Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Freedom Writers Diary, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Race, Ethnicity, and Tolerance
Education and Healing
Family and Home
Violence, War, and Death
Summary
Analysis
This student feels that this trip to Washington, D.C., is life-changing. When they reach the Lincoln Memorial and the famous statue of Abraham Lincoln, everyone is reading passages on the monument and trying to figure out their meaning. Ms. Gruwell then makes them stand outside in the rain, holding hands, facing the city, on the same spot that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., recited his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, about racial peace and cooperation. The student looks around at the Freedom Writers and realizes that they are Martin Luther King’s dream come true.
From uninspired students who did not believe in their own potential to be successful students, the Freedom Writers have now become confident and ambitious enough to trust that not only can they change the world—in fact, they already have. They see themselves as historical actors in line with some of the greatest figures in American history, ready to tackle nationwide social issues.
Themes
