The hatbox that Mommy gave Lara Jean represents Lara Jean’s immaturity at the start of the novel, and her process of growing up as the novel progresses. Lara Jean uses the hatbox to store her love letters, which illustrates her youth and immaturity. The five love letters in the hatbox aren’t love letters in the conventional sense; rather, she wrote them to stop herself from loving the five boys. As the novel progresses and as Lara Jean and Peter’s pretend relationship evolves, Peter suggests that the way Lara Jean framed her letters shows that she’s too afraid and immature to let herself be in love—the fact that she wrote the letters and hid them in her hatbox is proof, to him, that she’s unwilling to take the brave, mature step of getting to know another person intimately.
Because of this, it’s telling that Lara Jean only begins to grow up once the hatbox disappears and her letters get sent out. Without this crutch to rely on, Lara Jean has to learn to tell the truth, be brave, advocate for herself, and listen to what she wants—all signs of her growing maturity. And when she finally does get her hatbox back at the end of the novel, this time filled with all the notes Peter wrote her over the course of their pretend relationship, Lara Jean realizes that the hatbox can now help her move forward into adulthood. Peter’s notes feel like a real love letter—and Lara Jean decides to write him a love letter in return, one that she plans to send rather than store in the hatbox. In using the hatbox to store love letters from another person, rather than her own private letters to get over boys, Lara Jean finally comes of age and symbolically opens herself up to love.
The Hatbox Symbol Timeline in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
