95 pages • 3 hours read
The Sun Is Also a Star
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Themes
The Multiverse and Alternative Histories
Throughout the novel, Daniel and Natasha entertain the notion of multiverses, where they can live out different iterations of their lives. According to the novel, the multiverse theory claims that “every version of our past and future histories exists, just in an alternative universe” (79). As both Daniel and Natasha are at different junctures in their lives, the existence of alternative outcomes for their lives is an appealing concept. It is a resolution to the grandfather paradox, which proposes that any alterations to one’s history will cause the present to not exist at all. For Natasha, the multiverse theory is more appealing than the grandfather paradox as it permits her agency to navigate her life following her father’s exposure of their family’s undocumented status to the government. She imagines “a universe where Samuel Kingsley does not derail his daughter’s life. A universe where he does derail it but Natasha is able to fix it. A universe where he does derail it and she is not able to fix it” (79). For Natasha, it is more meaningful to imagine a range of favorable and unfavorable outcomes than a single path that can either lead to bad or good. Given the precarity of her immigration status, the imagination of alternative histories gives her a scientific basis to cope with her impending deportation.
The notion of multiverses also enables Daniel and Natasha to take the leap in developing their romance. It incites the two of them to discuss their life ambitions, hopes, and fears. It also creates the condition of possibility for their romance, even when deportation is inevitable for Natasha. While the two eventually drift apart after Natasha leaves the U.S., the novel foreshadows, “[m]aybe their universe is just taking longer to form” (340). Although they do not live in the universe where Natasha’s deportation is halted, the Epilogue reveals that they do find each other again ten years later. While the universe they currently live in does not permit them to be together while they are young, they gain the opportunity to be together later in life, older and wiser through each other’s influence.
Empathy Through Cross-Cultural Connection
As an interracial and cross-cultural couple, Daniel and Natasha not only face racism and xenophobia in their daily experiences, but they also find these obstacles amplified when they are together. When Daniel and Natasha share with each other their parents’ preferences for who they should date or marry, both express that their parents prefer them to date within their respective racial and ethnic identities. Daniel reasons that his parents want him to date Korean girls because “[t]hey think they’ll understand Korean girls” (312). Natasha shares that her parents likely prefer that she date a black boy. Daniel points out that her parents’ dating preference for her is preposterous, since “it’s not like all Black people are the same” (312). Natasha agrees with that sentiment, leading them to conclude that their parents’ ideas about race are outdated. Natasha wonders aloud if “[m]aybe our kids will” outgrow their parents’ racist and conservative views (313). Daniel and Natasha possess hope that their relationship can set an example for future generations to recognize and find ways of connecting across racial differences.
To build a mutually-accepting, cross-cultural and interracial romance, Daniel and Natasha first have to address their differences honestly. While they are both people of color, Daniel possesses certain privileges as a U.S. citizen and son to a Korean-American owner of a black beauty supply store. His family is part of a thriving South Korean industry that sells black hair products to black women. Interpersonally and economically, Daniel has multiple advantages over Natasha, whose immigration status is precarious and whose identity is commodified by a non-black market. The two first have to overcome Daniel’s internalized prejudice when he hesitates to introduce Natasha to his father, knowing his father would disapprove of Daniel dating a black girl. When Natasha registers the implications of his hesitation, Daniel realizes that for them to have a sustainable future together, he has to stand up to his racist family. He acknowledges that “[i]f it’s going to be Daniel and Natasha, then dealing with my dad’s racism is only the beginning” (132). For the two to successfully be together, Daniel has to recognize that Natasha’s experiences take precedent in that moment and he has an obligation to stand up for her.
The Precarity of the American Dream
Both main protagonists of the novel Daniel and Natasha are part of the immigrant narrative in the U.S. in different ways. Daniel was born in the U.S. to South Korean immigrant parents. As he was born in the U.S., he is a U.S. citizen. Natasha as well as the rest of her family immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica but are undocumented. Due to her father’s arrest and revelation of their undocumented status to the police, Natasha and her family face deportation. While both characters face different obstacles given their citizenship status and cultural identity, their struggles show a similar desire for the American Dream. According to Daniel’s father, Dae Hyun, the American Dream means “[y]ou go to school, you become a doctor, you be successful. Then you never have to work in a store like this. Then you have money and respect, and all the things you want will come. You find a nice girl and have children and you have the American Dream” (236). For Dae Hyun, the American Dream for Korean Americans means financial stability and success. It signals the ascent out of poverty to a more comfortable standard of living. In a related sense, Natasha’s father Samuel’s aspirations in the U.S. involve such stability through acting stardom, believing that his talents from his time acting in Jamaica will translate to a U.S. audience. For Samuel, the American Dream means that his artistic aspirations could flourish despite the racism and xenophobia he experiences in the U.S., which often prevent him from getting the roles he desires.
Daniel and Natasha’s parents’ respective notions of the American Dream play a crucial role in how their children navigate their lives. For Daniel, his parents’ emphasis on attending an Ivy League school, becoming a doctor, and marrying a Korean girl disagree with his artistic ambitions. Meanwhile, Samuel’s dreams create tensions in his family, leading to a falling out with his daughter. As a result, Natasha is skeptical of the arts and any field that does not promise a secure life. Both Daniel and Natasha reject their parents’ ideas of the American Dream and go on to show that outside forces consistently make the American Dream hard to achieve. It appears momentarily that Daniel and Natasha may be together and create their own American Dream when Jeremy Fitzgerald promises to put a stop to her deportation. However, this dream is short-lived when they learn that Natasha’s deportation will move forward after all. With the American Dream existing merely as a promise to immigrants and their children, the reality proves far more complicated.
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