I'll Give You the Sun

The experience of rivalry and the search for identity in the dynamic between siblings is one of the main themes explored in the book. The dual narrative itself emphasizes the element of competition that exists in the story, as well as heightens the need for a search for unique identity.

Noah and Jude are twins; besides a birthday, the twins share their natural, artistic talent. With respect to the relationship they share, the earlier timeline displays how for a significant portion of their lives, Noah perceived the two of them as sharing one soul; when he depicted himself and Jude separately in his art, he would show them as having only half a body. Despite the rift between them, Jude, too, acknowledges the dynamic that existed between them; the first sculpture she works on is a conjoined Noah and Jude. The bond between Noah and Jude as twins, beyond just being siblings, is an intense one. This is highlighted in the depth of Jude’s anger and heartbreak in the few moments that Noah stops breathing when he jumps off Devil’s Drop and almost drowns.

Despite these significant similarities, however, the differences between Noah and Jude are obvious and numerous from the outset. The first of these is their respective genders and sexual orientations; the latter is of importance because it respectively impacts Jude’s self-concept of herself as “that girl,” as well as Noah’s self-esteem and ability to accept and express himself honestly. This influences a second difference between the twins: Jude’s sociability and Noah’s reclusiveness. The inversion of this in the later timeline of the book is presented to be a function of each of the twins suppressing or ignoring essential parts of their personality. Finally, even with respect to their art, Noah and Jude are characterized as being wildly talented in different mediums: Noah sketches, draws, and paints, while Jude sculpts.

The similarities that the twins do share, especially with respect to artistic talent, means that when the opportunity presents itself in the form of CSA, they are invariably pitted against each other in a competition for a scarce resource: Dianna’s attention and approval. CSA becomes the context and art becomes the medium, but the true intent of the competition is revealed when Jude asks Noah why he is unwilling to share their mother with her. It is hinted at when the twins first realize that Dianna has a favorite child upon her response to Noah’s art; it is confirmed when Noah throws away Jude’s invitation to Dianna to see her sand sculptures at the beach. However, Dianna is not the only parent who is responsible for competition between the twins; while she instigated a conflict between them based on what they have in common, there has always existed one between them based on their differences, courtesy of Benjamin. Jude is Benjamin’s favorite child, and Noah’s initial discord with his father stems from the fact that growing up, Benjamin constantly compared Noah to Jude, and Noah perpetually felt that he was brought up short.

The initial expression of the rivalry that exists between the twins is a constant and bitter one-upmanship. They each indulge in acts of spite towards the other, some prompted by jealousy, others by a desire for revenge. Jealous of Noah and Dianna’s closeness, Jude stops visiting museums with Noah and Dianna and finds new friends. Jealous of Brain’s initial response to Jude, Noah keeps her away from him, rebuffs Jude’s attempts at reconciliation, and begins to spend all his time with Brian and the girls. In retaliation for the latter, Jude manipulates the party game to try and steal Brian away. Noah, in turn, destroys all evidence of Jude’s talent with sculpting by erasing every picture he took.

As the story progresses, however, the twins move from needing to best the other to needing to separate from the other. One-upmanship moves into radical differentiation, and compounded by other events, Noah and Jude become unrecognizable inversions of their former selves. This over-correction is not solely a function of the conflict in their relationship. It is largely impacted by Jude’s betrayal when she does not mail Noah’s CSA application, but it is also a function of Noah and Jude’s respective personal conflicts with their own identities. Each express significant distress over their sexual identities. Jude goes on a “boy boycott” because she believes that being with a boy spells a portent of death, mixing up her unresolved grief over Dianna’s death with her unfortunately timed traumatic sexual experience, as well as Dianna’s constant assertion that Jude not become “that girl.” Noah, similarly, attempts to be more “normal” following Dianna’s death, suppressing his own sexuality owing to a combination of the guilt he feels over his actions towards Brian, and the desire for his one living parent’s acceptance.

Ultimately, the characters and the story arrive at a realization that each sibling’s search for identity is, in fact, an individual journey. The need is to separate from the other, rather than compete or oppose. This is seen in Jude’s active attempts to repair her relationship with Noah even as she simultaneously sculpts a conjoined Noah and Jude, only to split them apart. As she explains to Guillermo, she is, in fact, saving them. As the book ends, each twin takes accountability for the harm they have caused each other, and the competition between them is finally nullified, highlighted by Noah’s ambiguous response to finally getting accepted at CSA. Unable to choose the same way in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors for the first time in their lives, the reader is left with the sense that Noah and Jude are finally complete individuals on their own, separate and independent from each other.