Yellowface

June Hayward is the protagonist of Yellowface and the novel’s unreliable narrator. Throughout the novel, June is pursuing her dream of becoming a successful author, and her obsession with this combines with her insecurity and jealousy of Athena Liu to drive her actions and color her perceptions.

Readers are privy to June’s thoughts and changing opinions. The most notable aspect of her role as an unreliable narrator is her treatment of The Last Front and her changing perception of Athena’s talent in writing it. When June first glances at the manuscript, she is awestruck: “I can tell this book is going to dazzle. The writing is tight, assured. There are none of the juvenile slipups of her debut work. Her voice has matured and sharpened. Every description, every turn of phrase–it all sings” (14). However, as Yellowface progresses and June becomes more entrenched in her lie that The Last Front is her own, her views change. She frequently remarks that any failings are completely Athena’s: “Athena’s version was utterly unpublishable. That book exists because of me” (215). Her praise turns into criticism, and she views herself as the reason that The Last Front succeeds.