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Part VI: Diary 94
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
When the Freedom Writers meet on the morning that the news about Jeremy Strohmeyer’s crime breaks, they decide to organize a peace march, similar to the one they led in Washington. They want to unite in a positive way to show the media that they are thinking about the poor little girl who was killed. However, the school administration tells the students that it will not support this march, so as not to draw even more attention to what has happened. The students still decide to march, determined to show that their school should not be judged based on the actions of a single student.
While the students’ attitude toward Stohmeyer’s crime is idealistic, the school’s concerns are purely pragmatic. Instead of following the Freedom Writers’ positive motivation, the school is moved by fear of ruining their reputation. This reveals the gap between the Freedom Writers’ passionate mode of thinking and the school’s apprehensive, cautious approach.
Themes
Many students in the school finally walk out together, holding hands, but the media does not acknowledge their presence. That night, in the news, they only show the sensationalist, violent side of the situation, refusing to show the students’ positive display of unity and non-violence.
The media’s lack of attention to the students’ actions reveals its lack of objectivity, as it is only concerned with showing one side of the story. This injustice demonstrates the way in which the media can manipulate the truth to influence viewers’ reactions.
Themes
