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Part 6: Caitlin, July 2003
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 gets his vaccinations and then goes to his family to say goodbye. He knows it will be a while before he sees them again. Martin’s father is so overjoyed that he starts running around and shouting, causing Martin’s mother to scold him for bragging. She is excited too, but she doesn’t want to jinx anything.
Martin’s parents express their excitement in very different ways that emphasize how each of them cares for their son. While Martin’s father is boisterous and celebrates his son’s accomplishments, Martin’s mother is more reserved, helping to keep Martin grounded even with all his success.
Themes
Martin gives his mother a portion of the money he got from Caitlin’s mom. He goes to Victoria Falls to wait with Wallace’s parents for the plane tickets to arrive, but by August 11, the tickets still haven’t come yet. Wallace’s parents invite a prophet to meet with Martin before he goes. Martin isn’t sure if he believes in the power prophets, who act like witch doctors, but he agrees to go along with the ceremony.
Although the biggest obstacle to Martin’s education has already been overcome, there are still plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong. With his big scholarship, Martin has a lot more to lose now—it’s like earlier, when Caitlin’s cash gifts made Martin’s family a potential target for theft. Perhaps it is because of this danger that Martin participates in a ceremony that he himself believes is just superstition.
Themes
The prophet tells Martin that his aunt (whom Martin has never met) has placed a hex on him to prevent him from going. They pray in hopes that the hex will be lifted and that the tickets will finally arrive.
Though Martin is polite, he implies that he doesn’t really believe anything the prophet said. Still, it seems as if a hex has been placed on Martin’s trip out of Zimbabwe, suggesting that even superstition can have an element of truth to it.
Themes
