Grief In Randy Ribay's Patron Saints Of Nothing

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Randy Ribay’s “Patron Saints of Nothing” is an emotional novel that takes place throughout the Philippines. It follows the story of Jason (Jay) Reguero, who embarks on a journey to find out the true way his cousin Jun died. Throughout this whole journey, the theme of grief is present throughout the entirety of the novel and the different ways people handle it. From the novel's beginning, it is apparent that Jay, a seventeen-year-old boy living in Michigan, does not care for his homeland, the Philippines, and has stopped writing back to his cousin Jun. Instead, he is more focused on what is going on throughout America and who will be the next big pop star. This all takes a turn when Jay is playing video games; his dad comes in and tells him …show more content…

This shows that Grace was indeed the one to take Jay’s letters and still misses June. Grace taking the letters show she indeed misses Jun and wants to talk about him but is not allowed to because Tito Maning has forced everybody to pretend like Jun never existed. Unlike Tito Maning, Tita Chato and Tita Ines, the house is filled with family portraits, including Jun. This could be because they lived with Jun for one year and were able to get a deeper connection and understanding of Jun. This shows that Chato and Ines accepted and actually wanted/cared for Jun and did not hold the bad he had done against him. Unlike Tito Maning, both Chato and Ines still want to hold memories of Jun and do not care for the bad he has done in the past. Such as when Jun and Tita Chato were talking about how “[Jun] is dead” and that “there is nothing we can do about it except mourn” showing Jun must get over how Jun died (Ribay 173). They might think this way because they have had a more recent connection with Jun. Both Chato and Ines understand now that he is dead, there is nothing they can do to bring him

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