I Lived on Butterfly Hill

While I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosín is beautifully written and exposes the horrors of the overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile through the eyes of a young girl, I was shocked to find a casual, uncritical inclusion of Gone with the Wind. For her own safety, the young protagonist comes to the U.S. after her parents go into hiding in Chile. She stays with her aunt in New England. For comfort, they watch a film together. Of all the films the author could have selected – it is Gone with the Wind. The film is introduced with NO critique. The protagonist identifies with Scarlet O’Hara. (On page 193, 11 year old Celeste is with her aunt. “‘Mesmerized, we curl up on the couch and watch all three hours of Gone with the Wind while our mouths turn blueberry-blue. Then I crawl up the stairs to my room and hope that I have a dream about Rhett Butler as I remind myself that, like Miss Scarlett said, ‘Tomorrow is another day.”‘)

Why did this film selection make it past the editors and the award committees? Another concern is the author said nothing about the U.S. role in the coup and decades of U.S. backing of the brutal dictator, Augusto Pinochet. That is no small concern given the fact that this book is written largely for U.S. readers. It reinforces the stereotype that Latin American countries are unstable, counter-posed with the “good North” that provides refuge for the protagonist. I wish an editor would have addressed both of these concerns pre-publication – or that they are both addressed for a future edition – since young people should learn about Chile.