Charlie Bae Character Analysis in The Sun is Also a Star

Charlie is Daniel's abrasive, rude older brother—the narrator insists that being awful is something Charlie never grows out of. Charlie is ashamed of his Korean heritage and especially his Korean family, to the point that he refuses to eat Korean food and even pretends he doesn't understand the language. He especially hates Daniel, who is able to comfortably accept his Korean and American identities, and mocks him every chance he gets. Charlie is home in November, when the novel takes place, after being forced to withdraw for two semesters from Harvard, where he was attending school to be a doctor. Both Dae Hyun and Min Soo are distraught and angry about this, and Charlie chafes under all their negative attention. He overhears his mother telling Daniel to not be like him, which makes him even angrier. In the future, he drops his Korean middle names to become Charles Bay and becomes a corrupt politician. However, he does one good thing in his life: he agrees to give Natasha Daniel's phone number, though he does it because he knows his parents will shift their negative attention to Daniel for having a black girlfriend.

Charlie Bae Quotes in The Sun is Also a Star

The The Sun is Also a Star quotes below are all either spoken by Charlie Bae or refer to Charlie Bae. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Immigration and the American Dream Theme Icon

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Random House edition of The Sun is Also a Star published in 2016.

In the end, she chose both. Korean and American. American and Korean.

So they would know where they were from.

So they would know where they were going.

Related Characters: , , ,

Page Number and Citation: 16

Explanation and Analysis:

Of all the ways today could've gone, I couldn't have predicted this. But now I'm sure that everything that's happened today has been leading me to her and us to this moment and this moment to the rest of our lives.

Even Charlie's academic probation from Harvard feels like it's part of the plan to get us to this point.

Related Characters: (speaker), ,

Page Number and Citation: 175

Explanation and Analysis:

"My parents are immigrants. They moved to this country for a better life. They work all the time so my brother and I can have the American Dream. Nowhere in the American Dream does it say you can skip college and become a starving artist."

Related Characters: (speaker), , , ,

Page Number and Citation: 291

Explanation and Analysis:

Charlie Bae Character Timeline in The Sun is Also a Star

The timeline below shows where the character Charlie Bae appears in The Sun is Also a Star. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...a teen accepting his destiny to become a doctor. He insists that it's his brother Charlie's fault that his summer has been so absurd. Charlie got kicked out of Harvard, and... (full context)

Interconnectedness and Destiny Theme Icon

Daniel lists the reasons Charlie is an asshole. Up until the Harvard debacle, Charlie had been good at absolutely everything.... (full context)

Daniel explains that Charlie stopped liking him when Daniel was six and Charlie was eight. Daniel hadn't yet figured... (full context)

Daniel had tried to call Charlie "hyung," a Korean title for younger brothers to use to address their older brothers. When... (full context)

The narrator explains that Daniel is right about Charlie: he's an asshole to the core. In time, he'll settle into being mean. However, before... (full context)

...in a "vortex of expectation and disappointment." He notes that the one good thing about Charlie's overachieving nature was that he never had to be particularly good at anything. Now, his... (full context)

...the conversation but is surprised when his mom says in Korean to not be like Charlie. (full context)

Charlie walks into the kitchen in time to hear Min Soo say this. Min Soo blushes... (full context)

...up the mandu basket, and Daniel watches her clean her steamy glasses. She asks why Charlie failed, and Daniel thinks she looks prettier and younger without her glasses. He thinks that... (full context)

...his mom might've been an artist if she'd never left Korea or had him and Charlie. Once Daniel is dressed in his suit, he kisses his mom goodbye and decides to... (full context)

...her a home loan. He feels ashamed that he shook Natasha's hand and thinks that Charlie would've been unbelievably charming. He would have Natasha dreaming about their half-Korean, half-African American babies. (full context)

Daniel's headline reads that he's just as much of an asshole as Charlie. He instantly regrets asking Natasha to wait outside. He wishes he could go back in... (full context)

...she'd look beautiful with a pink Afro. Natasha explains she'd only dye the ends. Suddenly, Charlie interrupts Natasha and Daniel. They jerk apart and drop the box of dye. Natasha thinks... (full context)

Daniel angrily takes a step towards Charlie, but Natasha grabs his hand. Charlie gleefully notices and celebrates that this means their parents... (full context)

Daniel thinks he'd love to light Charlie on fire, but he tries to focus on Natasha's hand. Dae Hyun asks what he's... (full context)

...her it'll make her hair not so big. Natasha explains that she likes it big. Charlie makes an innuendo about the size of Daniel's penis, and Daniel voices the joke for... (full context)

...that he could've never predicted the way this day has gone. He thinks that even Charlie's academic probation feels like part of a grand plan to connect him with Natasha, as... (full context)

Daniel confesses that he wonders sometimes if Min Soo made a mistake having him and Charlie, but he guesses that she's happy. Natasha shudders at the thought of living an entire... (full context)

...you can't make a home out of human beings. Daniel says nothing. Natasha says that Charlie was right: they can't be together, and he doesn't love her. He just wants to... (full context)

...He feels as though the universe is an asshole and isn't paying attention, just like Charlie. As Daniel thinks about how Charlie ruined his chances with Natasha, he thinks of how... (full context)

...but shoots Daniel a look that says there will be a conversation later. Daniel finds Charlie locked in the stockroom. Charlie sneers and makes a show of looking for Natasha. Daniel... (full context)

Charlie is surprised, but he just insults Daniel's appearance and asks him about his interview for... (full context)

Charlie gets close to Daniel and tells him that he doesn't like him because he's too... (full context)

Dae Hyun sends Daniel to get ice for his swollen lip and berates Charlie. Daniel sits down in the stockroom with an icy can of Coke, wondering why he... (full context)

...sons. Dae Hyun continues and wonders if he made it too easy for Daniel and Charlie, since they never grew up poor. Daniel feels like he almost knows his father and... (full context)

When Natasha enters the store, she's surprised to find Charlie behind the counter. When she greets him, Charlie slams his phone down and takes a... (full context)

Charlie smirks, plays with his phone, and asks seriously if Natasha has a fetish for Korean... (full context)

...phone when it rings. He answers the strange number: it's Natasha. When she explains that Charlie gave her his number, Daniel begins to wonder if Charlie's playing a joke on him.... (full context)

...in a fight. When Natasha sees his bloody face, she realizes that he fought with Charlie. He refuses to tell her what they fought over, but does admit that it was... (full context)

...great then, but he doesn't now. Daniel's memory was putting aside his fear to accompany Charlie on a roller coaster to try to make Charlie like him. Daniel comments that both... (full context)

...Korea, and eventually come to terms with the fact that their sons aren't just Korean. Charlie graduates from Harvard and seldom speaks to his family. Daniel doesn't miss him. (full context)