LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Sun is Also a Star, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Immigration and the American Dream
Passion vs. Reason
Interconnectedness and Destiny
Isolation vs. Connection
Summary
Analysis
As she walks with Daniel, Natasha is ashamed of her rundown neighborhood. She comments that people are staring at them, and he insists it's because she's beautiful. Natasha pulls Daniel into a lighted doorway to talk about why people are staring, and Daniel insists he doesn't care why people are staring at them. He says he cares about her, and people's concerns about their respective races are ridiculous.
The shame Natasha feels because of her neighborhood creates more similarities between her and Dae Hyun, which shows again that part of being a first generation immigrant is worrying about the financial struggles that come with moving to a new country and being an outsider.
Active
Themes
Quotes
Natasha pulls Daniel past a row of clapboard houses to a brick apartment building. Natasha warns Daniel that the apartment is small and messy. She leads him upstairs, thinking that if this were happening later, he'd already know some strategies for dealing with her family. When she opens the door, Peter is playing reggae. Patricia yells at Peter to turn off the music, and it takes her a second to notice Daniel.
According to the multiverse theory, which Natasha told Daniel about earlier, there is another universe where Daniel is meeting Natasha's parents at a more appropriate time. This shows how even these imagined histories influence the present; they're connected even if they're not real.