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Part 2: Caitlin, February 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 Zimbabwe, Martin’s brother Nation tries to console him about being expelled from school. Martin keeps getting letters from Caitlin, asking for photos, and he still has no way to respond. He begins making some money by carrying luggage for local bus passengers. The money helps his family but isn’t nearly enough to get him back to school.
Martin hits a low point. His willingness to work odd jobs shows that he’s committed to trying to keep up his correspondence with Caitlin, as well as to continuing his education, but in this case, even his best effort isn’t enough to help him meet those goals.
Themes
Martin’s father tells Martin to go back to school and tell them that his father will pay later. His teacher welcomes him back, but the school’s financial manager turns him away at the end of the day.
Martin’s father is desperate but is so convinced of the value of education that he suggests an unlikely solution. It fails. While the teacher would like to teach Martin, the financial manager represents all the difficult financial decisions that go into keeping an institution like Martin’s school operational.
Themes
Martin gets a new job selling cold drinks. At age 15, he knows that his home of Chisamba Singles is considered one of the poorest slums in Zimbabwe. He receives a third letter in a row from Caitlin and wants to write back, but he knows that any money spent on stamps will come out of his fund for school. Finally, he grabs an ice cream bar wrapper off the ground and uses it to write a letter back to Caitlin.
While Martin has always been aware that his family is poor, getting kicked out of school over tuition makes the reality of this poverty much more concrete. Even at such a desperate moment, however, he still thinks about his obligations to Caitlin and goes to great lengths to keep up their correspondence.
Themes
