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 Sunday morning, the family goes to church. The building is a bigger version of the Catholic churches Jay has been in before, and there’s also a larger crowd than Jay is used to. Tito Maning has a reserved section up front, and once the family is in the aisle, Jay begins to scratch at the collar of the Barong (formal shirt) he borrowed from Tito Maning. Jay hasn’t been to Mass in years. His family used to go every Sunday, though they weren’t really religious. When Chris graduated, they stopped. Jay thinks his parents wanted to raise their kids religious because it seemed like good parenting, so the job was done when everyone got older.
Tito Maning’s reserved seats show that his job gives him status. Jay’s cultural dislocation is on display once more through the itchy formal shirt he had to borrow. Jay’s thoughts of his own experiences going to church versus what he sees here in the Philippines emphasizes the differences between the two cultures. While such comparisons in the novel up until now have been to the detriment of the Philippines, this comparison gives the sense that there’s a degree of emptiness in American culture, at least in terms of religion, where belief and community don’t really seem to exist..
Themes
Jun would often complain about church in his letters. He would also complain about the hypocrisy of churchgoers, who praised Jesus but ignored the poor and the Church’s corruption. Jun was disappointed when Tito Danilo was ordained. However, Jun also believed in God. Jay doesn’t know if he believes in God, but he always liked going to church, and he liked the general message of doing good. He was sad when his family stopped going, but he never said so. At home, religious kids are considered weird.
Readers already know that Jun disdained what he saw as the church’s corruption and hypocrisy, while also admitting that the church was doing some good for poor communities. Clearly, Jun had a complex view of the Catholic church, one that reconciled its better elements with its uglier ones. This was pretty mature of him—even Jay’s dad, for instance, can’t fully reconcile the bad parts of the Philippines with the good parts. Jay’s interest in the message of “doing good” jives with his current idea about solving Jun’s death. Meanwhile, the novel again highlights a sense that America is less friendly to religion than the Philippines is.
Themes
Jay listens to the organ and to the priest’s blessing. Everyone sings, and then a woman reads a passage from the Bible. It’s in Tagalog, so Jay can’t understand. His mind wanders to the dream he had. He texted Mia about it this morning, and she said that many Filipinos believe that the dead visit if they have unfinished business. Jay doesn’t think he saw Jun’s ghost, but he thinks that the dream was a manifestation of his guilty conscience, since he feels bad about losing the letters and failing to confront Tito Maning. Mia encouraged Jay to confront his uncle and sent a winking face. Jay almost falls asleep during the sermon, which he realizes Tito Maning has noticed with disapproval.
Once again, Jay’s inability to speak Tagalog leaves him feeling out of place. Jay shows some self-awareness to realize that his dream about Jun is a manifestation of his guilt. Mia’s comment about Filipino belief in ghosts looking to handle unfinished business is another instance of people seeing a meaning in death—or in this case undeath.
Themes
