Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Patron Saints of Nothing, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Truth, Adolescence, and Justice
Responsibility, Guilt, and Blame
Culture and Belonging
Death and Meaning
Summary
Analysis
On Jay’s last day at his grandparents’ house, he feels lighter than he has since he first learned about Jun’s death. Jay talks to his parents on the phone but doesn’t tell them about anything except the memorial. Tito Maning is quiet all day. Jay hopes that Jun’s memorial might make his uncle think more critically about the policies he’s enforcing.
It's strange that Jay still doesn’t tell his parents the truth about his time in the Philippines and about Jun’s death, but then again, it would be a long story to tell over the phone. They almost certainly know that something has changed substantially, though, since Jay does tell them about the memorial. Jay’s more nuanced understanding of human nature—which he gained by learning the truth about Jun—gives him hope that his uncle will eventually change. Jay doesn’t condemn Tito Maning, even if the two of them will never be close.
Themes
Tito Danilo brings Jay, Grace, Angel, and Tita Chato on an ATV ride to Mount Mayon. He tells an origin story about the mountain: a woman was saved from drowning by a man and wanted to marry him, but another man wanted her, too, and fought her rescuer. In the ensuing fight, both the woman and her rescuer died, and the mountain grew from their grave. Jay gets more texts from Mia, and this time he responds and agrees to meet tomorrow night. He’s no longer resentful that she didn’t respond to him.
Tito Danilo’s story is interesting, because on the surface, the moral of the story seems to be that death generates new life, which is the same thing that Jay’s mom told him. After all, the mountain grows from the grave of the woman and her rescuer. But once can also read the story as simply saying that life continued after their deaths; they died, the world continued to grow and change and be filled with life. This is a subtle distinction, and one Jay is only beginning to understand. When Jay thought he was searching for a simple answer to Jun’s death, he was resentful for Mia not doing everything she could to help him find it. Now that he knows things are more complicated, he cares less about small resentments or worries, which is why he texts Mia back.
Themes
