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 continues to go about her life, which in seventh grade often consists of thinking about how she looks. Her brother, Richie, teases her for being like a spoiled princess. He likes pretending to be a survivalist and dressing in camouflage.
The description of Caitlin’s brother helps flesh out her family dynamic. His interests in survivalism and camouflage are a little out of place for a suburban setting, suggesting that perhaps Richie longs to live a more rugged life (or at least likes imagining that he does).
Themes
Whenever Caitlin’s dad comes home from a business trip, he is often wearing a trench coat and sunglasses. His children tease him about being a spy, like the Men in Black. Though he legally can’t talk about his work with anyone, Caitlin realizes later in life that he probably doesn’t work for the CIA if he still makes it home for dinner at six o’clock every day.
Caitlin’s ignorance about her father’s job is one of the luxuries that she enjoys as someone from a middle-class family in the United Sates (which equates to a wealthy family in many other parts of the world). Martin doesn’t have this same ignorance about his own father’s work; in fact, he goes to the mill where his father works several times in the story.
Themes
Caitlin’s mom lets her write on the walls in her (Caitlin’s) closet. That October, Caitlin writes that she loves Matt Johnson, a boy in her algebra class. Matt has long, wavy hair and plays soccer.
Caitlin once again shows some of the ways that she was a typical teenage girl from her era. Her mention of Matt Johnson suggests that Caitlin’s relationship with Martin won’t turn out to be romantic but something else.
Themes
By October, many students in Caitlin’s class have already received letters back from their pen pals in Europe, but she hasn’t gotten hers from Zimbabwe yet. Finally, the week before Halloween, it arrives. Caitlin is very excited as she reads it.
The delay for the letter from Zimbabwe shows how sending mail there is more complicated than sending mail to Europe. This will become an important point that affects how Caitlin and Martin communicate.
Themes
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Caitlin begins writing back immediately. She assumes that Martin is Black and that he must be like the Black kids she knew growing up. Though Caitlin didn’t have many Black friends, she did know a girl named Marlena. Caitlin upset Marlena when she pulled an elastic band out of her hair; she didn’t understand why Marlena was allowed to braid Caitlin’s hair but Caitlin couldn’t touch Marlena’s.
Caitlin describes how she first learned about the concept of race. Touching Black hair, particularly without permission, is taboo in the United States because of its associations with racism and slavery in the past. While Caitlin has learned some things like this, her awareness of race in the U.S. actually leads her to make false assumptions about Martin and Zimbabwe.
Themes
Because Caitlin wonders what Martin looks like, she decides to send a photo of herself and ask him to do the same. Her mom had just taken her recently to get professional photos after a new haircut. She adds the photo to the letter, then decorates it with crayons. Caitlin is proud the next day in school to show Mrs. Miller her letter from Africa.
Caitlin’s decision to send a photo to Martin shows that she wants to get to know him on a deeper level. It shows that she wants to reveal her true self—what she actually looks like. Of course, since she had a professional photographer and recently got a new haircut, what she’s really showing is an idealized version of herself. Martin will attempt to do the same but will face much greater obstacles.
Themes
