59 pages • 1 hour read
Thanhha LaiButterfly Yellow
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables serve as important symbols, appearing throughout the story at different points. The very first time the reader meets Hằng, she is chewing on ginger to quell her anxious stomach, and when she settles on the ranch later in the story, she grows the rhizome herself in her little vegetable garden, which Mr. Morgan uses to make ginger ale.
Similarly, LeeRoy is also introduced with a vegetable in his mouth. Hằng is amazed to see LeeRoy eat raw celery when she meets him for the first time, and when he leaves the ranch at the end of the summer, she hands him a gift of fresh, washed and cut celery, grown in her vegetable garden. The ginger and celery both appear in the beginning and end of the story in almost parabolic fashion; they are used for the same things at both times, but the circumstances have changed vastly in the meantime.
Fruits are also a symbol of the connection Hằng and Linh have to their childhoods in Vietnam. Mrs. Brown notes how the first time Linh spoke after arriving in the United States was when he tasted an unripe plum. An older Linh, now David, is presented with sketches and stories of the fruits of his childhood by Hằng, which jogs his memory, even though he refuses to admit it out loud. The gap between David and Hằng that now exists is one of both language and culture; LeeRoy’s parting gift to Hằng, a guidebook with names and pictures of tropical fruits, is a way to bridge this gap.
Fruits and vegetables are also an important symbol of Hằng’s adaptation to a new life in America. One of her chores on Mr. Morgan’s ranch is caring for his prized cantaloupes, and by the end of the novel he is so pleased with her green thumb that he offers her a permanent gardening job. Gardening itself is symbolic in its representation of the cultivation of new life, reflected in Hằng’s intentions for her future life on the ranch.
Horses
Horses are an important symbol within the story. Hằng and Linh grew up seeing and dreaming of horses from the Westerns their father shared with them, specifically as a way to learn English. Hằng uses the lure of horses to take Linh to the airport so they can flee Vietnam. Horses seem to promise a better life in America.
After Hằng is separated from Linh at the airport, the animal takes on different meanings for both siblings. For Hằng, horses now represent the better life in America because her brother is there.
In preparation for their reunion, she painstakingly memorizes the National Geographic article on horses that she aims to repeat to her brother when they meet. Yet the meaning of horses has also taken on a somber tone for Hằng, who also associates them with the moment she lost her brother, her greatest failure.
Linh, on the other hand, finds home and a sense of belonging for the first time in the United States when he meets a foal. Even though he has no memory of his life or family in Vietnam, the foal brings him an instant sense of home. Horses underscore Linh’s relationship with his family, especially Hằng, and suggest the possibility of reconnection despite the challenges. Especially notable is the name David gives to his horse—Linh—a signal that his Vietnamese heritage and early life are not forever lost.
Mesquite
The mesquite tree is an important recurring symbol throughout the story. Although it dots the landscape Hằng is traveling through from the beginning of the story, she does not know the name of this spiny tree. Initially, to Hằng, “mesquite” is only a word that is part of the address in Amarillo where her brother is supposed to be. Only when she meets LeeRoy does she learn the connection between the word and the tree, as well as the correct pronunciation of the word.
The mesquite initially signifies Linh, or rather, David. Just as Hằng has been carrying around this mysterious address, she has also been carrying around an idea of her brother. She has little knowledge of either and is only able to learn and understand either with the guidance of LeeRoy. Further, her brother, like the tree, is “thorny” in his behavior, and, like the tree, has been able to grow and thrive—stubbornly so—in the arid landscape that is Texas.
Following the parallels between the mesquite tree and David, the kids’ attempts to uproot a mesquite tree takes on important meaning. Although a task doled out by Mr. Morgan as punishment, the futility of the task becomes a metaphor for Hằng’s attempts to take her brother away from a life he has fully adapted to. Hằng’s suggestions of using the truck to uproot the tree fail, just like her attempts to draw David away from the ranch. Cora ultimately reveals to the trio that the only way to uproot the tree is to dynamite its roots, suggesting the massive disruption required to take David away from his new life. Significantly, when Hằng’s uncle arrives the next day, she finally confesses the truth about what happened at the airport, having realized the pain it would cause Cora and David to rip the latter away.
“Butterfly Yellow”
The title of the book is an important symbol within the story. It is derived from a Vietnamese children’s song, which Hằng sings to Linh in hopes of jogging his memory. The song used to be his favorite song, one they used to sing together, and symbolizes the relationship they once shared. However, when Hằng sings it to Linh again for the first time, he doesn’t remember or recognize it, signifying how they no longer share the relationship they once did.
Later, it is revealed that the song is set to the tune of a popular children’s rhyme, “Are You Sleeping Brother John.” Multiple versions of it exists across different languages, and when Hằng sings it again on top of the Ferris wheel, LeeRoy and David chime in with the different versions they each know. David even appears to slowly remember the original Vietnamese lyrics and hand gestures, as Hằng sings it aloud repeatedly. This incident, as well as the multiple versions of the song the trio sing in a loop, mirrors how dynamics and relationships between different characters have changed by this point in the story. Language, communication, and culture are no longer the insurmountable barriers they were at the start of the story, pointing to the theme of Language and Communication in Relationships.
Furthermore, the butterfly itself is an important symbol, signifying metamorphosis and freedom. Hằng’s grapples with changing goals, dreams, and even understanding her circumstances in the final part of the book, aptly titled “The Butterfly.” By the end of the story, she finally arrives at a place of acceptance of the changes and a willingness to look toward a different future from the one she had originally imagined.
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By Thanhha Lai
