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Brian Santos
Seth is Jay’s best friend in Michigan. He’s a stoner and a bit of a slacker, but he’s also intelligent and wants to study computer science. Jay and Seth care about one another, but the two rarely talk about their lives or feelings. As a result, Jay feels like he can’t talk to Seth about Jun’s death or about his grief. Jay does eventually try to broach the topic, but Seth reacts badly; he tells Jay that he’d almost forgotten Jay was Filipino because Jay is “basically white.” This only makes Jay feel more isolated and alone, because Seth can’t understand his experience. This is a pattern that continues throughout the novel. For instance, Jay wants to message Seth while he’s in the Philippines and tell him about everything that’s going on, but Seth insults the Philippines by reducing the country to its slums, so Jay doesn’t share anything with him.
Seth Quotes in Patron Saints of Nothing
The Patron Saints of Nothing quotes below are all either spoken by Seth or refer to Seth. 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:
).
A Narrower Country Than Expected
Quotes
“Man,” he says, shaking his head, “I forgot you're Filipino.”
“Huh?”
“You're basically white.”
I stop, stung. “What do you mean by that?”
[…]
He lets out an exasperated sigh. “I just meant you act like everyone else at school.”
“You mean like all the white kids?”
“Dude, our school's all white kids, so, yeah.”
Except it's not. The majority are, for sure, but his generalization—spoken with such confidence, such ease—makes me feel like he's erasing the rest of us.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Seth Quotes in Patron Saints of Nothing
The Patron Saints of Nothing quotes below are all either spoken by Seth or refer to Seth. 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:
).
A Narrower Country Than Expected
Quotes
“Man,” he says, shaking his head, “I forgot you're Filipino.”
“Huh?”
“You're basically white.”
I stop, stung. “What do you mean by that?”
[…]
He lets out an exasperated sigh. “I just meant you act like everyone else at school.”
“You mean like all the white kids?”
“Dude, our school's all white kids, so, yeah.”
Except it's not. The majority are, for sure, but his generalization—spoken with such confidence, such ease—makes me feel like he's erasing the rest of us.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
