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Part VIII: Diary 131
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
This student describes the surprising high and lows of life. While he began his day by learning that he entered the first round to play professional baseball, his baseball team lost the semifinal round of the championship. He feels a lot of pressure from having to decide whether he wants to play baseball at a prestigious college or to begin a professional career in baseball—which could be compromised if he went to college. Ms. Gruwell has been supportive of this difficult process, and has told him that his choice has Shakespearian dimensions.
This student learns to accept that life is not always a smooth path toward success, but that one must learn to handle adversity with the same strength and enthusiasm with which one embraces success. Ms. Gruwell’s supportive attitude toward this student’s choice demonstrates once again how seriously she takes her students. She does not try to influence him to pursue his education but, instead, fully accepts that he must make the decision for himself.
Themes
