Erin Gruwell Character Analysis in The Freedom Writers Diary

This passionate, idealistic teacher uses her belief in equal opportunities for all to help a group of at-risk students learn to trust in themselves and work hard to achieve their own success. Her dedication to this task leads her to take on two other jobs during her free time in order to finance her students’ field trips and new books. Undaunted by the hostility of other members of the high school staff, who look upon her innovative methods with suspicion and perhaps a touch of jealousy over her success, she fights to remain with her students through their four years of high school so that she can continue to shepherd them academically, socially, and emotionally. After her students’ graduation, she demonstrates her commitment to the Freedom Writers’ cause by creating the Freedom Writers Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at sharing her teaching methodologies with other educators.

Erin Gruwell Quotes in The Freedom Writers Diary

The The Freedom Writers Diary quotes below are all either spoken by Erin Gruwell or refer to Erin Gruwell. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Race, Ethnicity, and Tolerance Theme Icon

I asked, “How many of you have heard of the Holocaust?” Not a single person raised his hand. Then I asked, “How many of you have been shot at?” Nearly every hand went up. I immediately decided to throw out my meticulously planned lessons and make tolerance the core of my curriculum. From that moment on, I would try to bring history to life by using new books, inviting guest speakers, and going on field trips.

Related Characters: Erin Gruwell (speaker), Sharaud

Related Symbols: The Diary of Anne Frank

Page Number and Citation: 2-3

Explanation and Analysis:

I don’t know if I’m more frustrated with the students or the system. Although they’re a pain, they’re just kids. But adults created the system. The system separates them and then they’re stereotyped as “basic,” but in reality, they’re anything but basic. In many ways they’re extraordinary. […] It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you tell kids they’re stupid—directly or indirectly—sooner or later they start to believe it.

Related Characters: Erin Gruwell (speaker), The Freedom Writers

Page Number and Citation: 30

Explanation and Analysis:

[I]t’s obvious that if you’re from a Latino gang you don’t get along with the Asian gang, and if you’re from the Asian gang, you don’t get along with the Latino gang. All this rivalry is more of a tradition. Who cares about the history behind it? Who cares about any kind of history? It’s just two sides who tripped on each other way back when and to this day make other people suffer because of their problems. Then I realized she was right, it’s exactly like that stupid play. So our reasons might be stupid, but it's still going on, and who am I to try to change things?

Related Characters: The Freedom Writers (speaker), Erin Gruwell

Page Number and Citation: 34

Explanation and Analysis:

“Do not let Anne’s death be in vain,” Miep said, using her words to bring it all together. Miep wanted us to keep Anne’s message alive, it was up to us to remember it. Miep and Ms. Gruwell had had the same purpose all along. They wanted us to seize the moment. Ms. Gruwell wanted us to realize that we could change the way things were, and Miep wanted to take Anne’s message and share it with the world.

Related Characters: The Freedom Writers (speaker), Erin Gruwell, Miep Gies

Related Symbols: The Diary of Anne Frank

Page Number and Citation: 89

Explanation and Analysis:

When I was born, the doctor must have stamped “National Spokesperson for the Plight of Black People” on my forehead; a stamp visible only to my teachers. The majority of my teachers treat me as if I, and I alone, hold the answers to the mysterious creatures that African Americans are, like I’m the Rosetta Stone of black people. It was like that until I transferred to Ms. Gruwell’s class. Up until that point it had always been: “So Joyce, how do black people feel about Affirmative Action?” Poignant looks follow. “Joyce, can you give us the black perspective on The Color Purple?”

Related Characters: The Freedom Writers (speaker), Erin Gruwell

Page Number and Citation: 112

Explanation and Analysis:

What she showed me today is that a truly self-reliant person takes action, leaving nothing to chance and everything to themselves. She showed me that excuses will not bring about success and that adversity is not something you walk with, but something you leap over. The only obstacles are the ones you allow.

Related Characters: The Freedom Writers (speaker), Erin Gruwell

Page Number and Citation: 120

Explanation and Analysis:

I think it’s about time men start respecting women, instead of degrading women to the point where it’s unbearable. I don’t know why women allow men to brainwash them and use their bodies as objects instead of cherishing them as if they were treasures. But it’s never going to change until women start respecting themselves more.

Related Characters: The Freedom Writers (speaker), Erin Gruwell

Page Number and Citation: 125

Explanation and Analysis:

Zlata said writing was her salvation during the war and it kept her sane. She suggested that writing might be one of the best vehicles for some of my students to escape their horrific environments and personal demons. Even though they’re not held captive in an attic or dodging bombs in a basement, the violence permeating the streets is just as frightening—and just as real.

Related Characters: Erin Gruwell (speaker), Zlata Filipović

Related Symbols: The Diary of Anne Frank

Page Number and Citation: 139

Explanation and Analysis:

Besides gang violence, domestic violence or spousal abuse is common. So common, in fact, that people ignore it, turn the other cheek, or go back to bed. I have watched men pistol-whip their girlfriends or smash their heads through car windows. Damn! I have seen a lot of crazy stuff. Stuff that makes me thankful it’s not me. It’s easier for me to pretend I don’t live where I live or see what I see. […] Writing about my pain will only make it worse.

Related Characters: The Freedom Writers (speaker), Erin Gruwell

Related Symbols: The Diary of Anne Frank

Page Number and Citation: 146

Explanation and Analysis:

Without the comfort of Room 203, they had to adjust to new environments and their newfound freedom. Initially the transition was difficult. Room 203 wasn't just a classroom, it was home, a safe haven. I realized that in order for them to grow, they had to branch out and explore new ground.

Related Characters: Erin Gruwell (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 273

Explanation and Analysis:

Although I’m not an expert on the subject, I’ve always felt that all kids yearn to rebel. Understanding this rebellious nature, I encouraged the Freedom Writers to use a pen as a means of revolution. Through their writing, they discovered they shared a common identity, which united them into a community that connected them, not separated them from the world. Unfortunately, the young men in Columbine didn’t share a community like the Freedom Writers. Instead, they were alone and on the fringe. Their cries for help fell on deaf ears. And rather than picking up a pen and finding a solution, they turned to guns and bombs instead.

Related Characters: Erin Gruwell (speaker), The Freedom Writers

Related Symbols: The Diary of Anne Frank

Page Number and Citation: 276

Explanation and Analysis:

Erin Gruwell Character Timeline in The Freedom Writers Diary

The timeline below shows where the character Erin Gruwell appears in The Freedom Writers Diary. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

The day before starting the school year as an English teacher at Wilson High School, Erin Gruwell reflects on the expectations she has of her job. Although Long Beach, where the... (full context)

Erin recounts the previous year, when she was still a student teacher. Despite her efforts to... (full context)

When Ms. G ruwell discovers what happened, she becomes furious and tells her students that such stereotyping is... (full context)

On one occasion, when Ms. G ruwell brings her class to see Schindler’s List at a movie theater where the audience... (full context)

...obvious successes, the school administration was hostile to these new developments and decided to separate Ms. G ruwell from her students the next year, arguing that Ms. Gruwell didn’t yet have seniority... (full context)

In this diary, the student wonders on the first day of school how Ms. G ruwell could have been chosen to teach this class. S/he doubts that this white, upper-class... (full context)

...kids who come from bad neighborhoods. He feels that the class is unmanageable and that Ms. G ruwell will probably soon give up on this job. He describes the high school quad... (full context)

This student, who hates writing, is excited by Ms. G ruwell’s homework, in which each student has to draw their neighborhood. However, s/he explains that... (full context)

...decides not to walk out but, instead, to express her/his feelings about the Proposition in Ms. G ruwell’s class, where s/he feels listened to. The class discusses how the Proposition would affect... (full context)

...to mock him were now cheering him on. On his first day of school, in Ms. G ruwell’s class, he feels that this new teacher understands and listens to him, even succeeding... (full context)

When Ms. G ruwell’s students read the novel Durango Street, about Rufus, an African-American boy who spent time... (full context)

This student is amazed at Ms. G ruwell’s teaching methods and, in particular, at her activity of making the students turn Durango... (full context)

...The activity is so successful that students in other classes want to be part of Ms. G ruwell’s class. Ms. Gruwell then takes her class to see Hoop Dreams, a movie where... (full context)

As Ms. G ruwell makes the students read “The Last Spin” by Evan Hunter, a story about rival... (full context)

Ms. G ruwell expresses her frustration with the various ordeals that happened last semester. She concludes that,... (full context)

...the fact that most people have given up on them, including, often, their own parents, Ms. G ruwell decides not to give up on her students. She explains that, while they do... (full context)

...that she has the support of a millionaire, John Tu, who has been impressed by Ms. G ruwell’s teaching strategies and past achievements. In the meantime, she plans on trying to make... (full context)

When Ms. G ruwell compares the Capulets and the Montagues in Romeo and Juliet to the Asian and... (full context)

Ms. G ruwell then proceeds to ask the student if s/he believes that the Asian-Latino rivalry is... (full context)

Ms. G ruwell makes her class play the “Peanut Game,” in which students have to describe the... (full context)

...Oklahoma, in which a man, Timothy McVeigh, bombed a building to protest against the government. Ms. G ruwell makes her class write a report about this event and this student realizes that... (full context)

Ms. G ruwell takes her class on a field trip to see a movie, Higher Learning, about... (full context)

...the students are able to dine with the panelists at the Century City Marriott, where Ms. G ruwell has special advantages since she works there on the weekend. At dinner, Renee shows... (full context)

...of freshman year. When she returned from a three-week period of not going to school, Ms. G ruwell interrogated her about why she had been gone for so long. The student, who... (full context)

...to her, so that her mom would not know the details of what happened. When Ms. G ruwell tells this student that, despite her very low GPA, she believes in her, the... (full context)

Despite Erin Gruwell’s striking success with her difficult group of students, she feels criticized, envied, and ridiculed... (full context)

When Erin tells the principal that she is planning to leave, he is shocked and tells her... (full context)

Erin decides to stay at Wilson and, in addition to her original class, is given new... (full context)

Adapting herself to her students’ life stories and interests, Erin plans a curriculum that will keep them engaged. She chooses the diaries of two adolescent... (full context)

...a few years left to live. He says that she will miss his friends and Ms. G ruwell, who have been very supportive, and that school is one of the few things... (full context)

This student who has just been transferred to Ms. G ruwell’s class feels resentful and excluded from the rest of the other students, who already... (full context)

When s/he discovered, through a friend, that Ms. G ruwell was making her students put on plays to make what they read come to... (full context)

When Ms. G ruwell decides to make her students more excited about the legend of King Arthur by... (full context)

When Ms. G ruwell learns what happened, she gets angry at the other teacher and recognizes the injustice... (full context)

...slaps her, furious, and has to be separated from the other girl. When she tells Ms. G ruwell about the incident, Ms. Gruwell tells her that finding a racist caricature of one... (full context)

When Ms. G ruwell organizes a special “Toast for Change” event for her students, encouraging them to find... (full context)

This student understands that Ms. G ruwell is giving her students an opportunity to turn their lives around for the better,... (full context)

This student feels disappointed in herself, explaining that while everyone, including Ms. G ruwell, sees her as a good student, she knows that she is unable to change... (full context)

...juice. She chews gum to keep anyone from noticing that she is drunk, and neither Ms. G nor her best friend notice. One day, she almost drowned in the swimming pool because... (full context)

This student expresses frustration at Ms. G ruwell for having to read books about people who do not look like him/her and... (full context)

As Ms. G ruwell’s class compares Zlata Filipović’s experience of war in Bosnia with Anne Frank’s life during... (full context)

This student has just transferred into Ms. G ruwell’s class and doesn’t understand the conversations students are having about Zlata, nor their confidence... (full context)

Ms. G ruwell gives the students an assignment to write a letter to Zlata inviting her to... (full context)

Ms. G ruwell describes the startling process of change that her students have undergone since the “Toast... (full context)

Cheered by her class’s enthusiasm, Ms. G ruwell ends up typing her students’ letters to Zlata and considers sending them to her.... (full context)

In the meantime, taking advantage of Holocaust survivor Miep Gies’s upcoming trip to California, Ms. G ruwell plans for the historical figure to come meet her students. Gies was Anne Frank’s... (full context)

This student feels that Ms. G ruwell’s lesson plan on racial tolerance has changed her life. After hearing Gerda Seifer speak... (full context)

Ms. G ruwell makes the class read the poem that one of her college friends wrote shortly... (full context)

...to not let Anne Frank’s death be in vain, this student realizes that Miep and Ms. G ruwell are communicating the same idea: that any individual can seize the moment and change... (full context)

...her feel ashamed, as she feels that she is not worthy of the change that Ms. G ruwell’s students have all been taking part in. She feels guilty about lying and fears... (full context)

She describes being high in Zlata and Ms. G ruwell’s presence but notes that neither of them noticed, since she knows how to control... (full context)

After Ms. G ruwell and her students organized “Basketball for Bosnia,” a basketball tournament meant to raise money... (full context)

Zlata writes Ms. G ruwell’s class a letter in which she thanks them for the warm memories they have... (full context)

...entire family is being torn apart. While s/he expected to be able to rely on Ms. G ruwell’s class as a second family, the students have recently learned that other teachers do... (full context)

This student has just learned that they are going to have Ms. G ruwell again next year, and is very excited about it. S/he considers Ms. Gruwell the... (full context)

As Ms. G ruwell prepares for another year of teaching, she describes her summer. After giving a seminar... (full context)

In the Netherlands, Erin meets up with Miep and gives her a care package from her students. Miep tells... (full context)

When Erin goes to Ireland to visit Zlata and her family, they talk about Sarajevo and Zlata’s... (full context)

...teacher any longer, the student decides to change classes and, following a friend’s advice, join Ms. G ruwell’s group. She is pleased to discover that Ms. Gruwell does not judge her based... (full context)

...and realizes that he was too scared of being hit himself. He feels scared that Ms. G ruwell will get mad at him if she finds out he was not self-reliant in... (full context)

...has had to skip school to take care of his sick mom, and feels that Ms. G ruwell should punish him for this. When Ms. Gruwell sees what he has written, she... (full context)

The student, shocked and on the verge of tears after Ms. G ruwell’s reaction, finds motivation in his teacher’s speech. He realizes that, to be truly self-reliant,... (full context)

...receiving a job offer from John Tu. At one of the big dinner parties that Ms. G ruwell organizes for students’ families to get together, this student asks John Tu if he... (full context)

This student describes a debate Ms. G ruwell organized around the theme of misogyny. The class discussed double standards for men and... (full context)

When Ms. G ruwell invites a few students to participate in a college diversity seminar at National University,... (full context)

...her money to go buy drugs. He even sells the family’s food for drugs. While Ms. G ruwell’s student is telling these stories, she realizes that her life is depressing and she... (full context)

Inspired by Zlata, Ms. G ruwell decides to compile a selection of her students’ diary entries into a book. Zlata... (full context)

Ms. G ruwell decides to compile the entries anonymously, since many students could be punished for writing... (full context)

This student has just recently transferred into Ms. G ruwell’s class and feels intimidated by the other students’ writing skills. Ms. Gruwell asks for... (full context)

Unlike the rest of the class, this student is not excited about Ms. G ruwell’s new writing project, because s/he does not want to write about her/his neighborhood, the... (full context)

...to keep having good grades. S/he feels that s/he has been given a clean slate. Ms. G ruwell is the only teacher who took her/his dyslexia seriously, unlike other teachers who would... (full context)

Ms. G ruwell shares with her students a letter that Miep Gies wrote them. This student identifies... (full context)

...story unedited, as she finds that the words carry enormous power as they are. When Ms. G ruwell reads the story aloud, some girls leave the room, too upset to keep listening,... (full context)

...a successful effort to boycott segregated buses. This student realizes that, if each one of Ms. G ruwell’s students were as powerful as Rosa Parks and stood up against injustice, the world... (full context)

As the only white student in Ms. G ruwell’s class at the beginning, this student feels that he, too, has involuntarily stood up... (full context)

...her mother’s blood off the walls after her boyfriend hit her, this student concludes that Ms. G ruwell’s class is taking their writing project very seriously, writing freely about their personal lives.... (full context)

...that the after-school alarms wouldn’t go off. When policemen see them, they cannot believe that Ms. G ruwell—who is wearing one of the student’s pieces of clothing and looks very young—is the... (full context)

...street, before finding hope and innocence again through his involvement with the Freedom Writers in Ms. G ruwell’s class. (full context)

...Lincoln, everyone is reading passages on the monument and trying to figure out their meaning. Ms. G ruwell then makes them stand outside in the rain, holding hands, facing the city, on... (full context)

...to ride an airplane for the first time in his life and, more generally, that Ms. G ruwell has changed his life. He describes his mother’s violent boyfriend, who used to abuse... (full context)

...believing the boyfriend in thinking that he wouldn’t never succeed at anything in life. However, Ms. G ruwell proved the contrary and assured him that nothing that happened to his mother was... (full context)

...an end, this student feels determined to become very active during her senior year. After Ms. G ruwell fuels this motivation, she decides to run for Senior Class President. She begins to... (full context)

...presence and support has proven stronger than her biological family ties, and she feels that Ms. G ruwell has played the role of a substitute mother. She feels that, overall, the Freedom... (full context)

Despite many members of the school staff’s opposition to Ms. G ruwell staying with her students yet another year, she receives support from the principal, Dr.... (full context)

Erin’s focus this year is on the future. She wants all of her students to go... (full context)

Erin comes up with the idea of pairing her graduate students at National University with a... (full context)

...a full-time job. S/he plans to go look for nearby homeless shelters and hopes that Ms. G ruwell might be able to help in some way. (full context)

...feels that this has been the worst period of her/his life. When s/he confides in Ms. G ruwell and her fellow Freedom Writers, though, they are extremely understanding and make her/him feel... (full context)

...either get pregnant or drop out of school, but since she has been exposed to Ms. G ruwell’s relentless trust in her students, insisting that they can do anything in life, she... (full context)

When Ms. G ruwell makes her students describe their dream jobs, this student describes his dream, but when... (full context)

This student feels that Ms. G ruwell is acting in the same way, emphasizing the importance of college and planning trips... (full context)

This student describes Ms. G ruwell’s focus on team work to overcome obstacles. S/he describes her pairing with a graduate... (full context)

...a very early age. When the teachers there learned about the Freedom Writers, they wanted Ms. G ruwell’s students to share their success stories with the children. The Freedom Writers are unaccompanied... (full context)

...bad person, focused on alcohol and drugs, and unable to motivate himself to work. When Ms. G ruwell gives the Freedom Writers an assignment to interview other students about their family heritage... (full context)

S/he feels that s/he has suddenly become an adult, alone, with no guidance. Despite Ms. G ruwell and the Freedom Writers’ help, s/he feels unable to share her pain, and does... (full context)

At the end of Christmas vacation, Ms. G ruwell receives a call from the Anne Frank Center USA telling her that the Freedom... (full context)

Erin explains that in November, the L.A. Times published the article that had been written about... (full context)

...to write an essay explaining why they would be good ambassadors for this event. When Ms. G ruwell told her/him that s/he was chosen to go to New York, s/he felt overwhelmed... (full context)

S/he is impressed by the fact that, unlike other teachers, Ms. G ruwell actually tries to get to know her students. While s/he feared that the other... (full context)

...in New York, and she finds the Marriott Hotel where they are staying, thanks to Ms. G ruwell’s status as a staff member, particularly luxurious. She explains that, unlike in Washington, she... (full context)

...time, too, the Freedom Writers have to work as a team and not depend on Ms. G ruwell for it to work out. (full context)

While Ms. G ruwell is in New York to meet with the book publisher, the Freedom Writers are... (full context)

...is amazed to have been chosen to speak in front of Barbara Boxer, their senator. Ms. G ruwell and all the Freedom Writers chose her out of the entire group. She recalls... (full context)

...well in football and at school. He tried more and more drugs until he joined Ms. G ruwell’s class, which gave him motivation and made him feel that he had potential. After... (full context)

...to begin a professional career in baseball—which could be compromised if he went to college. Ms. G ruwell has been supportive of this difficult process, and has told him that his choice... (full context)

...for him and his family and made school attendance very difficult. Despite the support of Ms. G ruwell and the Freedom Writers, he had to be home schooled, while still attending Freedom... (full context)

...and knows that, as a freshman, s/he would have found it incredible to think that Ms. G ruwell would last more than a month in this class. Now, however, some of these... (full context)

...pen could be more powerful than guns and violence. They used to try to destroy Ms. G ruwell’s morale, but she always proved that she was able to overcome their efforts. This... (full context)

...her sadness at losing classroom 203, s/he wonders what awaits them next, and trusts that Ms. G ruwell will not give up on them. (full context)

Erin Gruwell recalls that, during the Freedom Writers’ trip to Washington, someone suggested that their next... (full context)

Erin also takes part in a transition of her own, as she leaves high school and... (full context)

...of them have known what it feels like to believe in violence as a solution. Ms. G ruwell understands that she gave her rebellious adolescents a chance to express themselves and connect... (full context)

Erin concludes her account by stating her hope that this book might inspire the reader to... (full context)

Erin Gruwell describes what has happened to the Freedom Writers since graduation. She explains that, at... (full context)

...the United States. While the book has attracted controversy for both its language and content, Erin believes that what makes it unique is its powerful honesty and its message of tolerance.... (full context)

While the Freedom Writers were invited to give nerve-racking speeches to large audiences, Erin taught education at National University and, with her students, devised a “Freedom Writers method,” outlining... (full context)

...authorities and her deep disappointment at not being able to attend college. She explains that Ms. G ruwell and the Freedom Writers saw beyond her legal status, blindly accepting her into their... (full context)

...invest in her education again. After attending a local design school for a few months, Ms. G ruwell told her about the possibility of attending a fully funded, custom-built program at California... (full context)

...remembers trying to follow the students’ “Electric Slide” dance from the sidelines, but failing, like Ms. G ruwell, to learn all the steps. (full context)

...kept quiet about his struggles, letting other Freedom Writers discuss their own troubles. However, when Ms. G ruwell invites him to join a retreat at the National Teacher’s Institute, he finds himself... (full context)

...play a debate game in which students have to agree or disagree with certain issues, Ms. G ruwell asks if all suspected abuse should be reported, and this Freedom Writer surprises himself... (full context)

...from a heavy weight on his shoulders, and is able to receive the comfort that Ms. G ruwell and the other students give him. He realizes that the Freedom Writers group was... (full context)