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
Now in the present day, Jay and his friend Seth sit on the roof of their old elementary school at night. Seth is huge and looks older than he is, whereas Jay looks young for a high school senior. Four years ago, Seth figured out how to get up here on the roof. Back then, Jay was scared of heights and getting arrested, but this is their spot now. Seth pulls out a joint and offers it to Jay, who refuses as usual. Jay isn’t anti-smoking, just worried about getting caught. The two sit and think about the future—spring break and graduation are approaching.
This passage draws a parallel between Seth and Jun. Seth looks older than he is, and readers already know from the puppy incident in the previous chapter that Jun acts older than he is. Jay’s reasons for refusing the joint portray him as scared of the consequences of breaking “the rules,” which is at least somewhat at odds with stereotypes about teenagers. The boys are high school seniors, which means they’re in a kind of in-between state between adolescence and adulthood. It makes sense that they’re both fixated on the future, because their lives are about to change significantly.
Themes
Seth pulls something out of his bag and tosses it to Jay: it’s a University of Michigan hoodie. Jay responds unenthusiastically, which confuses Seth, who expected Jay to be more excited about having been accepted to attend Michigan. Seth asks if Jay is still upset about all the colleges that rejected him, which Seth thinks is dumb, since Jay had applied almost exclusively to Ivy League schools. Jay responds that he only applied to Ivies because of his parents. If he’d applied somewhere like Central, where Seth is going, they would’ve freaked out. In fact, when Jay texted his family earlier in the day about getting into Michigan, his sister and mother were proud, but Jay’s dad made a joke about how Michigan is no Harvard. And Jay’s brother, who actually did get into Harvard, didn’t respond at all.
Jay’s unenthusiastic reaction to the University of Michigan hoodie speaks to his uncertainty about his place in life and what he wants to do with his future. Choosing where to apply based on his parents’ wishes rather than his own makes clear that he hasn’t grappled with who he is or what he wants; he hasn’t taken responsibility for himself. For Jay, this tension between pleasing his family and forging his own path will run throughout the work. Jay’s father’s passive-aggressive “joke” shows that Jay’s parents’ expectations really are quite forceful, and it also highlights the lack of communication and connection between Jay and his father.
Themes
Jay tells Seth that he isn’t upset about the Ivies, which is true. Actually, his lack of enthusiasm is a result of not knowing what he wants to do career-wise, when everyone else expects him to. Jay knows Seth wouldn’t understand; Seth may be a stoner, but he knows that he wants to study computer science. Besides, he and Seth never talk about their feelings. Instead, they give each other space when they’re upset. When Seth’s parents got divorced, Seth was sad, but he and Jay never discussed it.
Jay isn’t just isolated from his Filipino relatives and his own family. He also is disconnected from his best friend, who he assumes wouldn’t understand his experience. That Jay and Seth’s entire relationship seems to be built around not sharing their feelings creates a contrast that makes Jay’s relationship with Jun more extraordinary, as Jun’s empathy when the puppy died meant that Jay and Jun were able to discuss their mutual sadness. In contrast, Seth couldn’t even express his sadness about his parents’ divorce.
Themes
The only person Jay could really talk to was Jun. They used to write each other letters. Jay thinks that if Jun ever returned to school then he is probably also graduating this year, but Jay has no way of knowing—he screwed things up with his cousin a while back. Seth sits next to Jay smelling like weed, which Seth’s parents won’t even care about. Seth tries to comfort Jay about Harvard, not realizing that this isn’t why Jay is upset. Eventually, Seth just starts talking about video games.
Up until this moment, the novel has contrasted the strength and openness of Jay and Jun’s relationship with Jay’s other relationships. Now, suddenly, the novel complicates Jun and Jay’s relationship by revealing without explanation that their relationship has been broken and that Jun for some reason left school. The novel, then, sets up Jun as the person who offers the lonely Jay a chance at real connection, while also making Jun into a mystery who Jay doesn’t really know at all. Meanwhile, the novel continues to highlight Jay’s isolation. Jay’s comment that Seth’s parents wouldn’t care about him smoking weed emphasizes that Jay’s own parents would care, again emphasizing the pressure Jay feels from his parents. And Seth’s failure to understand the reasons behind Jay’s sadness only increases the novel’s portrayal of Jay as being all alone.
Themes
Get the entire Patron Saints of Nothing LitChart as a printable PDF.
