character is relatively minor to the novel as a whole, he nevertheless stands as a reminder of two things: the far-reaching negative effects of war, including the way trauma can resound across generations, and the importance of learning to let go of dreams that have lost relevance in the face of reality.

Cora is David’s unofficial adoptive mother, having taken him in after Brother Grady dies in an accident. She is mothering and protective of David and loves and raises him as her own son. Thus, she greets Hằng and her uncle with mistrust and fear when they first appear, as she is worried they will take David away. When this threat disappears with Hằng’s confessions, however, she warms to Hằng. Her nurturing tendencies emerge when she sees Hằng in distress after the girl’s scars are exposed; following this, she takes Hằng under her wing, caring for and pampering her. Cora comes to realize that Hằng is not a threat anymore, and she, too, cares for David, which enables Cora to provide Hằng a place in her own home.