Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family, Responsibility, and Growing Up
Love and Fear
Social Structure, Reputation, and High School
Lies vs. Honesty
Summary
Analysis
Lara Jean is trying to fix her hair before fourth period when Lucas Krapf approaches her. He says he thought she’d like to have “it” back and offers her the letter she wrote. Lucas insists Lara Jean doesn’t have to explain herself; he was honored to get the letter, but he is gay. He asks her to keep it private, since he’s not totally out yet. He also doesn’t want to have to explain his sexuality to everyone, just like Lara Jean probably doesn’t want to have to talk about being biracial with everyone. Lara Jean grins at Lucas. He gets her. They walk together to class, and Lara Jean just shrugs when Lucas asks about Peter.
Lara Jean has already had practice dealing with the boys who got her letters, so dealing with Lucas isn’t that hard. But Lucas also makes it easy for Lara Jean to recover from her embarrassment, as he’s not a possible romantic partner for Lara Jean because of his sexuality. So, Lara Jean will never have to worry about what a crush on him might mean, and he’s never going to like her back.
Themes
In her letter to Lucas, Lara Jean compliments him on his exceptional manners. She laments that she doesn’t know what kind of girls he likes and that she doesn’t know anything “substantial” about him. But Lara Jean figures that since he’s a writer, he has “deep reserves of emotion.” She writes that Lucas is very special, and that more people should know how special he is.
Like the letter to Kenny from camp, it seems like Lara Jean’s letter to Lucas is mostly positive and kind. She doesn’t have to lie to herself or make up rumors to get over him—rather, she just used writing him a letter as a form of closure. Some of Lara Jean’s letters, it seems, do reflect that she got over the boy in question.
Themes
