Patron Saints Of Nothing Junk Quotes

In Patron Saints of Nothing, Randy Ribay demonstrates that a hero is someone motivated to help others because they have experienced hardship themselves. According to this definition, Jun and Jay are the heroes of Patron Saints of Nothing.

Jun is a hero as he handles difficulties in himself and still continues to aid others. Jay and Grace discuss their thoughts about Jun after they find out a part of Jun's life. Grace defends her brother, Jun for his actions:

“‘He was struggling. Just because he was a user, a pusher, it doesn’t mean that his life was ruthless. It doesn’t mean that there wasn’t good in him’” (Ribay 290). Jun shows two sides to his character as this quote illustrates his hyphenated identity. Grace states that even though Jun

Mia and Jay dive deeper into Jun’s past and investigate Reyna, Jun’s past lover. Reyna elaborates more about her impression of Jun’s character: “It was not enough for Jun to live his own life. He was always trying to help people, and around here, there is no shortage of those who need help. In particular, he was drawn to the addicts… he spent less and less time with [Reyna], and more and more time trying to help people get clean or at least find something to eat” (Ribay 212). Jun is constantly trying his best to help those around him. He is “drawn to the addicts” as he can relate to them about their own dilemmas. As a drug addict himself, Jun understands others with similar issues due to him enduring his own

Jay decides to go to the Philippines over his spring break to seek the truth about Jun’s death. After being kicked out of Jun’s family household for mentioning the death of his cousin, Jay begins to question himself: “Maybe I shouldn’t have come here. I should have stayed in Michigan, playing video games and completing my spring break homework. I should have accepted the fact that Jun was dead and that there was nothing that I could do–nothing I should do–about it. Fall would have come, and I would have been in Ann Arbor, secure in my ignorance” (Ribay 162). Jay is experiencing self-doubt within himself at this point in his hero’s journey. He endures his own hardship as he questions his decision in coming to the Philippines. Jay wishes that he did not choose to go to the Philippines and just accept that “Jun [is] dead” as he continues on with his life in America. Jay goes through his struggles but still continues to move forward in the