The Letters Symbol in Patron Saints of Nothing

When Jun and Jay are children, they write letters to one another. Though Jay eventually stops responding, he saves these letters, which come to represent his memory of Jun. In the letters, Jun shares his hopes, fears, and frustrations about his family and the political climate in the Philippines. When Jay travels to the Philippines, he takes the letters along, but they’re stolen from his bag when he arrives. He at first believes the culprit is his uncle, Tito Maning, but he can’t understand why Tito Maning would want the letters—he’s a police chief, and Jay suspects that he may have been involved in Jun’s death, but the letters wouldn’t have anything to do with that. Still, the letters do reflect Jun as a person, which would complicate Tito Maning’s job and conflict with his image of Jun as a drug addict.

Later, however, Jay discovers that Jun’s sister, Grace, stole the letters. The family had been trying to forget about Jun, never mentioning him. The letters helped Grace remember her brother and served as a physical reminder of his life, making him “alive again in a way.” This memory becomes more complicated once Jay and Grace learn that Jun was, in fact, a drug dealer, which they hadn’t previously believed. This means that Jay wasn’t necessarily the pure soul they remember. The letters take on a new meaning: they reflect Jun as he really was, not as they saw him or as others remember him. Through the letters, Jun becomes “alive again” in an entirely new way—if anything, Jay and Grace understand and see Jun more clearly now than they did when he was alive.

The Letters Quotes in Patron Saints of Nothing

The Patron Saints of Nothing quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Letters. 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:

Truth, Adolescence, and Justice Theme Icon

I feel like I should have taken her baby and given it to an orphanage or something. I told Grace this later, but she said there was nothing could do, that I am too young to take care of a child. She also said that there are probably millions of children that need to be taken care of and even if I was old enough I could not take care of them all. Even though she is young, I know she is right. And that makes me feel like my chest is hollow.

But, it seems to me that there are so many older than us who are able to take care of those in need. If everyone did a little bit, then everybody would be okay, I think. Instead, most people do nothing. And that is the problem. Does that make sense, Kuya?

Related Characters: Jun (speaker), Jay Reguero, Grace

Related Symbols: The Letters

Page Number and Citation: 64

Explanation and Analysis:

The next drawer, much to my surprise, is crammed full of Toblerone bars and packages of those Ferrero Rocher chocolates that are wrapped in gold foil.

[…]

The last two drawers, one on each side of the desk, are the kind that contain hanging file folders. I pull out the one on the left, and it's so light that I already know it's empty. Sure enough, there's only dust and stray folder tabs. I try the one on the right—but it won't budge.

There's a small keyhole, so I search through the other drawers for a key. I don't find one, but there are plenty of paper clips. I straighten one out and then poke the thin metal into the keyhole. I have no idea what I'm doing, of course, but it always looks so easy in the movies. Maybe if I keep poking it will hit a release?

Related Characters: Jay Reguero (speaker), Tito Maning

Related Symbols: The Letters

Page Number and Citation: 105-106

Explanation and Analysis:

He stops. Reaches up and pulls the sack off his head.

It's Jun. His hair's a mess, tangled with sticks and dirt, and the lower half of his jaw is missing, a gory mess in its place. His eyes meet mine. Two stars in a clear winter sky.

“What happened to you?” I ask.

The exposed muscle and sinew where his lower jaw used to be twitches as he continues moving toward me.

“I'm sorry for what they did to you. I'm sorry I lost your letters. I’m sorry I was too afraid to speak to Tito Maning again tonight. But please tell me, what happened to you?”

He doesn’t answer. He can't. Instead, he stops a step away. Then he reaches out and places his palm against my chest.

I wake.

Related Characters: Jay Reguero (speaker), Jun, Tito Maning

Related Symbols: The Letters

Page Number and Citation: 139-140

Explanation and Analysis:

I knew it. I fucking knew it.

The Jun who hugged me after that puppy died, who became a best friend more than a cousin, who wrote me letters for years, whose heart was bigger than anyone else's I've ever known—there was no way he would have sold drugs. He was too good. He was the best of us. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself knowing and feeling the pain and destruction those drugs would have caused.

Related Characters: Jay Reguero (speaker), Jun

Related Symbols: The Letters

Page Number and Citation: 212

Explanation and Analysis:

But I keep talking because I'm determined to resist falling into the same pattern as always. This is my life, and I want my family to understand it in a way none of us truly understood Jun's. If we are to be more than what we have been, there's so much that we need to say. Salvation through honesty, I guess.

[…]

We are not doomed to suffer things as they are, silent and alone. We do not have to leave questions and letters and lives unanswered. We have more power and potential than we know if we would only speak, if we would only listen.

Related Characters: Jay Reguero (speaker), Jay’s Dad

Related Symbols: The Letters

Page Number and Citation: 317-318

Explanation and Analysis:

The Letters Symbol Timeline in Patron Saints of Nothing

The timeline below shows where the symbol The Letters appears in Patron Saints of Nothing. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...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... (full context)

Responsibility, Guilt, and Blame Theme Icon

...Jun died. Jay’s dad leaves and Jay grows angry. He thinks about all of Jun’s letters and about the fact that he never answered the last one. (full context)

...Philippines when Jay was 10, he and Jun became pen pals, and all of Jun’s letters are in this box. (full context)

As Jay searches for Jun’s final letter, he wonders where his own letters to Jun are. There are definitely fewer of them,... (full context)

Jay finally reads Jun’s last letter. In it, Jun says that he hasn’t heard from Jay in months. Jun is tired... (full context)

Jay reads the letter several times, feeling guilty that he never tried to figure out where Jun went after... (full context)

...that Jun’s death wasn’t the result of Jay’s failure to write. Jay thinks about Jun’s letter and realizes that this is what Jun was saying: everyone ignores others’ suffering. Jay asks... (full context)

Sitting in his room before leaving for the Philippines, Jay reads a letter from Jun. In it, Jun says that he wants to be an astronaut someday. He... (full context)

As Jay reads the letter in his bedroom, his dad enters. He points at Jay’s decorations, asking if they’re new.... (full context)

...so his dad takes over. After his mom helps him pack, Jay secretly stashes Jun’s letters in his backpack. (full context)

The movie gets boring, so Jay reads one of Jun’s letters. In it, Jun tells Jay about a distressing recent incident. His family was at the... (full context)

...Jay remembers Tito Maning making to Jay’s dad the last time they visited. Through Jun’s letters, Jay learned that the family resented his dad for moving away. Jay says nothing to... (full context)

Wanting to return Jun’s memory to the room, Jay takes out one of his cousin’s letters and reads it. In it, Jun asks Jay to write more about Jay’s recent trip... (full context)

Jay continues to read the letter. In it, Jun relates how he recently visited the slums with Tito Danilo to hand... (full context)

...in Michigan where it’s quiet. He reaches for his backpack to read one of Jun’s letters, but he can’t find any. Jay grabs his backpack and searches harder, then checks his... (full context)

...morning at sunrise, Jay is still awake. He realizes that María must have taken Jun’s letters, since she was the only one who wasn’t at dinner. María doesn’t speak English, so... (full context)

...he really wanted to know. Later, Jun would sometimes bring up Jay’s answers in his letters. (full context)

...heads downstairs and encounters María. He tries to tell her that he can’t find the letters that were in his backpack, but María just nods and smiles, probably not understanding Jay’s... (full context)

...to search Jay’s stuff. Jay rushes into Tito Maning’s home office to look for the letters, happy that no one else is awake yet. He turns on his phone flashlight to... (full context)

...confront his uncle tomorrow. Back in Jun’s old room, Jay checks his backpack for the letters, but they’re still gone. (full context)

...jaw is missing. Jay asks Jun what happened to him. He apologizes for losing the letters and failing to confront Tito Maning. Jun touches Jay’s chest but says nothing, and Jay... (full context)

Jun would often complain about church in his letters. He would also complain about the hypocrisy of churchgoers, who praised Jesus but ignored the... (full context)

...dream was a manifestation of his guilty conscience, since he feels bad about losing the letters and failing to confront Tito Maning. Mia encouraged Jay to confront his uncle and sent... (full context)

...like this. When they leave the museum, and Jay asks why Tito Maning stole Jun’s letters. Tito Maning says that he didn’t, but now he knows why Jay was in his... (full context)

...Maning. He is sure that Tito Maning was definitely lying about Jun and about the letters. However, Jay reflects that Tito Maning is correct that the Philippines isn’t Jay’s home—it hasn’t... (full context)

...his aunts his checkout history. But one day, Jun left abruptly. He left them a letter saying that he was done “pretending” to be their son. Jay thinks that maybe Jun... (full context)

...to ask to keep it, but realizes that the song is Reyna’s the way the letters were his, and so he remains silent. Reyna recorded many of the songs but had... (full context)

...how he ended up on Tito Maning’s list. Jay also doesn’t know who took Jun’s letters. Jay knows it doesn’t matter if he never learns the truth, since he confirmed that... (full context)

...notices papers poking out of Grace’s bag. He grabs them and sees that they’re Jun’s letters. (full context)

Jay reads one of the letters. In it, Jun says that he recently decided to be a vegetarian after watching his... (full context)

Grace walks into the room and finds Jay with the letters. She quickly gets over her surprise and confirms that she was the one who took... (full context)

Grace says that she stole the letters when she went to wake Jay up for dinner that first night. She explains that... (full context)

...picture of Jun and a candle. Tito Danilo has a Bible, and Jay has a letter. Tito Danilo steps forward and says that he's going to speak in English so that... (full context)

Jay goes next. He lights the candle, unfolds the letter he was holding, and reads it. It’s a letter from Jay to Jun, which Jay... (full context)

...listens to a playlist of Filipino music that Mia made him and reads his favorite letter from Jun. In it, Jun says that it’s All Saints Day in the Philippines. On... (full context)

Patron Saints of Nothing

Randy Ribay

The Letters Symbol Analysis

The Letters Quotes in Patron Saints of Nothing

The Letters Symbol Timeline in Patron Saints of Nothing