The Freedom Writers Diary

This student has grown up without his father, whom he believes left his mother because he didn’t have the money to take care of their baby. Based on information from his father’s friends, this student believes that his father is probably a bad person, focused on alcohol and drugs, and unable to motivate himself to work. When Ms. Gruwell gives the Freedom Writers an assignment to interview other students about their family heritage and culture, this student realizes that he knows nothing about his family roots. He interviews other Latino students to try to find out about his own past.

Finally, he asks his mother if they can go find his father, and his mother ends up agreeing. He is simultaneously excited and nervous about meeting his father, which he has wanted to do since he was a child. When they finally find his house, where he is living with his own mother, the student’s grandmother tells them him his father is sick and cannot see him. Despite the student’s efforts, she remains persistent in keeping them from seeing him. On his way back home, he feels deeply disappointed and realizes that his father is a coward who can’t even face his own son. The student concludes that he will never be like him.