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Part 5: Martin, September 2001
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 hasn’t heard about the political sanctions against Zimbabwe, but she reassures Martin that nothing will affect their friendship.
Caitlin’s letter highlights how the people in a country aren’t homogenous and how a country’s official political actions don’t always line up with how the individual citizens feel—concepts like friendship can transcend politics.
Themes
Inspired by Martin’s choice to be a doctor, Caitlin starts looking into becoming a nurse. Caitlin’s mom and Caitlin’s dad tell her that while they can’t afford to pay for Martin to go to college in the U.S., they want to help look for scholarships for him. Caitlin’s mom tells Caitlin that she has enough credits in high school to get an early start and take nursing prerequisite classes at a local community college.
While Caitlin has been informally referring to Martin as her brother, this is the moment that her parents really join in and begin doing things for Martin that they would do for a son. Though they can’t pay for a full college education as they would for her biological brother Richie, their interest in getting Martin educated mirrors Martin’s parents’ own concern that he always place first in his class.
Themes
