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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
After breakfast, Tomas drives Jay and Grace to see tourist attractions in downtown Manila. Grace is still cold to Jay even though he tries to make small talk. He asks her what it’s like not to have a cell phone—he knows Tito Maning won’t let her. Grace says that it’s better this way, since she’s not focused on shallow things. She trusts Tito Maning’s decisions, and when Jay presses her about Tito Maning’s intensity and strictness as Jun described it to him, she responds that she doesn’t want to talk about Jun.
Rather than talk with Grace, Jay seems to be trying to interrogate her about Tito Maning in the hope that she’ll reveal some useful information about Jun or about Jun’s relationship with Tito Maning. The way that Grace’s comment about “shallowness” mirrors things that Jun has said in the past is something to note.
Themes
Tomas drops Jay and Grace off in Rizal Park and drives away. To Jay’s shock, Grace pulls out a cell phone. He promises he won’t tell anyone about it. She tells him to follow her and leads him away from the park into a crowded street, where they hail a jeepney (a taxi) with a Chicago Bulls logo on the side. They’re not seeing the monuments, Grace says—instead, they’re going to the mall to meet up with someone. The mall is named after a shoe company, which Jay says is similar to the way American stadiums are named after brands like Little Caesars.
It turns out that Grace is just as rebellious as Angel and Jun. She had planned this secret trip all along, and it is implied that her talk of cell phones being shallow and perhaps also of not wanting to discuss Jun were for show so long as she was in Tito Maning’s car driven by Tito Maning’s driver. The Bulls logo on the cab and mall named for a shoe company suggests that not everyone in the Philippines is as devoutly nationalist as Tito Maning, and that there are ways that Filipino culture is similar to American culture. It’s notable that Jay discovers this cultural similarity at the same moment when Grace reveals more about herself to Jay.
Themes
When Grace and Jay reach the mall’s second floor, two girls are waiting for them. They look like sisters: the taller girl is stylish and the shorter girl has a shaved head and wears all black. Grace introduces the shorter girl as Mia, and Mia’s sister is Jessa. Grace tells Jay that she and Jessa will meet up with Jay and Mia later, and the three girls poke fun at Jay in Tagalog. Jay is disappointed, since he won’t be able to talk to Grace or ask her questions. Mia asks if Jay wants to play laser tag, and Jay watches Grace and Jessa walk away holding hands.
Grace has a whole life that Tito Maning (presumably) doesn’t know about—she and Jessa seem to be secretly dating. Hilariously, Jay thought he was going to use Grace to get information about Jun. Instead, Grace used Jay to finagle a date with Jessa, and Jessa obviously brought Mia to keep Jay occupied. Jay can’t even protest the plan, since they’re using his lack of Tagalog knowledge against him. Jay always thinks he has the upper hand when he's playing detective, but in this instance, Grace was one step ahead of him.
Themes
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