Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Dear Justyce, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Choices vs. Fate
Justice, Racial Bias, and Growing Up
Identity, Support, and Community
Family, Loyalty, and Belonging
Survival, Poverty, and Violence
Summary
Analysis
Quan writes that he feels weird writing to Justyce already, two days after Justyce left, but he’s struggling. Liberty is headed back to school too, which means she won’t be on his case anymore. Then, Quan just found out that because of budget cuts, he’ll only have lessons with Doc once every other week. Quan is trying to not be dramatic, but he feels like he’s sinking now that he won’t see these people who were keeping him afloat. And there’s still no word on the motion to suppress the confession, or about a court date. He’s trying to keep his head up, but it’s getting harder. Quan did talk to Mama the other day, though. Dasia’s hair is starting to grow back, and he wishes she could share some of her optimism with him.
Losing the in-person support of Justyce and Liberty is difficult for Quan. It’s telling that he feels their losses so acutely—this shows that he now relies more on this group of people to support him rather than relying on Black Jihad. Making this even worse is the fact that it doesn’t seem like his case is going anywhere—but on the plus side, it seems like Quan is starting to repair his relationship with Mama. While it’s unclear who initiated the conversation, the fact remains that Mama seems willing to talk to her son for the first time in years. This offers hope that when Quan does get out, he’ll have a supportive parent to turn to.
Themes
