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
A few weeks before graduation, this student reflects on the idea that history repeats itself. While he felt that he was finally going to break the cycle in his family by being the first one to graduate from high school, his dad was suddenly diagnosed with a serious illness and his entire life changed. Now, he has had to decline his acceptance to college, as well as the financial aid he received, so that he can devote his time to work and support his family. He has to be strong for his family, even though he feels like crying most of the time.
This student’s reaction to such a sudden change in his life highlights his maturity and his dedication to his family, as he is willing to sacrifice his own, well-earned future to take care of the people who need him most. Taking on these adult responsibilities, however, deprives him of the freedom he should be able to enjoy as an adolescent and a student and makes his dream seem more remote.
Themes
Even though graduation was supposed to be a happy moment, he now finds himself struggling to pay for his graduation outfit. He is amazed at how quickly life can change, and he is glad to have experienced hope and joy for at least a little while. Now, he is simply waiting to see where life will take him.
While this student is facing a combination of problems—academic, economic, and personal—he does not lose hope in the future, accepting life’s ups and downs as an integral part of life, making his future entirely uncertain.
Themes
