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Headfirst Across the Muddy Grass
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
While driving back to his grandparents’ house with Tito Danilo and Grace, Jay realizes he’s grieving Jun in a new way now that he knows the truth. Jun was not who Jay thought he was, and maybe Jay will never understand the real Jun. Jay found out at least some of the truth, but he doesn’t know if it was worth it. He’d hoped the truth would “resurrect,” but instead it ended up being a destructive force.
Earlier in the novel, Jay believed that the truth was a fundamentally good thing. He developed a more nuanced perspective as the novel progressed. Now he takes the opposite position by suggesting that the truth about Jun was entirely destructive—and not in a positive way, as Jay imagined a “flood” of truth would be. It’s interesting that Jay once believed the truth would “resurrect.” Jay didn’t want to mourn Jun and accept his death; rather he hoped that in finding the truth he could “resurrect” Jun— if Jun had been killed because of his Instagram account, he would have lived on as a martyr and his death would be meaningful. Jay claims to be grieving Jun in a new way, but really, he never previously grieved Jun at all. Now that he knows the more complicated truth, or at least a good chunk of it, he’s forced to truly mourn his cousin.
Themes
