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Part II: Diary 17
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
While this student initially finds the “Peanut Game” obscure and irrelevant, s/he ultimately understands its message: that one should not care about the shape of a peanut, nor kill someone because of their skin color. After reflecting on the injustice and discrimination s/he has witnessed her/himself, s/he concludes that an obstacle to world peace is the fact that people cannot see through the shell and allow everyone to simply be peanuts by focusing on a person’s beliefs and worth instead of on the color of their skin.
This student establishes a direct connection between violence and appearances, suggesting that violence only attacks what is superficial in people, instead of seeing their true essence. She concludes that racial tensions and rivalries are absurd, since they reflect a misguided focus on appearances.
Themes
