Yellowface - Entry 4
May 8, 2024 * literature, yellowface * part 10
Contents
Now, we see June feeding into her paranoia, having Tom track down the person behind Athena Liu’s Ghost account.
Tom is successful, and June finds out that it’s Athena’s ex boyfriend and writer Geoff, who’s behind the account. She tracks him down and confronts him, initially feigning ignorance but giving in once she realizes Geoff knows the truth. Geoff belittles her, attempts to blackmail her, but June is recording him in return, and threatens to release it unless he stops.
June releases a statement online, and after a while, it seems like she’s in the clear, and the scandal has blown over. Her success seems to be back on track. However, she desires to stay in the spotlight, and faces pressure from her editor and publisher to write a new book.
Analysis/Reflection
June’s relentless paranoia and anxiety is revealed here, and the lengths to which she goes in order to keep her secret covered is rather alarming. It shows just how insecure she is about the entire affair, and how it results in her desiring attention and public approval, and despairing when she lacks it.
We also see June’s vanity again, and how she continues to desire literary fame and to be in the spotlight, how, according to her, “But, my God, I want to be back in the spotlight” (Kuang, Yellowface, 193), and instead of quitting while she’s ahead, she prepares herself to make more and more risky moves.
I want June to stop here. While she’s an insufferable character, it’s still hard to see her suffer under the weight of public opinion and cancel culture, and pushing herself into more and more loneliness. It really shows how Kuang has hit the mark in making a satirical thriller that keeps us on the edge of our seats with anticipation.