The Sun Is Also a Star

Daniel’s older brother, Charlie Jae Won Bae, has just been suspended from Harvard University for two semesters. Within the family, Charlie has been the exceptionally-accomplished older brother, attends one of the best schools in the U.S., and is deemed likely to succeed in life. This makes his suspension all the more confusing for Daniel and Charlie’s parents. Due to this news, their parents are applying extra pressure on Daniel to do well in his interview with a Yale alum, in the hopes that he will get into the Ivy-League school as a pre-medical student.

At Natasha’s family’s one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, New York, the family is readying to leave the U.S. for Jamaica the next day, as they are being deported. While Natasha’s mom and dad urge her to pack and her brother, Peter, is excited by the idea of starting a new life in Jamaica, Natasha is determined to find some way to stay in the U.S. She heads out of the house to go to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to meet with her family’s immigration lawyer, Karen Whitney, and see if there is anything that can be done to stop their deportation.

Daniel lists the reasons why he thinks his brother, Charlie, is an “Asshole” (6). He states that Charlie is frustratingly “good at everything” and a “man’s man” (6), all of which makes him appealing to his parents and other people alike. Among these reasons is also the fact that he is conventionally handsome and considered attractive. Not only is Charlie annoyingly smug about all of this, he also openly dislikes Daniel.

Natasha hurries to her immigration appointment at USCIS. As she proceeds through the security checkpoint inside the building, she experiences a delay when Irene, the security guard, goes through her belongings. Irene takes a while examining Natasha’s Nirvana phone case in the security bin, which makes Natasha late for her appointment.

Irene is a security guard at USCIS who loves her job because of the human contact it gives her. She recognizes Natasha from her regular appointments in the building. She picks up Natasha’s phone and tries to smile and say hello to Natasha but cannot muster the words, as she is too shy. She holds onto the phone for a bit too long, trying to find an excuse to talk to Natasha. Since she does not have a good reason to hold onto the phone for longer than she should, she returns it to Natasha, who is now officially late to her appointment.

Daniel remembers when he and Charlie stopped getting along. One summer, when Daniel was six years old and his older brother was eight, Charlie made friends with other kids his age and would go bike-riding with them. Convinced that Charlie had forgotten him, Daniel tried to catch up to his older brother on his bike, calling out “Hyung,” the Korean word for older brother. Embarrassed that Daniel had spoken Korean in front of his non-Korean friends, Charlie said angrily, “Why don’t you get some friends of your own and stop following me around like a baby?” (13). Charlie then rode away with the other boys, leaving Daniel by himself.

This chapter reveals that Charlie will remain a terrible person in the future. He will change his name to Charles Bay, become a politician, repeatedly cheat on his wife, betray his constituents, and become financially successful. While he will not become a better person, the chapter reveals he will do “a good and selfless thing for his brother” (14).

Daniel’s parents, Min Soo and Dae Hyun, fell in love and married in South Korea. They immigrated to the U.S. with the help of Dae Hyun’s cousin, who gave them housing and a loan to start an African-American-oriented beauty supply store in America. A few years later, Min Soo became pregnant with Charles. She was conflicted as to whether to name him according to the American fashion, where the first name precedes the surname, or the Korean way, where the surname precedes the first. She compromised, giving her son, Charlie Jae Won Bae, an English first name followed by Korean family name. They named their youngest child Daniel Jae Ho Bae. 

Natasha is late to her appointment with her immigration lawyer. The receptionist refuses to let her in or accept her reason for her lateness. Just as security is about to take her away, a lawyer named Lester Barnes agrees to consider Natasha’s case. Natasha tells him that her family’s immigration lawyer, Karen, had told her to come back and that there might be something they could do to appeal her family’s case. Lester tells her that Karen was new and did not know what she was promising Natasha. He says that Natasha and her family will have to leave at ten p.m. that night. Natasha thinks about yesterday, when she and her best friend, Bev, said goodbye.

Lester says nothing can be done about Natasha’s father’s arrest for driving under the influence. His arrest had alerted immigration services to the family’s undocumented status. As Natasha is about to leave, Lester tries to reassure her by lightheartedly referring to a Jamaican saying that “Everything is irie there” (20). Natasha gets angry at him for using a Jamaican saying that he learned as a tourist in her home country without understanding the direness of her situation. She tells him he has no idea what she is going through. Before she leaves, Lester stops her.

Irie is a word of many roots, including the Jamaican dialect of patois, and references the Rastafari religion. To be irie is to be “all right between you and your god, and therefore between you and the world” (24).

Natasha thinks of this word now because Lester has used it. She thinks of her father, Samuel, who had stopped using the word, along with other Jamaican slang, until their family’s deportation notice. Now Samuel has resumed speaking in Jamaican dialect and slang to smooth things over with his family after his arrest and assure them that everything is indeed alright. Natasha contemplates the word’s meaning in relationship to her current struggle as a Jamaican immigrant awaiting her family’s deportation.

Daniel’s mother, Min Soo, is making him a special breakfast of mandu (dumplings) in preparation for his interview with a Yale University alum. Daniel had applied early decision to Yale and his parents expect him to do well in the interview. As Min Soo is lecturing Daniel about the importance of doing well, she lets slip the words, “Don’t be like your brother” (28), just as Charlie walks into the kitchen. Charlie says nothing, but the moment is tense until he leaves. Daniel urges his mother to not be so harsh on Charlie. Given Min Soo’s uncomfortable encounter with Charlie, she needs Daniel to complete a task intended for his older brother. She tells Daniel to bring a bag of deposit slips to his father at the beauty supply shop. Daniel agrees. Before leaving the house, he dresses in a gray suit and bright red tie. Min Soo disapproves of the loudly-colored tie, but Daniel likes that it gives him confidence.

As Natasha wanders out of the building after meeting with Lester, she receives a series of concerned text messages from her friend, Bev, in California. She looks down at the note that Lester gives her, which has the name of immigration attorney Jeremy Fitzgerald written on it. 

Irene downloads the Nirvana album Smells Like Teen Spirit during her lunch break after seeing it on Natasha’s phone. Nirvana’s melancholic music moves her because it speaks to the suicidal feelings that she has harbored for years. She writes her suicide note, which is inspired by Nirvana lyrics: “Oh well. Whatever. Nevermind” (36).

Natasha calls the number for Jeremy Fitzgerald’s office and makes an appointment for eleven a.m. on the same day. She has some time before the appointment, so she decides to walk the three miles to the lawyer’s office. She plans to stop by her father’s favorite vinyl record shop along the way. As she walks, she puts on her favorite pink headphones, gifted by her father, and listens to music by Temple of the Dog.

Samuel, Natasha’s father, had moved to the U.S. two years before his family arrived to try to make it as a Broadway actor. The original plan was for him to get settled for a year before bringing his family over. However, Samuel was so enamored by his independence from his family that he delayed his family’s arrival for one more year. Samuel became progressively unhappier in his phone calls to his family and he lost some of the lilt and twang in his patois. Until his family arrived, he was unemployed and living with a family friend of his mother’s. When his wife, Patricia, came to the U.S. with Natasha, he got a job as a nighttime security guard so he could audition for roles during the day. His family lived with him in a one-bedroom apartment in Flatbush, Brooklyn. He did not have much success as an actor despite how hard he tried to get rid of his accent.

Daniel takes the 7 train from Flushing, Queens to Manhattan for his interview. Along the way, he thinks about how he will change himself to please his parents, which includes cutting his hair short and becoming a serious adult with responsibilities. His thoughts are interrupted when the train conductor begins to deliver a zealous speech about embracing God over the loudspeaker. The train conductor’s impassioned words about seeking out a higher purpose resonates with Daniel, who harbors doubts over his family’s expected path for him. When the train stops, the train conductor says, “Do yourself a FAvor. Get out of here. You will find God if you look for him” (43). Daniel takes this as a sign to reexamine his parents’ expectations for him and exits the train.

Natasha begins to gain some hope after her phone call with Jeremy Fitzgerald’s office. 

The train conductor steering Daniel’s train found religion after his divorce. His wife had left him, stating that she did not love him anymore. For four years after, he drifted through different jobs and apartments. He adopted a nightly ritual of falling asleep in front of the television. One night, an Evangelical Christian program was on the television. He was moved by the Evangelical Christian preacher’s message of hope and renewal through belief in God. The train conductor imparts the euphoria he experienced through the spiritual message to his passengers on the day Daniel makes his way to his interview.

Moved by the train conductor’s message, Daniel exits the train at his stop and tries to find a church. At Thirty-Seventh Street, he tries to enter a church but since it is locked, he opts to sit on the steps instead. From the steps, he sees Natasha swaying to the music in her headphones. She has a backpack that says “Deus Ex Machina” which means “God from the machine.” She walks into a record store called Second Coming Records. Daniel takes these instances to be religious signs and follows her into the record store.

At Second Coming Records, Natasha sees her ex-boyfriend, Rob, with the girl he cheated on Natasha with, a girl named Kelly. They are making out. Natasha sees Kelly shoplift a record. From behind, she hears Daniel say incredulously, “She’s just gonna steal that?” (52) Daniel wants to inform the shopkeepers, but Natasha wants to avoid any conflict, as it may seem as if she is reporting them out of jealousy. Rob eventually notices Natasha and approaches her to say hello. While they are talking, Kelly is caught shoplifting by the shopkeepers. Rob flees the store and leaves Kelly behind. Kelly relinquishes the records she is concealing and chases after him. Daniel introduces himself to Natasha and proceeds to shake her hand. Natasha does not give him her name and leaves.

Daniel laments the poor first impression that he made with Natasha. He is immediately in love with her.

Natasha thinks about her relationship with Rob. They met in AP Physics when she helped him with some of the class materials. She enjoyed being with him, especially as it allowed her to double-date with her friend, Bev, and her boyfriend, Derrick. She liked being part of a couple. When Rob cheated on her, she was more surprised than heartbroken at the betrayal, wondering, “how can you trust something that can end as suddenly as it begins?” (58).

After reminiscing about her relationship with Rob, Natasha thinks about the concept of half-life in science. In nuclear physics, biology, and chemistry, the term applies to a substance’s gradual loss in substance. Natasha thinks that love operates in a similar manner, as “nothing lasts forever” (59). Like the half-life of a chemical bond as hydrogen-7, love also gradually erodes, until it is gone completely.

Daniel follows Natasha for a while until they get to a street where she is getting ready to cross. Just as she is about to cross, a BMW speeds forward. Daniel grabs her just in time and saves her life. However, he accidentally breaks her headphones in the process. She is upset, as the headphones are sentimental to her. He offers to buy her a new pair of headphones so that she can feel better.  

The driver of the BMW is Donald Christensen, someone who had lost his daughter to a texting driver. Since then, he has been drinking so much that he has ruined his marriage. He almost runs over Natasha due to his drinking and driving, ironically almost reproducing the harm someone did to his own daughter.

When Daniel looks at Natasha, he appears to tear up as her eyes begin to water. Natasha finds this empathetic behavior odd. She is upset about her headphones because they were a gift from her father. While her relationship with her father has been difficult lately, the headphones represent one of her last good memories of him. Samuel had bought the headphones for her in the hope that he could convince his family that moving to the U.S. was a positive decision. Now that Natasha is awaiting her possible removal from the U.S., the damage to her headphones feels especially upsetting. 

Daniel notices Natasha’s attractive features up close. He experiences a “kind of déjà vu” when he looks at her and notes that “instead of feeling like I’m repeating something in the past, it feels like I’m experiencing something that will happen in my future” (66).

Daniel finally convinces Natasha to share her name with him. He then further convinces her to get coffee with him, as a small gesture for Daniel saving her life.

Daniel and Natasha go to a coffee shop. Natasha is curt at first, checking her phone nervously in anticipation of her appointment with the attorney, Jeremy Fitzgerald. After some awkward silence, Natasha goes to the bathroom, which prompts an anxious Daniel to pull out his poetry notebook and write. When Natasha returns, she gently pokes fun at Daniel for writing poetry but seems more interested in him than before. Daniel tucks his notebook away and decides to ask her a question about time travel, in order to break the ice. For the first time since they met, Natasha seems engaged in conversation and reveals that she is well versed in scientific theories about time travel that Daniel never knew about. 

When Natasha sees how eagerly Daniel is trying to get her to like him, she tells him to not fall in love with her. She says that she does not believe love exists. Daniel protests that there are so many love songs and poems that prove that love does exist in the world. Natasha claims that there is no science to it. Daniel says that he will find a way to prove it to her scientifically.

Of the many time-travel theories, Natasha favors the theory of multiverses. According to this theory, there are several versions of one’s past and future that exist. There are versions of Natasha’s life where she is not being deported and another one where the worst series of events occur. Natasha is not sure which of these universes she currently lives in.