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
Jay and his aunts are driving to his grandparents’ house, which is a day trip away. They’re following Tito Maning’s car; Jay looks out at the countryside as they drive. Tita Chato notices that Jay didn’t sleep well last night, and she tells Jay that Jun was himself an insomniac; he would play guitar at 2 a.m. His voice was like the ocean, she says, though unfortunately they don’t have any videos of him singing. Tita Chato thinks that if Jun was alive, he and Jay would be close. Jay feels guilty for not writing Jun back and for hiding what he’s learned from Tita Chato. Jay’s mom told him that the truth hurts, and Mia said that the truth is necessary. Jay thinks both of them could be right.
Jay knows that the story of why there aren’t any videos of Jun playing guitar and singing is even more tragic than Tita Chato can imagine: Reyna had to sell the phone containing the video. Tita Chato is noticing the similarities between Jay and Jun, but she can’t know the way that this amplifies Jay’s sense of guilt. Jay’s position regarding the truth is evolving and becoming more nuanced, and depends on the situation.
Themes
Jay thinks he’ll tell them the truth soon and clear Jun’s name; he just won’t mention Reyna. Jay tries to fall asleep but remembers that on his visit to the Philippines during this drive he saw a van that looked like it had recently fallen into a ravine. He pointed it out to his dad, but his dad just said that that sort of thing happens here.
Jay is trying to navigate his way through which truths to reveal to whom, while also fulfilling his responsibilities to those whose secrets he has learned. Jay’s memory about his dad again demonstrates his dad’s unwillingness to reconcile the good and bad parts of the Philippines—instead, he’s always just refused to discuss the Philippines much at all.
Themes
