“Or perhaps not arbitrary, but it hinges on factors that have nothing to do with the strength of one’s prose. Athena–a beautiful, Yale-educated, international, ambiguously queer woman of color–has been chosen by the Powers That Be. Meanwhile, I’m just brown-eyed, brown-haired June Hayward, from Philly–and no matter how hard I work, or how well I write, I’ll never be Athena Liu.”

June’s jealousy prevents her from truly recognizing Athena Liu’s talent and compounds with June’s racism to discredit Athena’s ability. In June’s mind, Athena’s success is not because of her talent or hard work, but because of her identity as a non-white individual. Conversely, June Hayward blames her own lack of success on her identity as a white woman. She believes that this will prevent her from ever truly succeeding.

“But then I just kept going. I couldn’t stop. They say that editing a bad draft is far easier than composing on a blank page, and that’s true–I feel so confident in my writing just then. I keep finding turns of phrases that suit the text far better than Athena’s throwaway descriptions. I spot where pacing sags, and I mercilessly cut out the meandering filler. I draw out the plot’s through line like a clear, powerful note. I tidy up; I trim and decorate; I make the text sing.”

Despite believing that The Last Front is a phenomenal draft upon first read, June frames herself as the text’s savior and exerts ownership over it by making significant edits. June consistently makes her theft of Athena’s work a personal journey in her own writing. Casting herself as the true author who makes The Last Front “sing” allows June to justify her plagiarism.

“There’s one part, for instance, where a poor French family wrongly accuses a group of Chinese laborers of stealing a hundred francs from their house. The laborers, determined to make a good impression of their race and nation, collect two hundred francs among them and gift it to the family even though it’s clear they are innocent. Athena’s draft only made a brief mention of the wrongful accusation, but my version turns it into a heartwarming illustration of Chinese virtue and honesty.”

June is later accused of racism in The Last Front, and this early example shows how June frequently alters the text in ways that center white characters and take agency away from the Chinese laborers. In this instance, she takes a moment dripping with prejudice and turns it into a scene in which the Chinese laborers go out of their way to resolve the issue despite doing no wrong.