Butterfly Yellow

“It’s been six years, two months, and fifteen days since April 20, 1975, when the siblings got separated. Hằng did not need to explain that retrieving her brother equated to her life’s singular focus. Every twitch in her face said it for her.”

Hằng recalls how long it has been since she has been separated from her brother, down to the last day. By her own profession, finding him has been the single most important goal in her life since that day, and it has defined every thought and action since then. This points to one of the major themes of the book, The Gap Between Dreams, Expectations, and Reality.

“From the cowboy’s hisses their father taught her English while her little brother practiced hissing.”

Hằng remembers watching Clint Eastwood movies with her father, which her father used to teach her the English language. Here we see that while the siblings have a common origin, they may have always been different. In particular, Linh may have always been thorny, gravitating toward learning to hiss rather than express words.

“The gray guilt had grown heavy, refusing to pause its relentless infusion into her joints and marrow. After all, it was her fault her brother was taken.”

Hằng is never able to confess the truth about her brother’s disappearance to her family. Guilt over her mistake, as well the silence about it, is shown here to take over her body. Hằng lives with her guilt not only in her memories but in her physical experience, suggesting that trauma has physical as well as emotional consequences.