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Chapter 12
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Yellowface, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Critique of the Publishing Industry
Identity, Power, and Privilege
Social Media and Cancel Culture
Ambition, Success, and Notoriety
Loss, Grief, and Guilt
Revenge and Retribution
Summary
Analysis
June has dinner with her sister Rory and brother-in-law Tom that weekend. She feels that she and Rory don’t have much in common, mostly because Rory and Tom aren’t “bookish people.” Rory is an accountant (how boring, June thinks) and Tom is an IT technician. When June arrives at their spacious suburban home, Rory and Tom are debating whether Rory’s desk mate ought to have gotten in trouble for complimenting (or maybe even touching) a Black colleague’s hair.
The book uses the argument between Rory and Tom emphasizes their Whiteness—and by extension, June’s too. Their privilege protects them from the indignities and microaggressions experienced by others, like Rory’s Black colleague. That colleague’s uncomfortable situation is entirely theoretical to Tom and Rory, suggesting the subtle dehumanization of racism.
Active
Themes
When Rory goes inside to check on the cornbread she’s baking, Tom asks June about her most recent novel. June replies vaguely that it’s about WWI because she doesn’t want to get into the complicated history of the CLC with Tom. He’s not that interested anyway, and June quickly gets bored with their conversation. She finds talking to her family like talking to “a blank Facebook profile.” But then she realizes that Tom might be able to help her. She asks if it’s possible to trace the IP address of a Twitter profile. Not really, Tom says, because social media sites are protective of their user data. But she could track the IP addresses of people who visit her website. When June reveals she has an online stalker, she secures Tom’s agreement to help her try to track down this person using their IP address.
In public, June talks about the importance of elevating marginalized voices; in private, it’s clear that she has no real interest in doing so except in order to garner positive attention for what she’s passing off as her work. June expresses boredom with and contempt for her family. Because they’re not interested in the same things that she is, she considers them unimportant and beneath her, yet she’s not afraid to use them when she needs their help. Again, she’s doing what she used to accuse Athena of. Moreover, she’s unwilling to engage in any of the compromises necessary for normal, real-life interactions (like feigning interest in Tom’s or Rory’s career or life). This helps to explain her social media addiction. At least online, people are interested in the same things she is—and it shows how it warps her sense of what relationships entail.
Active
Themes
That night, June creates a slapdash blog featuring the allegations against her. Then she makes a fake Twitter account with the handle @LazarusAthena and uses it to DM the @AthenaLiusGhost account a link to this blog, inviting the user to peruse the “proof” it documents. While she waits for a reply, June searches Twitter for the latest on her scandal.
Active
Themes
Interestingly, the June-Athena scandal is creating a small backlash against Athena’s work, too. A Twitter user named @NoHeroesNoGods criticizes Athena for tokenizing the history of Chinese people, of being ignorant of modern Chinese and Chinese diaspora geopolitics, and of being a race traitor. June is wildly entertained when people ripping apart and burning Athena’s books (both literally and figuratively). The vitriol is a little surprising (but also validating) to June. Some people accuse Athena of profiting from other people’s pain and tell stories that recall June’s trip to the Korean War exhibit with Athena. June also likes the attacks because they confuse the narrative that casts her as the villain.
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Themes
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It isn’t too long before June hears from whoever is behind @AthenaLiusGhost. They thank her for reaching out, even though she didn’t have any new proof. June grabs her computer. Sure enough, her website has had its “first, and only” visitor. She sends the IP address off to Tom, who texts her a few hours later to say he’s localized it to Fairfax, Virginia. That’s as specific as he can be without some “heavy duty hacking,” but it’s enough for June. The only person she knows who lives in Fairfax is Athena’s ex, Geoff Carlino, and this seems like his kind of prank.
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Themes
