I Will Always Write Back

I Will Always Write Back

by

Caitlin Alifirenka, Martin Ganda, and Liz Welch

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I Will Always Write Back: Part 2: Caitlin, December 1998 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
In Pennsylvania, Caitlin is surprised how formal Martin’s photo looks, but she can see him smiling beneath his serious pose. Caitlin realizes she is growing up side-by-side with Martin, and she feels like she can tell him things that she can’t tell other people.
Though Martin tried to make himself look more formal and impressive in his photo, Caitlin is able to pick out details underneath the pose. This once again shows the power of photos to reveal things, perhaps things that the subject never intended to reveal.
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Quotes
Caitlin begins to vent about drama in her life to Martin, and he always writes back as if he understands. She doesn’t realize at first that Martin seems to be holding back about himself—she only gets scattered clues in his letters about what his life is like.
While Caitlin opens up to Martin about problems in her life, she doesn’t realize that Martin can’t do the same, at least not without drastically altering their relationship by letting Caitlin know things that he has so far tried to hide.
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