Dear Martin Themes

One of Nic Stone’s strongest messages in Dear Martin is that white people in positions of power ought to recognize the socioeconomic factors that have contributed to their success. Because Justyce is one of only several black students at his prep school, he’s mostly surrounded by wealthy white teenagers who have never had to think seriously about race. This, in turn, gives the majority of Justyce’s white peers the false impression that racial inequality is…

In Dear Martin, a novel about racial profiling in the United States, Nic Stone demonstrates that skin color has no bearing on an individual’s personality or moral character. The fact that Justyce, the novel’s protagonist, faces police brutality despite his credentials as a model student and upstanding citizen suggests that young black people are in danger of discrimination regardless of who they are. When Officer Castillo violently arrests Justyce without cause, readers see…

Nic Stone makes it clear in Dear Martin that—generally speaking—the average black person has to work harder than the average white person to attain upward mobility in the U.S. Furthermore, she examines how difficult it is for black Americans to continue on an upward trajectory, illustrating that even the most successful people still face adversity despite their accomplishments. For instance, it’s quite impressive that Justyce attends Braselton Prep, since he wouldn’t be able to go…

In Dear Martin, Nic Stone portrays the media as something that has a tremendous amount of influence over the way people talk and think about current events. Because Justyce’s encounters with violent police officers are related in a third-person narrative voice, readers know exactly what has happened—in both cases, Stone makes it clear that Justyce has done nothing to deserve the violent treatment he receives from the police. This makes it all the…