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Part 4: What If?
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The 57 Bus, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gender and Sexuality
Adolescent Crime vs. Adult Crime
Binary Thought and Inclusive Language
Discrimination and Social Justice
Accountability, Redemption, and Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
After Christmas, Sasha is accepted at MIT. Life is somewhat back to normal, except for the thick stockings Sasha must wear to prevent scars from forming on their legs. Jasmine asks to meet with Sasha and their parents to formally apologize “mother to mother, parent to parent,” but Debbie isn’t ready yet, and she “flinches” at the request. “She believes in forgiveness,” Slater writes, “but it is just too soon. She needs more time.”
Jasmine’s desire to apologize directly to Sasha and their family is evidence of her deep remorse. Of course, Richard feels this way as well, but neither Debbie nor Sasha are aware of this, since Richard’s lawyer still has his apology letters. Ironically, Debbie doesn’t need more time, she simply needs to hear an apology directly from Richard.
Themes
