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Part 4: A Structured Environment
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The 57 Bus, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Gender and Sexuality
Adolescent Crime vs. Adult Crime
Binary Thought and Inclusive Language
Discrimination and Social Justice
Accountability, Redemption, and Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
Some of Richard’s friends agree that maybe it is best that he does go to prison. So many of the young people from Oakland High get into serious trouble, and some even get killed like Skeet. “I’m not saying jail is for everybody,” Cherie says, “but it probably could save his life because look where his people went.”
Cherie’s comments reflect the injustices of Oakland’s social inequality, and the fact that she believes Richard is better off in prison implies that society’s efforts to marginalize people of color have largely been effective.
Themes
