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Summary
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
Caitlin Stoicsitz is a seventh-grade student in a suburb outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who describes herself as an average student. One day in school, her teacher, Mrs. Miller, writes the names of several countries on the blackboard, and Caitlin is intrigued by “Zimbabwe,” which she has never heard of before. Caitlin asks Mrs. Miller how to pronounce it. The teacher tells her it’s “Zim-BOB-way” and that the country is in Africa. Caitlin and her family have been to Europe before, but she can’t even imagine traveling to Africa.
Caitlin begins by describing herself as a normal suburban girl. She wants to emphasize that, while her story is exceptional in many ways, it’s possible for other “normal” people to have similar experiences if they keep an open mind and act with kindness. Caitlin demonstrates how little she knew about Zimbabwe at the beginning by showing that she couldn’t even pronounce the name. By choosing Zimbabwe even though she doesn’t know much about it, she shows that there are benefits to learning and to embracing the unknown instead of being wary of it.
Themes
Most of what Caitlin knows about Africa comes from colorful photos in National Geographic. She was born and raised in Hatfield, a middle-class town about 40 miles outside of Philadelphia, where her parents also grew up. Hatfield is quiet and surrounded by farmland, but it has a roller rink, a mall, softball fields, and lots of other things for a kid to do.
Caitlin describes the setting for the story. She continues to emphasize her “averageness” with details: she’s from a middle-class town, it’s suburban (the middle between urban and rural), and she has typical interests for a teenager in the late 1990s.
Themes
Earlier, during a family trip to Germany, Caitlin was surprised by how different her German cousin Carola is. They’re both tall and blond, but her English-speaking accent made Carola sound angry to Caitlin, and she liked strange candies like salty black licorice instead of Hershey’s Kisses. Nevertheless, Caitlin was surprised to learn that her cousin Carola was popular at school. Caitlin began to realize that there is more to the world than just Hatfield.
Caitlin’s experience with her cousin Carola shows how Caitlin used to be more close-minded. She had a hard time picturing a world beyond her community, and so at first, she didn’t understand her cousin Carola and even looked down on her. By the end of the trip, however, Caitlin had learned some important things about her cousin and about Germany in general. Her experience shows how being exposed to different cultures can help people grow, particularly after they get over the initial shock.
Themes
Back in the classroom, Mrs. Miller tells the students they will be writing to pen pals. She goes around the room, asking which country each student wants their pen pal to be from. Caitlin’s friend Lauren chooses Germany, and many other students also pick Germany (because they have German heritage). After Caitlin picks Zimbabwe, she realizes she is the only person in the class who picked somewhere in Africa. She is embarrassed because she likes to fit in rather than sticking out.
This is the first time in the story where Caitlin does something that contrasts with her “averageness.” While she celebrates some aspects of being average, her earlier trip to Germany showed how trying to be average can be limiting, particularly since “average” means different things in different parts of the world. Caitlin’s embarrassment at sticking out shows that in some places, there is social pressure to be average and that attempting to be different can have consequences.
Themes
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The homework assignment from Mrs. Miller is to write a letter to a pen pal (without knowing precisely who will receive the letter yet). While Caitlin is excited about the assignment, she also has no idea what she wants to write about. She knows the one thing she won’t write about: Hatfield Quality Meats, a slaughterhouse in town that always gives off bad smells.
While Caitlin takes pride in where she’s from, her experience with the slaughterhouse shows that she’s also aware of the less appealing side of her community. The fact that Caitlin has a slaughterhouse right in her town contrasts with the situation of her eventual pen pal Martin’s family, since they rarely ever get to eat meat, except on special occasions.
Themes
Every day after school, Caitlin takes a 20-minute bus ride back to her home, which is in a cul-de-sac. Her mom, an elementary school teacher who works in a neighboring county, is always home before Caitlin. One day when Caitlin gets home, she tells her mom about her new pen pal from Zimbabwe. Her mom is confused; she remembers when it used to be called Rhodesia. She mentions colonialism, a word that Caitlin only vaguely knows the meaning of. Her mom explains colonialism as “when powerful countries take over other countries and call them their territories.”
The cul-de-sac further represents the way that Caitlin is isolated in her small community. Her mom’s mention of colonialism is important, since much of modern Zimbabwean history has been influenced by the country’s past as a colony. Back when the country was called Rhodesia, the British ruled (often violently), and they stripped the country of natural resources. Though Rhodesia eventually became the independent country of Zimbabwe, much of the economic and political turmoil in the country in its early days as an independent country was arguably a direct consequence of the prior period of British colonialism.
Themes
When he isn’t traveling for work, Caitlin’s dad arrives home every night at 6. All Caitlin knows about his job is that he works on “energy contracts” for the government and that he has a high-level security clearance. The family eats dinner together every night at 6:30. Afterwards, they take turns using their giant computer, which has dial-up internet access.
Caitlin’s dad is able to provide economic security for the family while still being there for dinner, giving the family stability. The dial-up internet access on the computer helps to establish the time period (which is important, since physical mail played a bigger role in the late 1990s than it does now).
Themes
When it’s her turn at the computer, Caitlin looks up Zimbabwe (as research for her letter to her pen pal). She learns that Zimbabwe was freed from British rule in the 1980s and sees a parallel with the United States, which also broke from British rule. She learns that 90 percent of Zimbabwean people are called Shona, and that Shona is the official language of Zimbabwe (although many also speak English). Another major tribe in Zimbabwe is called Ndebele.
One of the recurring themes in the book is that, despite being from vastly different parts of the world, Caitlin and her pen pal Martin actually have a lot in common. Caitlin’s comparison of the United States and Zimbabwe is a little simplistic, since she’s just at the very start of her research, but it shows a growing awareness of how people on the other side of the world might not be as different as they seem.
Themes
Caitlin begins her letter by introducing herself and telling her pen pal about her family. She looks around her room for inspiration, then mentions that she plays softball. She writes about how she likes the Spice Girls, the Backstreet Boys, bowling, roller-skating, and pizza. She asks what her pen pal likes to do for fun. The next day, she turns the letter over to Mrs. Miller.
Details like the Backstreet Boys, the Spice Girls, and roller-skating are all meant to evoke the late 1990s. These are recognizable reference points even to many people who weren’t living in the United States at the time. Caitlin expects the reader of her letter to be familiar with them, and this shows how pop culture in this era had a global reach.
Themes
