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 the plane ride home, Jay listens to a playlist of Filipino music that Mia made him and reads his favorite letter from Jun. In it, Jun says that it’s All Saints Day in the Philippines. On this day, everyone gathers in the cemetery to remember and celebrate the dead, which might seem strange to an American, because cemeteries are creepy on American TV. But in the Philippines, the day is celebratory, which Jun thinks is a healthy thing.
This plane ride is very different from Jay’s plane ride to the Philippines. Jay is now more comfortable in his Filipino American identity and is able to listen to Filipino music without feeling clueless or out of place. Further, on the plane ride to the Philippines, Jay couldn’t read a letter from Jun without crying, and he felt like Jun’s “ghost” was following him. Now, he takes comfort in Jun’s letters. Throughout the novel, Jun’s letters have represented the person he was. Jay now knows that Jun was more complicated than Jay initially believed, but that only means that the letters represent all of Jun, not just the good parts of Jun. This letter is particularly fitting, as Jun tells Jay that death isn’t always a sad affair in the Philippines. All Saint’s Day is a day to celebrate and honor the dead—which is now what Jay does for Jun rather than trying to “solve” Jun’s death.
Themes
Jun’s letter continues: The day is also meant to celebrate the saints. There are saints for almost everything, even ice skates. Jun asked Tito Danilo why, and Tito Danilo didn’t know. Jun thinks it’s because people want to control their lives and imagine that specific saints can help. Maybe just the act of prayer helps them. Jun asks what Jay would want to be the patron saint of. Jun doesn’t know his own answer—that makes him the saint of nothing. Jay finishes reading and thinks about both Jun and himself, two “patron saints of nothing.”
This is an example of what Tito Danilo was talking about at Jun’s funeral: Jun always asked astute questions about religion. Tito Danilo was right that his answers didn’t convert Jun into a believer; in this letter, Jun demonstrates disbelief in the less-important saints. But Jun still supports people praying to those saints, because the act of prayer might be what someone needs to feel better. This is a pretty mature outlook, and it demonstrates that Jun wasn’t only interested in the “truth” about God and religion, but rather in understanding why people turned to religion and how it helped them. This fits in with Jun’s overall interest in the lives of others. Jay has felt adrift throughout this novel, but in this passage, he claims his own in-between identity by suggesting that he and Jun are both “patron saints of nothing.” In other words, neither boy fit into a clear-cut, specific category (like the highly specialized saints do). Jun never fit in at home and chafed against Tito Maning’s authority, and Jay has struggled with his cultural identity as a Filipino American. Now, Jay proudly claims the title of “patron saint of nothing” for himself and for Jun.
Themes
Jay’s dad picks Jay up from the airport, shaking Jay’s hand, which Jay finds strange. As they drive home, Jay tries to imagine his dad donating to Tita Chato’s organization. Jay feels that he has almost too much to say. Jay’s dad doesn’t seem mad that Jay broke his promise not to bring Jun up, but he doesn’t mention it at all. Jay imagines going to school tomorrow with people who don’t know about the drug war, discussing video games with Seth, graduating, starting college. It doesn’t seem like his life.
In this passage, it seems like Jay and his dad are going to remain as distant from each other as ever, even though Jay has gone on a great personal journey. The fact that Jay’s dad shakes his hand rather than hugs him demonstrates this distance, as does Jay’s inability to sum everything up. Jay’s vision of what his life might be like at home seems pretty bleak: he’ll maintain surface-level relationships and begin college without really knowing what he wants to study. That this life he is imagining doesn’t seem like his life—when it was his life just a short while ago—shows how much Jay has changed.
Themes
Jay tells his dad that he’s been thinking about college. He’s nervous to continue, but then he remembers everything he’s gone through. He tells his dad that he’s going to defer his enrollment, since he doesn’t know why he’s going to school yet. He wants to take a gap year and return to the Philippines to learn the country’s history and languages. Jay’s dad responds neutrally, which encourages Jay. Jay’s dad says that they moved to the U.S. for a better life and that Jay’s siblings didn’t go back, but Jay says that he’s not like his siblings. Jay’s dad assumes there’s a girl involved, and Jay mentions Mia but says that she’s not the only reason.
Jay finally speaks openly with his father, and his experiences in the Philippines are what give him the strength to do so. His plans for his gap year are about finding purpose and connection to his heritage and himself, not just about going with the flow or following what he assumes are the expectations for him. That his dad assumes the real reason is a girl is a little bit humorous, as the reason his dad moved the U.S. was also, at least in part, because of a girl.
Themes
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Jay’s dad laughs and says that they can speak to Jay’s mom about the gap year. He asks what happened in the Philippines—Jay seems older now. Jay tells him everything, and though his dad is shocked by how much Jay is saying, he asks genuine questions and listens to Jay’s answers without judging them. Jay finds it strange to be so open with his dad, but he feels he needs to be transparent to avoid old patterns. No one understood Jun’s life, so Jay wants his family to understand him. He thinks that this process of opening up is “salvation through honesty.”
Jay finally opens up fully to his father; in response to his father recognizing the changes in him and treating him like an adult. Jay’s openness is also partly motivated by Jun’s strained relationship with Tito Maning; Jay has seen where that leads, and seeks to create a different relationship for himself and his dad. Jay no longer thinks the truth is a purely good thing, but he does seem to have adopted Mia’s earlier position; she suggested that open communication was the key to good relationships, and Jay is putting that advice into practice now.
Themes
When Jay and his dad get back home, they pause in the foyer. Usually, they would disperse and return to separate parts of the house. Now, Jay’s dad offers to make coffee and asks Jay to meet him at the front of the house; he’s going to take the day off work. Jay sits on the porch and watches his neighbors begin their day. Jay knows that Jun is gone, but there are still things that Jay can change. The world is flawed, Jay thinks, but it’s important to really listen to people and end harmful silences. Jay’s dad brings coffee, and the two of them keep talking.
It seems like Jay’s attempt to break old, harmful patterns was successful, since he and his dad end up continuing the conversation they began in the car. Earlier in the novel, Jay’s dad took off work after learning about Jun but wouldn’t communicate with Jay about it. This time, Jay’s dad takes off work explicitly to communicate with Jay. In this final scene of the novel, Jay implies that truth is valuable when it enables you to begin an open dialogue with someone. Truth isn’t always “good,” but communicating openly allows Jay and his dad to begin to repair their strained relationship, which was previously full of silences and secrets. Jay can’t change everything about “the world,” but he can take responsibility for his own life, for his own actions, and for his relationships with others.
Themes
