Yellowface Essay Questions

Is June a reliable narrator? Why or why not?

June is not a reliable narrator; over the course of the novel, she frequently justifies her actions with a series of changing excuses, making it hard to tell what really motivates her or what she's just telling us—or herself—in order to make herself seem more sympathetic. June also doesn't give information in a logical order, which makes it hard to understand when she's telling the truth. For example, when June steals the second draft of what she later writes to become her second novel, Mother Witch, from Athena's apartment the night of Athena's death, she doesn't tell the reader. The reader only finds out that she's done this later on, when June composes Mother Witch. It's not always clear whether June really believes she's doing something unethical or not as she switches back and forth, sometimes weaving together a string of excuses, while at others, explicitly stating that she feels guilty. This inconsistency makes it impossible to fully trust June's narrative.

How does Daniella reflect the values of the contemporary publishing industry?

Daniella, June's publisher, is cutthroat, while simultaneously demonstrating an extreme level of kindness towards June—but only when June's novels are turning a high profit for the publishing house. When The Last Front is about to be published and already predicted to be a huge success, Daniella is willing to do anything to please June, including firing her assistant, Candice, based solely upon one complaint that June made. Daniella is later accused of making extremely prejudiced remarks internally about authors' identities, which further reinforces that novel's exploration of double standards surrounding identity and representation in publishing. Daniella is only interested in publishing "diverse" authors when it will make money. Daniella, despite her apparent loyalty to June's career, also abandons June once faced with her own scandal, further demonstrating the lack of real attachment that publishing houses have to the authors they represent.

How does Yellowface's narration make it difficult to understand who the reader is meant to sympathize with between Athena and June? Is there one character who is more sympathetic?

Because Yellowface is narrated tightly from June's first-person perspective, the information the reader gets about her and Athena's relationship is inevitably one-sided. June also does things that are, without a doubt, unethical, such as taking on another name to publish The Last Front in order to give the impression of having Asian heritage, and (most egregiously) stealing Athena's manuscript in the first place. June's actions make it seem like the reader is meant to sympathize with Athena. However, June also recalls moments where Athena undoubtedly was manipulative or cruel, such as when she published almost word-for-word June's account of when she was sexually assaulted during college—a story that she told Athena in confidence when she was vulnerable and needed support. Athena repeats a similar pattern when she publishes something that her ex-boyfriend, Geoff, told her when they were together, mistakenly believing that Athena would keep it between them. These patterns of exploiting other's narratives are prevalent between both June and Athena, and so make it difficult to identify one character as unsympathetic or a clear antagonist.

How does June's relationship to social media change over the course of the novel?

When June first sells the rights to The Last Front, she puts significant effort into reshaping her social media so that it reflects values that are in line with what she believes will appeal to the intended audience of the novel. Because she thinks that the intended audience will mostly be Asian American and skew younger, she assumes that it will be more appealing if she expresses an interest in social justice; she begins to craft an image that endorses intersectional concerns like racial justice, equity, and representation by retweeting or posting status updates that reflect these values, even though she, herself, has very little genuine connection to them. She successfully manages to reshape her image through social media. Later, when her novel is a success, social media gives June validation. However, after rumors begin to surface about the authorship of The Last Front, June begins to face waves of vitriol and hate coming her way, attacking her for her appropriation of Chinese culture and history. The internet becomes the vehicle for hate and June realizes that she can't control the information that spreads on it. Her image and the public's perception of her is, at the end of the day, outside of her control on the internet.

One theme that emerges within the novel is belonging; June doesn't feel like she belongs within her family, and at one point, states that writing is a way for her to "shape" her "own world" when the real one "hurts too much." Is there any irony to this statement? How does the novel explore belonging?

June feels like she doesn't belong within her family because her career path isn't accepted by her mother and sister. When she explains why she loves writing, she brings up the fact that it allows her to create another world for herself. This statement later takes on a level of irony, since the "world" that June writes herself into after publishing The Last Front—the world where she's a successful author—is a world that also brings her extreme paranoia, stress, and pain as she's subject to various scandals. There is a secondary level of irony within this statement as well, since June did not even fully write The Last Front herself; she's unable to escape or shape a new world, and only able to write when plagiarizing the ideas of others. As much as June wants to belong within the writing world in order to find a sense of belonging that she can't find in her family, she simply can't do it or write her way into it on her own.