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
Josh’s parents fight often, and when the fights are bad, Josh comes over to Lara Jean’s house. It’s not something they ever talk about. Tonight, Lara Jean can hear the fighting, so she turns on the lights. He shows up a half-hour later and watches TV while Lara Jean does homework. They discuss the upcoming spring play, and Josh encourages her to try out; it’d be good for her to take a risk, like Margot did by going to Scotland. Lara Jean makes a face and stops what she’s doing when Josh says her world can be bigger than riding in Peter’s car. She throws her highlighter at him, but Josh says that Lara Jean should just let people get to know her better.
Josh’s parents’ fight shows again that not all families are as close-knit and calm as Lara Jean’s is; her family dynamic is, perhaps, outside the norm. When Josh encourages Lara Jean to try out for the school play, he’s trying to get her out of her comfort zone, just like Peter has done. But it’s more difficult for Lara Jean to follow the advice when it comes from Josh, in part because she knows him so well.
Themes
Later, after Josh goes home, Lara Jean discovers Chris asleep in her bed. Chris wakes up when Lara Jean climbs in. When Lara Jean mentions that Josh was here, Chris insists that Peter will be jealous. Then, Chris suggests they “do something wild,” like sneak out the old folks at the nursing home. Lara Jean refuses and, finally, Chris goes back to sleep.
Chris seems to have a much better understanding of how a relationship dynamic works—but it’s hard for Lara Jean to take her advice seriously, since she and Peter are only pretending to date. It’s hard for Lara Jean to know whether Chris is right, given that her feelings about her relationship with Peter are so muddy.
Themes
