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Theme Of Patron Saints Of Nothing By Randy Ribay

829 Words4 Pages

Being a lost high school senior and expected to know what he wants to do for the rest of his life contributes to the feeling of dread and lack of motivation that came with senioritis. As an Asian American, he also deals with the pressure from peers and family to get into a good college. The book Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay follows the character Jay finding out that his cousin recently died in the streets of the Philippines, a place he hasn’t visited in years. Jay decides to fly to the Philippines to discover the real reasons behind his cousin’s death despite his family’s resistance. The theme of truth is expressed in Jay, how much effort he puts into finding the so-called truth that lies within the death of his relative, even putting …show more content…

Before Jay leaves for the Philippines his dad talks to him about how he brought them to America in order to give Jay and his siblings a better life. How he should feel grateful for that. “‘You may not speak Tagalog or know as much as you would like about the Philippines, but if we’d stayed, you wouldn’t have had all the opportunities that you’ve had here'”. (53) His father acknowledges Jay’s want for more by trying to view it as a blessing in disguise. It is stated in the quote that he does not know as much as he would like to. Being born in America and growing up in a predominantly white city can provide little exposure to diversity to those of a minority as the author dealt with as a teen. When Jay finally arrives at the Philippine airport he soaks in his surroundings. “I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be around so many people who look like me. I feel like I belong in a way I never do back in the States. But then again, my skin is noticeably lighter and I can’t decode any of the non-English words that fill the air”. (68) Though he is surrounded by other Filipino people like him he still feels out of place though less than he does back at home. He may look like the people around him but yet

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The book Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay follows the journey of a Filipino-American teenager named Jay as he tries to find out the truth about his cousin's death in the Philippines. Through Jay's perspective, the reader witnesses the social injustice that exists within the country. Jay's cousin, Jun, experienced these injustices firsthand, and through Jay, the reader can see the impact of social injustice in the Philippines. People struggling with drugs and poverty in the Philippines face social injustice daily by being criminalized by society.

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One of the recurring themes of Anne Fadiman’s novel The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the cultural unawareness that is present, not only the American perspective, but the Hmong perspective as well. This is evident in the recountment of a Hmong American that returns to visit Ban Vinai, a refugee camp in Thailand, after establishing herself in the United States. Most of the book is written with a focus on the Western doctors lacking understanding of Hmong language, customs and culture which in turn made it difficult for them to treat patients such as Lia. They struggled to explain procedures, while practical to them, appeared harmful and life-threating to the Hmong.

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There is often a time in Asian Americans’ lives when they experience a cultural disconnect: being too “White” for their Asian relatives, yet too “Asian” for their White peers. These feelings are true for Jay Reguero, the protagonist of Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay. Throughout the novel, Jay, a Filipino-American, struggles with feeling like an outsider in the Philippines because he cannot speak his mother tongue and has spent his entire life in the U.S. During his time in the Philippines, he attempts to connect with his culture but he is constantly reminded of how little he knows and understands about the Philippines. Therefore, this novel is about Jay’s struggle with his cultural identity and his feelings of guilt from not connecting

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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

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Dana Gioia builds his argument an interesting way. The use of ethos and logos really helps the reader feel like this is important and should go do something about the problem. The use of logos in this article makes the reader realize the severity of this problem. "Literacy readers are markedly more civically engaged than non readers, scoring two to four times more likely to perform charity work, visit a museum, or attend a sporting event. " This quote shows that literature readers are more socially and civically active through the use of credible facts.

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The Japanese immigrants never quite fit in, for they were “of the yellow race” (Takaki 179). And yet, they risked it all and left their home country, their families, and headed to America, like many immigrants before them. Not many found the riches and the opportunities that they were seeking, but there was no going back. They were in America and they had to make the best of what they could; their pride stood in the way of their surrender. America proved to be a much more cruel land than they had ever expected, but Japanese immigrants insisted on coming to America and often bringing their families with them, but why?

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On July 1st 1863, the Confederate army butted heads with the Union army in one of the most horrific battles of the American Civil War. The book The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara explained the disaster that was called the Battle of Gettysburg. This historical fiction novel took place at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and occurred from July 1st to July 3rd in 1863. The novel discussed how the actions of General Robert E. Lee, General James Longstreet, Colonel Chamberlain and many more men affected the course of events throughout those three long and hot summer days. Michael Shaara truly captured the pressure and stress that follows along with being in charge.

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Sometimes, we don't realize how much influence our culture has on our personal identity; even something as simple as the language we speak can reflect on the way we see ourselves. The main character Jay in the "Patron Saints of Nothing" had repeated experiences where he could not relate to the issues he faced in the Philippines because he did not live there. “Jay, it's easy for us to pass judgment. But we don't live there anymore, so we can't grasp the extent to which drugs have affected the country.” (An Improvement to Society)

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Qian Julie Wang’s memoir, “Beautiful Country” portrays her experiences immigrating from China to the United States at a young age. She discusses her challenges in adapting to a new culture and school system, changes in her family’s financial situation, and the constant fear of deportation as an undocumented immigrant. Through her personal story, the author sheds light on the struggles faced by immigrants in the United States, particularly those who are undocumented, and the emotional toll these experiences can have on individuals and families. In her memoir, Wang describes several biographical disruptions she experienced as an immigrant to the United States. These include the sudden switch in the family’s economic status, Julie’s transition

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Instead of seeking for hope and dream, he could only figure out a way to gain food to keep him from starving to death. To those Asian immigrants, the U.S was not a continent with hope and treasure, but a strange and exotic land where they had to think about all the possible solutions to stay alive. However, in the mainstream U.S history, which was typically Euro-centric and mostly white-oriented, the tough and mournful stories disappeared, or to be more specific, ignored. History was, to some extent, distorted. Throughout the history, the whites became dominant mainstream element in social construction, while the minorities, including millions of Asian immigrants, turned out to be marginalized from the mainstream society.

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