Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in I Will Always Write Back, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Kindness and Generosity
Friendship
Family
Education
Summary
Analysis
In Pennsylvania, Caitlin and her friend Lauren are sitting behind Caitlin’s crush, Matt. He lends her a pencil, and she is elated when he lets her keep it. He asks her out on Halloween. They go to a costume party, Caitlin as a punk rocker, Matt as a football player. Matt doesn’t pay much attention to Caitlin at the party, and pretty soon she dumps him and moves on to new crushes.
The drama with Matt shows that Caitlin had other things going on in her life besides her letters to Martin. This will always be true (and the same is true for Martin), but as the story progresses, Martin will become a more central part of her life. The scenes with Matt show the ways in which Caitlin’s life resembles a typical coming-of-age story, and these scenes provide a contrast to the more exceptional and unusual relationship she has with Martin.
Themes
With all her crushes, Caitlin temporarily forgets about Martin, but she is excited when his new letter arrives. She finds him very cute, although more as a little brother than a boyfriend. She puts his photo under the glass on her desk, where she keeps all her favorite photos.
While biological families are important for both Caitlin and Martin, this passage is the first time that the concept of family is expanded. Caitlin and Martin’s lives show that family doesn’t just mean blood relatives but can also have more expansive definitions.
Themes
Caitlin buys a key chain for Martin from the novelty gift store Spencer’s, then sends him a picture from her winter dance. She asks for another photo from him, hoping it will be more current.
Caitlin’s obliviousness to Martin’s situation is treated humorously here, since he clearly has no need for the keychain. Asking Martin for another photo will once again put him and his family in a difficult position, although Caitlin doesn’t realize it.
Themes
About a month later, Martin writes back a four-page letter where he calls her “Queen Caitlin.” He does this because of how she looks in the dance photo, but ironically, her parents and brother also sometimes do this (to jokingly suggest that she is spoiled). Martin promises Caitlin he’s working on African earrings for his next letter, which also pleases Caitlin because she collects earrings.
Martin is formal and very complimentary in his letters, perhaps to compensate for the fact that he doesn’t have a photo or any other gifts to send her. It is humorous that Martin calls Caitlin the same nickname as her family does, and that they arrive at the nickname for different reasons, showing once again how people from different cultures can have surprising similarities.
Themes
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Caitlin assumed that Martin came from a wealthy family because of the school uniform he was wearing in his photo. She doesn’t understand at first what Martin means when he says Zimbabwe is “developing.” Still, the two of them continue to have similarities, like the fact that Nike, Reebok, and Adidas are popular at both their schools.
Caitlin’s wrong assumptions about Martin’s photos show how complicated the concept of class can be, particularly between countries. Caitlin associates school uniforms with wealth, and while Martin’s school is significantly wealthier than some of Zimbabwe’s most rural schools, it has massive class sizes and is relatively impoverished by U.S. standards.
Themes
Caitlin’s favorite line from the letter is when Martin references a line from the “Spicy Girls” about how friendship never really ends. He asks for a U.S. dollar and promises to send Zimbabwean currency in exchange. Caitlin finds the crispest dollar from her babysitting money and excitedly sends a reply.
Martin and Caitlin both drastically misunderstand each other’s economic situations, with Caitlin assuming Martin is richer than he is, and Martin not realizing how truly wealthy Caitlin is (by the standards of Zimbabwe). Martin’s proposed exchange of currency is their first step towards better understanding each other economically.
Themes
