Introduction
‘Dear Martin’ is a contemporary young adult novel that weaves a fictional story around the all-too-real societal issues and larger conversations happening across America. Racial tension and inequality are laid bare in this hard-hitting story about privilege, identity, and fighting the battles that we just can’t win. Throughout the story, the narrative subtly challenges readers to consider the unfairness in life and how one’s race, gender, and social statuses determine how the world treats you. In this essay, I will be covering the themes of race and identity throughout the text, as well as analyzing the character of Justyce through a psychoanalytical lens.
The main character is Justyce McAllister, an articulate, intelligent, overachieving young man doing everything he can to survive in the jungle of St. Martin’s Prep, while also trying to fight to belong to a society that doesn’t think he should. Justyce is constructed as an Everyman character. His feeling of ‘not fitting in’ represents the societal norms that, prior to his perceived societal failure, he’s just a teenage boy. He grew up rough, but he still has his ‘band of brothers’ holding steady. He’s a daydreamer who, although we don’t get to see him actually daydream much, is falling in love and desperately wants to know what a future that doesn’t revolve around him not getting shot by a cop looks like. Apart from needing to survive public scrutiny and the background of the educational leaps and bounds he’s had to jump to, he could be anybody.
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Themes of Racism and Social Injustice
One of the main themes of the novel is racism. The book tells the story of the Black community in the United States and the difficulties they face due to racism. Systemic racism appears within political, educational, and social systems. This is a very negative phenomenon that concerns many people, including the disadvantaged, and ultimately also those who belong to the majority group. The problems of the characters in the novel are very similar to the problems of people in the world. There are many situations in the world when society treats foreigners or national minorities much worse than its own citizens. All of these situations are cases of social injustice, which is also the main theme of the novel. Racism and social injustice in the world make the lives of many people worse.
One of the main themes is racism. Besides Justyce, almost all the characters in the book face racism. Many of them give strong or weak reactions to the inequality due to their gender or social class. Justyce's English teacher, who wants to do an experiment on her students about racism based on her conversation with Justyce, explodes on these reactions during class. The students of the fictional Garden Heights Prep School bring headlines related to racism to their English teacher. For example, a white male student, Rick, shows a headline about a police incident involving an armed Black man. Another student provides a headline about a Black police officer who killed an unarmed Native American during a call for gang violence. Sarah gives a headline about a six-foot-eight man who descended from a plane and started to jog, causing frightened phone calls. These reflections of headlines demonstrate the depth of the critique of racism from different social positions as well as from different genders in the narrative. The questions that the teacher will discuss with the students show that she cares about equality. It is also seen that Justyce has positive thoughts about initiating this discussion and that he is satisfied with the teacher's attitude. In other words, as we see Justyce's character from the first episode to the last, we notice how important it is to be fair and to question social injustice as an advocate of justice and law.
Character Analysis
Justyce McAllister
In Dear Martin, Justyce McAllister is the main character and the one whose perspective we follow throughout the story. Justyce is a senior at Braselton Preparatory Academy, but he came from a completely different lifestyle before transferring to the prestigious school. We can see the cultural differences between Justyce and many of the kids at his school, mostly white, in the discussion of subjects and hobbies. Justyce has few friends and gives his time to extracurriculars like debate and studying with the hopes of excelling at both and leaving town after graduation. Throughout the novel, readers learn more about Justyce's experiences and the racial bias and violence he endures regularly in a society that has different expectations for him because of his race.
Sarah-Jane Friedman
Another character we meet in Dear Martin is Sarah-Jane Friedman, who goes by SJ. SJ is a bright, caring girl who attends Braselton with Justyce. She becomes good friends with Justyce, and as their friendship grows, so do certain feelings for one another. Justyce believes that the differences in their races make them impossible as a couple, especially when his other friends are willing to risk everything to combat the prejudice Justyce encounters. Through SJ, Justyce is shown how even people who care about a person with whom they've grown close may not always do or say the right things in an effort to show that they support Justyce. Unlike many of the characters, which for the most part have the same amount of page time and development, Justyce stands out from the rest. He notably is an African American, and unlike the others, he doesn't have the same privilege as, let's say, SJ or even Manny. He may have been enrolled in a prestigious all-white private school, but deep down, it's not lost on him that the people who stand or study alongside him might not think or feel the same way about him amidst his future interactions. He constantly struggles with the ideal he is expected to follow, which is supposedly not to fall to the stereotype, and as respectful as he can be, but things would not always be favorable as if they're anticipated to obtain their own boiling point.
Impact of 'Dear Martin'
Lincoln AP Language and Composition students conducting a Socratic Seminar on 'Dear Martin'. 'Dear Martin' is a book that means a lot to so many readers. This particular assignment called for several text reviews, and so it seemed the only way to conclude this project is with such testimonials. The following are direct quotes from students in American high schools who are experiencing similar lives to the characters in 'Dear Martin' in their real lives every day: As a teacher of young adults, I see 'Dear Martin' resonate with my kids all the time. I see their introspective 'deep thoughts' but also their simple ways of dealing with difficult situations.
'Their characters are teenagers that could actually exist; they aren't perfect. I feel that because of this, teens like me can have a character to be like. I showed the book to my mom because I really enjoyed the plot, and I think the book can be a big eye-opener for a lot of people who don't understand a fraction of what some of us go through daily.' 'Dear Martin' has left an indelible mark on a seemingly countless number of readers. It’s been called 'a deeply emotional and educational story,' something that 'shaped my consciousness towards those around me,' and 'absolutely moving and important.' I hope that this project will be seen as a veritable testament to the power of 'Dear Martin' and its effectiveness in driving powerful discussions well outside of our little classrooms. Today, the #BlackLivesMatter cannot go unspoken. People are kneeling, sitting, and laying down during our country's National Anthem in solidarity with folks who are routinely killed, assaulted, and discriminated against by police officers and those who support them. And to more effectively battle resistance, we are educating. We will use literature.
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