Week 3: Analytical

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

1-128

Theme: Destiny

The Sun is Also a Star opens up to a passage on scientist Carl Sagan's explanation of how to make an apple pie. He says that "if you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe" (Yoon 1) asserting that everything is connected in some way. The two main characters in The Sun is Also a Star are very different from each other. Natasha is a woman of science and reason while Daniel is a man of hope and passion. Daniel believes that everything happens for a reason, also known as fate. Natasha believes that everything is random and that fate is inexistent. As the book progresses Daniel proves that Natashas theory may not be true.

(Nicola Yoon and her husband)

Daniel and Natasha see the world very differently and that is what makes the novel so interesting. The reader hears both Natasha and Daniels side of the story with a few chapters in the third person. The third person chapters often support Daniels beliefs on connectivity. The most notable case is about Donald Christiansen. Natasha and Daniel interact with Donald when he almost hits Natasha when she was crossing a street. Daniel luckily swoops in to save Natasha from the vehicle. Daniel and Natasha thought he was just a distracted driver but the next chapter explains his history. It describes how he was actually drunk and overcome by grief for his daughter, who had died years earlier in a car accident involving a texting driver. Later on in the novel, the audience discovers how Donald later hit Jeremy Fitzgerald, Natasha attorney. Although neither Daniel or Natasha know Donald, he still had an effect on their lives. Donald shows how the world is a lot less random than what Natasha may think.

Irene is another character that is mentioned in the book. Irene is a security guard at the USCIS building. Natasha and Irene interact almost daily due to Natasha's situation. Irene is described as severely depressed in one chapter. It mentions how she wished that someone would just say something to her. Later in the chapter, it says how she was planning to kill herself that night. I believe that by the end of the book Natasha will interact with Irene, making a positive impact on Irene's life. This is just another thing that should prove to Natasha that life is not random but purposeful.

The coincidences that occur in the novel show the reader how everything is connected. Daniel slowly opens Natasha's mind to the things that can not simply be explained with science. The more time Daniel and Natasha spend together, the more that Natasha starts to see how full of purpose her life is.