Patron Saints of Nothing: Our Separate Ways Summary & Analysis

Jay shares the whole truth about Jun with Mia, and doesn’t try to hide that truth, even though it doesn’t necessarily flatter Jun. Earlier, Jay thought that Brian Santos was implying that the truth about Jun’s death would be significant in some way. Now, it seems like Santos is saying that Jay’s experience learning about Jun’s death is significant. Meanwhile, throughout the novel, Jay has been told that his American heritage prevents him from understanding the drug war. Santos is now saying that Jay’s American heritage gives him a different perspective on the drug war that might benefit readers—in other words, Jay’s identity is a boon rather than a hindrance. Moreover, Jay’s story would be different from an American journalist telling a story about the drug war, because Jay is Filipino as well as American.

When Jay is hesitant at first to write the article, Mia argues that he must take responsibility for his own part in this story. That is a key point: Jay had to learn both to grant Jun responsibility for his actions, and take responsibility for his own. In his letter to Jun, Jay promised that he’d honor Jun’s memory. Now, he’s being given an opportunity to do so by sharing his own experience learning the truth about Jun. Jay’s concern that people will dismiss the story when they learn that Jun was selling drugs is fair—after all, Jay was immediately horrified when he learned that information. But telling the story is also a way to push past that reaction, to assert Jun’s humanity despite his relationship to drugs. Jay seems to value open communication much more now than he did before, since he bluntly asks Mia why she’s holding his hand. She seems to cop to their romantic connection, but she apparently doesn’t want to pursue a relationship, since Jay lives in the U.S. That makes her flirtation a little questionable. Then again, Jay has already learned that no one is just good or just bad—even Mia.