The Sun Is Also a Star

After leaving the store, Daniel gives a dollar to a violinist outside. He decides to find Natasha but realizes that he does not have her phone number. He decides to try his luck by returning to Jeremy Fitzgerald’s office, where he dropped her off once before. 

Natasha sets out to find Daniel. Along the way she sees a couple arguing by the train station.

On the train, Daniel witnesses a dancing flash mob on the platform. It enlivens the mood on his train.

Natasha is on a train on the other side of the platform from Daniel, but with her back turned she does not know he is close by. It takes her a while to realize that the flash mob is happening across the platform. She takes a few pictures before returning to her headphones. 

Daniel passes by the same arguing couple that Natasha sees on his way to the lawyer’s office.

Natasha is on her way to Daniel’s family’s store. She passes by the same violinist that Daniel gave money to. She gives her a dollar as well and notices that her sign says that she is trying to earn enough money to buy back her violin from the pawnshop. 

At Jeremy Fitzgerald’s building, Daniel does not know where to begin to look for Natasha. He decides to check the meeting location for his interview and finds out it is in the same building as Natasha’s lawyer.

Natasha reaches Daniel’s family’s store and encounters Charlie at the register. After he is rude to her, Natasha convinces him to give her Daniel’s number so that she can reach him. She reasons that if they are together, then it will cause Daniel trouble with his parents. This appeals to Charlie, so he gives her Daniel’s number.

Natasha calls Daniel. They apologize to one another.

Natasha makes her way back to Jeremy Fitzgerald’s office. When Natasha sees Daniel, they are both delighted to find each other again. She figures out that his bruises and swollen lip are due to a fight with Charlie. She tells him the good news from Jeremy’s office. She also makes one final call to Lester’s office, where she thanks him for helping her and that she hopes he can pass on her gratitude to Irene the security guard, who delayed her that morning. If it were not for Irene, the series of events to follow might not have taken place.

After signing in at the front desk of the building where Daniel’s interview was to take place, the two of them attempt to go up to the roof to kiss before Daniel’s interview. When they reach the roof, they encounter a security guard who has just finished his smoke break. The security guard tells them they are not allowed to be there. He coughs heavily. Surprisingly, Natasha tells him not to smoke as his cough seems alarming. She demands his pack of cigarettes. He relinquishes them, moved by her care, and permits them access to the roof.

Natasha reminds Joe the security guard of his wife, Beth, who died from cancer not long ago. He started smoking to cope with her loss, believing that it would not matter if he died anyway. Natasha’s intervention moves him to quit after that day.

Daniel and Natasha kiss on the roof. Daniel teasingly asks if Natasha is in love with him yet. She coyly tells him that she is not in love with him. He teases that there is still time for that to happen.

Daniel and Natasha continue to ask each other questions on the roof. Daniel asks who Natasha would invite over for dinner. She decides to turn the question back on Daniel, who says sincerely that he would like to invite God. They joke about Daniel’s earnestness. Natasha tries to offer a scientific explanation of God and the universe by discussing dark matter. Daniel offers that the mysterious dark matter that holds the planetary bodies in their current orbit is love. According to him, love comprises the unaccounted substance of the universe.

The next question they answer is to fill in the blanks for the following: “We’re both in this room feeling…” (275). Natasha tries to joke her way out of answering so Daniel answers first, “Happy, horny, and hopeful” (275). When pressed, Natasha finally replies, “[c]onfused” and “[s]cared” and “happy” (275-76). They also respond to a question about their most treasured memory. Natasha remembers the first time she ate an ice cream cone wearing her Easter Sunday dress, which was her father’s idea. Daniel remembers fearing going on Space Mountain in Disney World but doing it anyway so that his parents would let Charlie go as well. Afterwards, Charlie commended him on being brave. Natasha and Daniel laugh about how both their memories involve people they are not fond of.

Scientists theorize that the first “eyes” began as a light-sensitive spot on the skin. These eyes evolved over time through a need for survival through sight and observation of predators. Due to this history of evolution, one might wonder why the phrase “love at first sight” privileges sight as the sensory mechanism for recognizing love. However, there seems to be a connection between love and sight. Studies have also shown that when people are attracted to one another, their pupils will dilate when the object of their affection is in their presence. 

Much to Daniel’s surprise, his interview is with Jeremy Fitzgerald. When he arrives, he sees Hannah crying. He tries to console her but ends up crying, too, out of empathy. They briefly talk about how they want to predict the future. Hannah says she has to leave but asks Daniel to let Jeremy know that he is a wonderful man. Jeremy opens the door of the office. When Daniel greets him, Jeremy simply tells him that he is late.

Natasha still has not received a call from Bev. She texts her mother that she is running late and is scolded. Her mother asks if there is any news about their immigration status. Natasha does not tell her about Jeremy’s promise because she does not want to get her mother’s hopes up.

Samuel remembers two times when he performed as an actor with such greatness that he felt promise in his career. The first time was ten years ago, in Jamaica, when he performed in a play that would inspire his journey to the U.S. The second time was his performance in A Raisin in the Sun. He realizes that the underlying reason why he revealed his family’s undocumented status to the police was because he felt he did not belong in the U.S. He is too racially and culturally different. He says, “In America I can’t get an audience” (288). 

At his interview, Jeremy Fitzgerald wants to know why Daniel agreed to take part in the interview, despite appearing not to care. Daniel reveals that he is doing the interview for his parents, who want a better life for him. However, he is not sure about attending college as a pre-medical student and wants to be a poet instead. Jeremy presses him to explain further. Daniel openly questions Jeremy about his life, and whether his stable path in life truly led to happiness. Daniel figures out that Jeremy had just ended his new relationship with Hannah so that he would not break up his family. Daniel sees Natasha’s file on Jeremy’s desk and declares that he knows the lawyer’s client. Jeremy then reveals that he could not get a judge to reverse the Voluntary Removal status for Natasha. Heartbroken, Daniel feels the need to tell Natasha himself and gets up to leave. Jeremy urges Daniel to finish his interview. However, Daniel knows that time with Natasha counts and urges Jeremy to consider this sentiment in regard to his own life.

Jeremy was unable to get a judge to reverse Natasha’s Voluntary Removal status because he had missed the court appointment with the judge that day. Instead of seeing the judge, he had spent the afternoon with Hannah, in a hotel room. He realized later that day that being with Hannah would ruin his family and broke up with her. In the future, Jeremy will think of Daniel and it will motivate him to divorce his wife and finally start a relationship with Hannah. Jeremy’s children will have tumultuous relationships following the divorce. However, Jeremy’s children with Hannah, who have reaped the rewards of their parents’ happy marriage, will go on to love healthily. While what Jeremy did was not honorable, he made a choice out of love.

Hannah finally has her fairytale ending as she gets to be with Jeremy in the future.

Natasha sees Daniel walking out of the building and looking grim. He tells Natasha that he loves her, and he wants her to know that. Natasha’s phone rings and Daniel tells her not to answer it, knowing that it’s Jeremy calling. Daniel tells her that she is being deported and he knows this because his interviewer was Jeremy himself. Natasha listens to the voicemail from Jeremy telling her that he has unfortunate news.

Daniel pens a poem about hearts, which begins with the assertion that “Hearts don’t break” (303) and concludes, “They just stop working” (303).

Natasha and Daniel sit for a while until Natasha announces that she has to go home since her flight is the next day. Daniel insists on going home with her and meeting her family. He also insists on taking the cab with her to the airport the next day and saying goodbye to her there.

Natasha agrees to Daniel’s plan. Daniel wonders if they are not meant to be after all.

On the train to Brooklyn, Natasha and Daniel somberly discuss what they know about Jamaica. They decide to continue the questions from the experiment, which involves naming an embarrassing moment. Natasha recalls her encounter with Rob at the record store, relaying to Daniel that her ex cheated on her because he could not decide between two girls. Daniel asks how Natasha’s family reacted to Rob since he is white, and Natasha reveals she never introduced Rob to her family. They each relay that their family wants them to date within their race and ethnicity, which they both decide is not something they care to do.

Daniel reveals that his embarrassing moment was when his father recommended that Natasha change her hair and when Charlie was rude to her. They discuss changing families so that their lives could be different.

Natasha and Daniel exit the train and start walking to her place. She feels the weight of people’s stares around her, as they are an interracial couple. Daniel reassures her that he does not care about what people think. He loves her. When they arrive at Natasha’s apartment, Patricia readies to scold her daughter for coming home late when she notices Daniel and asks Natasha to explain.

Natasha introduces Daniel to her mother and Peter. Samuel enters the room and is unhappy that Natasha has invited her boyfriend to the family apartment on the day before they are to leave. He says, “this is my house” (324), which angers Natasha. She is about to respond but Patricia coaxes her to not say anything after her father’s comment. Samuel demands that Natasha finish her initial thought.

Natasha reveals to her father that she heard him tell Patricia that the family was his biggest regret. Samuel seems saddened to hear himself through Natasha’s words and insists he didn’t mean it. Natasha tells him that he was an amazing actor but that he does not get to abandon his family in his pursuit of his dreams. When they go back to Jamaica, he has to promise to try harder at being an actor and a good father. Everyone in the family hugs each other. Natasha joins in but not before embracing Daniel first.

On the cab ride to the airport the next day, Natasha and Daniel speculate about what it would be like if they could be together after all. They imagine their parents’ disapproval and wonder if they will have children together. Natasha tells Daniel not to be a doctor and that practicality is overrated. She also tells him that she loves him, proving that the experiment worked after all.

For the last part of the experiment, Natasha and Daniel stare into each other’s eyes for four minutes. Daniel sets the timer on his phone. They think of the past events from the day and try to look into the future. When the four minutes end, they kiss.

Natasha’s plane ascends into the air.

Daniel watches Natasha’s plane ascend. His parents call to yell at him.

In the future, Daniel and Natasha attempt to keep in touch but they drift apart. Natasha is busy with schoolwork and waitressing part-time to earn money for her family. She discovers her passion for physics. Daniel declines his acceptance to Yale University and works two jobs while attending Hunter College part-time. He continues to write poetry.

Patricia gets sick and passes away six years later. Samuel mourns her but realizes he chose correctly after his wife is gone. He acts in a local community theater in Jamaica. Daniel’s parents sell their black beauty supply shop to an African-American couple and split their time between South Korea and New York. Charlie graduates summa cum laude from Harvard University and does not speak to any of his family members. Both Natasha and Daniel will think of the day they spent together. While they admit that parts of that day had been romanticized, it also transformed their lives in dramatic ways. 

After ten years, Irene, the security guard at USCIS, has quit her job and taken a new position as an airline attendant. She is much happier in this role than her work in the immigration building. On the day she was going to commit suicide, Lester Barnes had approached her to tell her that Natasha wanted to thank her. Irene was moved by Natasha’s message and decided to call a suicide hotline instead, beginning therapy that would change her life.

One day, while she is working on a flight, she notices Daniel in seat 7A and Natasha in 8C. She feels compelled to approach Natasha and tell her, “You saved my life” (343). Natasha remembers Irene and introduces herself, catching Daniel’s attention from his seat. He turns around and calls out to her. Natasha calls out to him, too.