Previous
Tison Indictment Step Forward for Justice or Grand Jury Blunder?
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Dear Martin, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Privilege, Entitlement, and Implicit Bias
Appearances and Assumptions
Support, Acceptance, and Belonging
Opportunity and Upward Mobility
The Media and Public Discourse
Summary
Analysis
Six weeks after Manny’s death, his parents invite Justyce over for dinner. They tell him they want to “commemorate” the indictment of Garrett Tison. Still, though, Justyce feels uncomfortable about going to his dead best friend’s house. When he arrives, Mr. Rivers and Mrs. Rivers seat him at the table and serve his favorite meal. They ask him questions about how he’s faring in the aftermath of the attack. Eventually, they tell him that their nephew, Quan Banks, heard what happened and wants to see him. Quan is in juvenile detention for killing Officer Castillo, and he has asked the Rivers to tell Justyce that he wants him to visit. Quan and Justyce went to elementary school together, but Justyce can’t fathom why he would want to talk to him. Nonetheless, he agrees to visit.
Justyce was very close to Manny, meaning that he knew his parents rather well. However, the Rivers aren’t necessarily in a position to give him the support he needs in this emotional time, since they are themselves dealing with an extraordinary amount of grief. As a result, Justyce’s visit to their house is more of a favor to them than it is a chance to commiserate with adults who might give him guidance.
Themes
Before Justyce leaves, the Rivers give him a watch they were going to give to Manny on his eighteenth birthday. It’s an expensive heirloom that used to belong to Manny’s grandfather, and it has Manny’s initials carved into the underside of the watch face. Justyce feels too overwhelmed to accept it, but he puts it on his wrist anyway.
It’s noteworthy that Manny’s parents give Justyce something to wear on his wrists, a place on his body that reminds him of Officer Castillo placing him in handcuffs. In a symbolic sense, then, the memory of Manny is inextricably associated with the memory of police brutality.
Themes
