Hardika Patel Ms. Keddy Period 3: English 10 Honors 24 May 2023 True ‘Model’ Citizenship In the traditional eighth grade civics class it is heavily emphasized how the social and individual responsibility of all American citizens is to simply take part in the (age restricting) process of voting. That to put in a ballot was the bare minimum and the most humans could do to make a difference. However, the sheer amplitude of true social and individual responsibility is conveyed by Randy Ribay in his novel titled Patron Saints of Nothing. Ribay’s novel covers the story of a teenager named Jay, who discovers that his cousin, Jun, has died in the Philippines under circumstances that had been censored from him and his family. Therefore, …show more content…
During his trip to the Philippines, Jay became quickly accustomed to the lifestyle and members of his family, especially that of the Maning household. In the very household that Jun grew up in, to go as far as to speak of his name would be a crime. In order to truly bring justice to Jun’s name and revive his memory within his family, even after having been assaulted by his uncle, Jay still set out with Jun’s sister, Grace, on a mission to visit their uncle Tito Danilo to find out the uncensored truth. Jay …show more content…
To Jay, it did not matter the consequence, it did not matter the circumstance, but his desire to bring righteousness was unwavering. It is seen how his conviction stretched as far as to sacrifice his comforts to leave his Lola and Lolo’s home at dawn to do something as simple yet so courageous as to ask his family what truly happened to the cousin he loved profoundly. For, to go out of his way to ask, to learn and simply understand the truth in order to bring back the memory of those who were forgotten is the bare minimum. 1986 Nobel Peace prize winner, author Elie Wiesel emphasized in his 1999 speech delivered at the White House that to keep courage and conviction to take action thus acting against indifference is something of the very least that humanity can do. He