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Part 2: Martin, January 1999
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, a month passes, and Caitlin doesn’t hear from Martin. Caitlin wonders what happened to him. Caitlin’s mom has seen news about instability in Zimbabwe and hopes Martin is okay.
Caitlin lives in a time when getting news from around the world is relatively easy, but communicating with individuals in certain countries remains difficult. Her concern about Martin is justified, since she really does have no way of knowing how he’s doing.
Themes
Caitlin decides she needs to help Martin. She writes a new letter in which she says that she hopes Martin is okay and that he isn’t mad with her. She even begins getting the idea of buying a plane ticket, but she doesn’t tell her parents yet.
On the one hand, Caitlin’s idea of buying a plane ticket without her parents’ permission is probably a little naive. At the same time, however, it signifies how Caitlin and Martin’s relationship is beginning to become more and more concrete: suddenly the idea of meeting Martin in the real world seems achievable to her.
Themes
