I Ll Give You The Sun Characterization

I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson is about two twins, Noah and Jude, who have a close relationship but 3 years later, they don’t even talk. Each of them shares their story about love and sacrifice. However, the twins do not realize that each of them only has half the story. In the book, the twins had to reunite in order to clear up their past. The theme in I’ll Give You The Sun is to stay true to yourself. Jandy Nelson expresses this theme through characterization, symbolism, and plot.

The theme in I’ll Give You The Sun is represented through characterization. Noah Jude, and Brian are all dynamic characters. However, although they all change throughout the book, each one of them stays true to themselves and in the end, they all act like

who they are on the inside. In the beginning of I’ll Give You The Sun, Noah was very shy and reserved. He also didn’t have much connection with the outside world. He was trying to find how he could live in the world he’s in but still be himself. In fact, the text states, “All that matters is the worlds I can make, not the toilet-licking one I have to live in” (Nelson 242). This shows that Noah wishes he was in a different world without discrimination. Noah can only show who he truly is through his art. The text states, “It's not as easy for her to tell what's in mine, though, because I have shutters and I close them whenever I have to” (Nelson 16). This shows that Noah even keeps secrets from Jude because he is too scared of what she will think. Also, "There's a crawlspace in me that no one can get to, no matter what” (Nelson 23). This shows how reluctant Noah is to let people see who he really is. This is because he is afraid of what people will think. Then, when Brian leaves, his mom dies, and he doesn’t get accepted into CSA, Noah forgets who he is and turns into this athletic and popular boy who is far from the teenager that he was at the beginning. However, in the end, he begins painting and going back to who he really is. He finds Brian and reconnects with Jude. The characterization of Noah shows that even though it may be hard, you should never change who you are to fit in or please other people. Always stay true to yourself. The characterization of Jude also connects to the theme. In the beginning, Jude was acting very fake and not at all who she really was. The text states, “She’s shiny and funny and normal- not a revolutionary- and talks to everybody (Nelson 13). This was not who Jude really was on the inside. The only way that Jude could show her true self was through her sand sculptures. However, only Noah saw these pieces of art. Then, after her mom died, she changed into a completely different girl who is reserved and very superstitious. The text states, “I brought the bad luck to us” (Nelson 48). This shows that Jude blames herself for what happened to her mother and it also shows how superstitious she is. The reader also knows Jude is superstitious because of her writing style. Every now and then, Jude adds little phrases that show her superstition. The text states, “For courage, say your name three times into your closed hand” (Nelson 161).

When Jude’s Grandma died, she gave Jude her “Bible” full of superstitious phrases and quotes. The text states, “I’m a bit of a bible thumper. Other people have the Gideon, I have Grandma Sweetwine’s” (Nelson 24). The first chapter that Jude narrates, she immediately mentions this “Bible.” This shows how much Jude lived by this “Bible.” There are several times in the book where Jude uses this “Bible” to show her personality. At the beginning of the book, Jude was fake and not herself. However, throughout the book she changed into her true self. Overall, the characterization in I’ll Give You The Sun shows that you should stay true to yourself and not change who you are to please other people.

The theme in I’ll Give You The Sun is also represented through multiple symbols. The first symbol is the town that they live in. This town is Lost Cove, California. However, there is a larger significance behind this town. Each character, including Guillermo Garcia, Noah, Jude, Brian, and Noah and Jude’s parents are all lost. Noah and Jude have lost touch with each other and themselves. At some point, Noah and Jude have both turned into someone they are not. Jude was a popular and outgoing teen who then turned into a reserved and

superstitious girl. Noah went from a reserved and artistic teen to being popular and not artistic and then going back to art and being himself. At the end of the book, once all the characters have found their true selves, Noah and Jude’s dad tells them that they are going to live on a boat. Therefore, they are leaving Lost Cove. The boat symbolizes a new beginning and in this case, new personalities. They have now found themselves and each other. Another symbol that Jandy Nelson uses in I’ll Give You The Sun is Noah and Jude cutting their hair. Although this does represent them literally cutting off their hair, there is a larger meaning behind this. This also shows that the characters are changing. In Jude’s case, she is changing into her true self. In Noah’s case, he is changing into someone he’s not. At the beginning of the book, Jude lad long, blonde, curly hair. Then, after her mom died, she cut her hair. The text states, “...I cut off three feet of blonde hair and swore away boys forever” (Nelson 48). This quote not only describes Jude’s change in hair, it also describes how her personality changed. She went from being all about boys to not wanting anything to do with them. In fact, she began to wear outfits that she would never be noticed by a boy in. The text states, “The boy boycott’s on. I come fully equipped with boy-blinders and failsafe invisibility uniform” (Nelson 26). The reason Jude does this is because years before, she lost her virginity. She tried to say no but she didn’t have the strength to and her words got crushed. Not only is she against boys, her entire personality has changed. Instead of being this popular and bubbly girl she was in the beginning, she was now an introvert who didn’t have much human contact. The same sort of thing happened with Noah also. At the beginning of the book, Noah had long hair. Then, when his mom died, he too cut off his hair. Along with this physical change came a personality change. Noah went from being independent and imaginative with a small amount of friends to being popular and outgoing. Overall, the physical appearances of Noah and Jude have a larger significance. Another symbol is Jude’s sculpture. Throughout the book, Jude mentions how she thinks her dead mom keeps breaking her sculptures. The larger significance to her broken sculptures is that they represent Jude on the inside. The text states, “The assignment was to do another self-portrait. I went abstract, as in: blob. Degas had dancers, I have blobs. Broken, glued-together blobs” (Nelson 25). Jude is broken and depressed on the inside. Then, when she starts to work with Guillermo Garcia to make a stone sculpture, she beings to put herself back together and eventually fix her and Noah’s relationship. The text states, “‘...isn’t there a disease where the flesh calcifies until the poor afflicted person is trapped within their own body like it’s a stone prison?” (Nelson 150). Here, Jude is talking about herself. Her true personality is trapped in these sculptures and she needs to successfully make a stone sculpture in order to show who she truly is. This is proven by another quote on the same page. The text states, “Our real selves buried so deep in these imposter ones” (Nelson 150). Jude uses the word “our”, proving that she is referring to herself. Jude had to rebuild her sculptures in order to rebuild herself. These symbols help illustrate a larger meaning of work because they tie with one of the many themes. That theme is to stay true to yourself and accept yourself for who you are. In all of these symbolism examples, the characters are trying to find out who they are and stay true to that person. The entire book is about how people can change but they should always go back to their true selves. All of these examples show how people can change as they try to find themselves.
I’ll Give You The Sun is told in a very unique order. It is not told in chronological order and it is not told from the same narrators. There are two narrators in the story, Jude and Noah. Noah tells his story 3 years before Jude tells her. The author did this to show how both characters were very dynamic. They changed throughout the story. Because, of the order of the book, the reader can compare and contrast the characters in the past and future. The author depicted Noah as a very independent and unique character through Noah’s eyes. Then, 3 years later, when Jude tells her story, she depicts Noah as a normal teenage boy who just tries to fit in. The same goes with Jude. Noah depicts Jude as a stereotypical teenage girl. Then, 3 years later, Jude depicts herself as very unique and independent. I think the author chose to tell the story out of order to highlight these character changes. The text states, “...or whoever’s in charge of soul abductions to bring back my brother. Because in addition to joining dangerous gangs and having parties, this Noah also goes out with girls, keeps his hair buzzed and tidy, hangs out at the Spot, watches sports with Dad. For all other sixteen-year-old boys: fine. For Noah, it signifies only one thing: death of the spirit. A book with the wrong story in it. My brother, the revolutionary weirdo, has covered himself in flame retardant, to use his terminology” (Nelson 145). This quote describes how much Noah has changed throughout the book. Without the book being told out of order, it would be difficult to see how much the character has changed. The order of the plot also relates to the theme. The plot allows the reader to understand who the characters really are on the inside. This is because when the characters are narrating, they are being their true selves. For example, when Noah narrates, he is the reserved teen. However, when Jude narrates, Noah is a popular and outgoing teen. The same thing goes with Jude. When Noah narrates, she is outgoing. When Jude narrates you can tell how reserved and superstitious she is. This allows the reader to realize the theme because the reader desperately wants the characters to change back to their true selves. The order of the plot makes the reader think they know what’s best for the characters. It makes the reader realize how much the characters have changed and how much they have strayed from their true selves. However, the reader doesn’t know why each character changed until the very end. The text states, “Then I enter the crawlspace deep inside me and shut the hatch. Because I’m not coming back out. Ever” (Nelson 342). This is the exact moment in the book where Noah changes. Finally, the reader fully understands why the characters strayed from their true selves. The text states, “...and swore away boys forever because right after this happened with Zephyr, my mother died” (Nelson 48). This was the exact moment where Jude turned into a different girl. She did it because she blamed herself for her mother’s death because she wasn't home. The order of the plot highlighted the character changes and allowed the reader to understand what each character was really like on the inside. Therefore, the reader could realize the theme of the book is stay true to yourself.
The theme of I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson is to stay true to yourself. Jandy Nelson expresses this theme by suing characterization, plot, and symbolism. Overall, I think this theme is an important life lesson. People should not change who they are to please other people or to fit in. I think that if people want you to change, then they aren’t truly your friends. Throughout my life, this theme has greatly affected my life. On multiple occasions I notice that people act different around different people. This theme has taught me to stay true to myself. Overall, this theme has greatly affected me.