60 pages • 2 hours read
R. F. KuangYellowface
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 21-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 21 Summary
Geoff and Athena meet at the same coffee shop, and it becomes apparent that Athena’s account is not being manipulated by Geoff. June asks if he has any ideas about who it could be, but he insists that it is just someone trying to unsettle her. He shows her how the picture was photoshopped and that there is no chance that Athena is actually alive. He does sympathize with her, however, about being haunted by Athena’s ghost. He tells June about how so much of their relationship ended up in her writing; he would open up to Athena, only to find his emotions in the pages of her next story. Geoff tells June, “Sometimes she would say things that made me upset, or ask about things I’d been through–and as time went on all I could think was that she was mining me, using me as fodder” (280). June sympathizes with Geoff, seeing that both of their relationships with Athena were impacted and manipulated in the same way for her writing. As they talk, June sees Athena’s ghost in the window wearing her green shawl: visible, but only for a second. Before they part for a final time, Geoff encourages Athena to block out the haters and prevent them from having undue influence on her life.
Chapter 22 Summary
Athena’s account continues to post frequently, taunting June. June, haunted by her dead friend, becomes obsessed with Chinese ghost stories, researching them and brainstorming ways to free herself from Athena’s spirit. Her writing is suffering, and though she is two-thirds of the way through her new novel, she finds that she cannot continue in the same way. Her account of The Last Front’s authorship has become a ghost story. She cannot find the ending and cannot work with Athena’s ghost haunting her every word. June’s mental health is impacted as Athena’s account posts more and more, making it difficult to eat or focus on anything.
One day, while she is writing in a coffee shop, June sees Athena looking through the window. Determined to finally catch her, June runs out of the shop and grabs her as she walks down the sidewalk. It is not Athena, however, but Diana Qiu, the panelist who criticized June. June accuses her of stalking and terrorizing her but soon realizes that Diana isn’t even wearing the clothes that she thought were Athena’s. June is stunned, and Diana leaves with a mix of disgust and concern on her face. In a panic, June flees the shop and calls her therapist from college, Dr. Gaily. Dr. Gaily wants to help June but cannot treat her because she is no longer at Yale. Before hanging up, Dr. Gaily promises to send a list of referrals the next morning. June, not content to wait any longer, finally replies to Athena’s account and sets up a meeting.
Chapter 23 Summary
June agrees to meet at the famous Exorcist Stairs in Georgetown and arrives at night to find no one waiting for her. After searching the stairs, she hears Athena’s voice everywhere. At times it comes from the bottom of the stairs and at others from the top. Athena’s voice asks June questions about her work, and with her guilt boiling over, June admits to everything, hoping her confession will finally lure out Athena’s ghost. It works, but it is not Athena Liu who steps from the shadows but Candice Lee.
This is the culmination of Candice’s plan to seek revenge against June for how she treated her at Eden Press. When June complained about Candice’s Goodreads review, Candice was fired and banned so she couldn’t find a new job. She couldn’t pay rent and was rejected from jobs for which she was overqualified. Candice tells June about the racism and hypocrisy she and Athena experienced in the publishing industry. The commodification of their culture and pain and the unwillingness to accept more writers from marginalized communities not only affected their lives but also Athena’s writing. In a world in which so few get the opportunity, June is guilty of making aspiring authors like Candice’s chances even slimmer.
Candice explains that she has filmed the entire confession and will use it to not only ruin June’s career but to launch her own. She will sell a book all about the scandal and how she was able to bring down June Hayward. As Candice collects the cameras from the surrounding area, June panics as she sees her future slip away. The threat of Candice’s rise to stardom pushes her to take drastic measures. She sees only one path to maintaining her career: Pushing Candice down the steps, possibly killing her and the evidence in one fall. There are no witnesses, and the steps are notoriously slippery, meaning that June could flee and it would appear to be an accident. June attacks, but Candice fights back, kicking June off of her and down the stairs.
Chapter 24 Summary
June wakes in the hospital with multiple broken bones and a concussion. She is informed that she slipped while jogging and that an unidentified bystander (likely Candice) called 911 for her. June is skeptical about the lack of police or accusations against her, making her wonder what Candice is doing with her confession.
When June is allowed to leave four days later, she sees an article published in the New York Times explaining the scandal, confession, and Candice’s central role in it. The collapse of her scheme causes June to fall into a deep depression. She doesn’t leave her apartment and even contemplates suicide. When it is announced that Candice will receive a book deal to publish her tell-all about June, June dreams of retaliation.
She plans to write a competing tell-all, tapping into the publishing industry and society’s obsession with drama and competing truths. She knows that as a white woman, people will listen to her, even with all of the evidence pointing to her wrongdoing. She expects that the ensuing drama from her account will drive up sales and that this will open the door for her to reenter the publishing scene. Her account will reveal the pressure and villainy of publishing, and she will cast herself as the victim and subsequent hero, hoping that in time, she will be able to recapture the narrative and finally leave her mark on the world.
Chapters 21-24 Analysis
With June’s new project underway, she finds herself subscribing to a more positive outlook for her future. She is enjoying writing again and is convinced that her pseudo-autobiographical account of her and Athena’s mixed authorship of The Last Front will be a hit with publishers. However, when Athena’s old Instagram account begins haunting her, June must confront her misdeeds. The tension builds as June is increasingly haunted by Athena’s specter, a symbol of her guilt even though she still feels justified. In the final act of the novel, June discovers her true motivations and the extent to which she will go to protect her career, attempting murder in the novel’s climax. In the falling action and conclusion, she realizes just how far scandal can push her and how it is the key to her prolonged success as a professional author. The novel ends on a note reaffirming White Privilege in Publishing, as June plans to leverage her whiteness into a new chapter and overcome her disgrace.
When June calls a meeting with Geoff over Athena’s Instagram account, she doesn’t expect to leave the meeting with a newfound sympathy for Geoff. They are both white authors who have faced substantial public criticism for their racism, and both share a fraught connection to Athena. Both feel as though she used them for her writing, and June comes to wonder how much of her hatred for Geoff was based on his identity as a cisgender white man. She recognizes their connection and its relationship to Athena: “Geoff is one of the few people on earth who also understands the unique pain of trying to love Athena Liu. The futility of it all. Like Echo looking at Narcissus. Like Icarus, hurtling straight at the sun, just to feel its warmth on his skin” (283). June’s use of classical figures to describe their relationships with Athena presents a misconception of Athena but also reveals their primary motivations behind using her work to profit. June thinks of Geoff as Echo, looking hopelessly at Narcissus, who is too busy being self-obsessed to care for him. In reality, Geoffrey was so concerned with his public image that he sabotaged his career, resulting in his split with Athena. Likewise, June positions herself as Icarus and Athena as the sun, believing that Athena’s heat sent her hurtling down to earth. However, Athena is more like Daedalus, and the sun is success in publishing. June uses Athena’s writing (Daedalus’ wings) to launch her career but becomes too greedy and keeps using Athena’s words, ultimately leading to her professional downfall.
A common thread in Yellowface is June’s belief that she is blameless. When she pictures herself as Icarus, she sees herself as a victim of the sun, ignoring her own agency in having flown too close to it. This theme continues in her final confrontation with Candice, in which she must defend her career from truly being destroyed. She sees Candice as a villain, hellbent on bringing her down without hearing her justification. This flattening of Candice’s character is symbolized by their meeting at the Exorcist Steps, a DC landmark famous for its use in filming The Exorcist, a horror movie. June’s ability to consistently frame herself as the hero or the victim in every story is her best defense mechanism, and it is what she believes will ultimately save her. One might expect an epiphany when she tries and fails to kill Candice and falls down the stairs herself—Candice is, after all, correct in her accusations. However, June doubles down instead, secure in her privilege. She knows that she can use the ensuing scandal of Candice’s tell-all and the public’s desire for Scandal as Entertainment to manipulate the narrative.
As June begins planning her counter-tell-all, she demonstrates her understanding of how deep white privilege’s power runs. She not only understands that she can use her image as a white woman victimized by hate to get another book published and sell that book to the public. After witnessing how her scandal inspired right-wing readers to purchase her books, June understands that she can tap into the insecurity of white readers. She can connect their fears of being labeled as racists to her experiences and brand these events as an attack on her rather than as the consequences of her own actions. She will take the scandal and use her privilege to influence the narrative to position herself as the victim and Candice as the attacker. She knows she will once again succeed because the system around her was built to manufacture her success. White privilege in publishing means that the door will never close on June Hayward, no matter how far she falls.
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By R. F. Kuang
