Jus's Wrists (Symbol)
Wrists are a recurring symbol in Dear Martin. Often, they are an indication of Jus's state of mind as he grapples with questions of race. After Officer Castillo beats up and arrests Jus in Chapter 1, his wrists are left bruised and sore for days. In Chapter 3, Jus's wrists demonstrate his discomfort during the class discussion on equality. Instead of speaking up in class, Jus reacts with an increasing level of discomfort, which is shown by him clenching his jaw, sighing, and rubbing his wrists. When Jared says that people who declare injustices are race-related are "just being divisive," Jus "inhales deeply and rubs his wrists" (24). Later, when SJ declares that Manny and Jared could commit the same crime but Manny's punishment would likely be harsher, Jus rubs his wrists again (29). Here, Jus's wrists act as a signal of his emotional discomfort during this conversation. SJ and Jared use Jus and Manny as examples to back up their points even though they repeatedly ask to be left out of it. Further, SJ and Jared are arguing in the field of speculation, but Manny and Jus have to face the realities of racially-based inequality in their day-to-day lives—Jus's encounter with Officer Castillo is a striking example of this fact.
On a symbolic level, Jus's wrists demonstrate that racial inequality is not something that he can simply escape. It is not an abstract topic to discuss; it is the reality of his day-to-day life, and it is something that he cannot escape. Finally, wrists are held together by handcuffs, which limit a person's freedom. They carry resonances of the bondage of slavery—a dark reality of the US's past—the aftereffects of which still affect the lives of Black Americans today. He reveals in the November 1 letter to Martin that his wrists began to ache at the Halloween party, after one of Trey's friends revealed that he had a gun (48).
Jus and Manny's Halloween Costumes (Symbol)
In Chapter 5, Jared has the idea that everyone in his "crew" including Jus should dress up as stereotypes for Halloween. Jus dresses as a Thug, including pants that are belted around his thighs with the boxers exposed and a tight flat-brimmed cap on his head. Manny dresses up as a Token Black Guy: "khakis, loafers, and polo with a cable-knit sweater draped over his shoulders and tied loosely at the chest" (40). These costumes act as symbols within the chapter itself, as they demonstrate both how Jus and Manny are seen by the "crew" as well as how they are seen by the outside world. The "crew" thinks that it is funny that Jus and Manny should be dressed like a Thug or Token Black Guy, but they also reveal throughout the novel that they see Jus and Manny in this light. In the previous chapter, for example, Blake calls Manny a "token black guy" as part of a joke (32). These costumes symbolize Manny and Jus's inability to fully assimilate at Bras Prep—they are consistently undermined as "less than" because of their race. While the white students at Bras Prep expect Jus to get angry at this racism because of his background, they assume that Manny will simply go along with it, because he is wealthy and does not engage much with Black culture—in effect, he is the "token" that he has dressed up as for Halloween.
These symbols also have a deeper meaning: while Manny and Jus do not fully fit in with the white kids at Bras Prep, they also don't truly fit in with other Black people in the outside world. When they get to the party, they are confronted with a group of boys from Jus's neighborhood who are real thugs: "The next thing he knows, there's a group of geniuinely thugged-out black dudes—and one white guy—standing in front of the Equality Brigade. . . The worst part? Justyce knows every single one of them. They live in his mom's neighborhood. This is Manny's cousin's crew. Jus is pretty sure they all belong to a gang called the Black Jihad run by a crazy older dude named Martel Montgomery" (42-3). Trey, one of the boys from the group, calls Jus out on his costume, which highlights the fact that Jus is not "genuinely thugged-out" and the stereotype that Jared and the "crew" place him in does not fully fit. Jus stands out from his childhood friends because of where he goes to school: "Trey smiles at Justyce then. Well, more like sneers. It makes Jus feel like cockroaches are walking all over him. 'You ain't changed a bit, Justyce. Still Mr. Smarty-Pants,' Trey says, and then one of the others pipes up: 'Y'all know he goes to that rich-ass white school out in Oak Ridge now'" (43).
Ultimately, Manny and Jus's costumes symbolize that their identities cannot easily be reduced to either "thug" or "token." They stand out at Bras Prep and they stand out among Jus's friends from his old neighborhood. Trey warns them that their white friends do not see them as equals because of their race. Jus and Manny leave the party feeling uncomfortable, and a moment of understanding passes between them as they start to take off their costumes: "Jared steps ahead to talk to the others, and Jus watches Manny examine his tied sweater, his khakis, his loafers—his 'costume' made up of clothes he pulled from his closet. He unties his sweater, then looks up at Justyce. For the moment, they understand each other. Justyce takes the fitted cap from his head and the fake chain from his neck" (45).
Lack of Sleep (Motif)
Throughout the novel, many characters express concerns over lack of sleep, which acts as an indication of their state of mind. Often, Jus struggles to sleep when he has a lot on his mind. For example, in Chapter 6, after he has discovered that he has been accepted to Yale, he is unable to sleep because of his excitement and his confusion over his budding feelings for SJ.
SJ herself notes that she couldn't sleep after Jus's encounter with Officer Castillo in Chapter 1: "'I didn't sleep for a week after what happened to you, Jus,' she said. 'I know we might be throwing away our chance at a win, but if we can get some facts out there, maybe make people think a little bit, it'll be worth it, right?" (79). Here, SJ's lack of sleep symbolizes her worry for her debate partner and friend.
Throughout every mention of lack of sleep, it's important to keep in mind that sleep acts as an escape from reality. Often, when characters are struggling with lack of sleep, they are also struggling with the realities that they face in their day-to-day lives. For example, when SJ ignores Jus after the debate tournament, Jus is so caught up in his thoughts of her that he can barely complete his daily functions: "I have no idea what to do now. I can't eat. Can barely sleep. Can't stay focused . . . Everywhere I turn, there's a reminder of this girl" (83). In these lines, sleep would allow Jus to escape the constant reminders of SJ, but since he can't doze off, his mind is consistently on her.
Jus's worries about his romantic life coincide with his deep concern with the issue of racial justice in America. Often, he finds that he can't sleep because thoughts of Black teenagers who have been killed by the police—such as Shemar Carson and Tavarrius Jenkins—take up his brain. At the beginning of Chapter 10, the narrator describes how Jus's lack of sleep seems to be coming from every side: "But Justyce doesn't sleep. Not that night, nor the rest of the week. And it's not just SJ. A couple of mornings after she gives him the cold shoulder, he and the rest of the nation learn that Tavarrius Jenkins, a sixteen-year-old black kid shot by police while trying to help an older white woman in a Lexus, has died from his injuries" (85).
Ultimately, when a character in Dear Martin tells us that they are losing sleep, we can assume that they have a lot on their mind. Lack of sleep signifies deep emotional trouble and worry—whether this be anxiety about romance or much more troubling anxiety about police brutality and racism.
The Media (Motif)
In Part 1 of Dear Martin, the news acts as an important source through which Jus learns about the current events around him. He learns from the news early in the novel that the policeman who shot and killed Shemar Carson in Nevada was not indicted. Later, he learns about Tavarrius Jenkins's case on the news. Tavarrius Jenkins, like Shemar Carson, was an unarmed Black teenager who was shot and killed by the police in Florida. Throughout Part 1 of the novel, the information that Jus gets with the news coalesces with his "Be Like Martin" project; he uses the contemporary events around him to inform his journey of learning more about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jus understands that there is racial injustice in the United States, and it weighs heavily on him.
As Jus tells Martin near the end of Part 1, the news indicates to Jus what the mainstream media thinks about the issues of police brutality and racism: "Every time I turn on the news and see another black person gunned down, I'm reminded that people look at me and see a threat instead of a human being." Notably, Jus often learns through the news what white people think about these issues. Often, these white newscasters refuse to admit that there is a systemic problem of police brutality to begin with. Jus writes, "There was some white dude on TV after the Tavarrius Jenkins thing broke talking about how cases like his and Shemar Carson's 'deflect from the issue of black-on-black crime,' but how are black people supposed to know how to treat each other with respect when since we were brought over here, we've been told we're not respectable?" (95).
In Part 2, the news takes on a much more important role and we begin to see transcripts of news segments and news articles inserted within the narrative itself. At the end of Part 1, Manny is shot and killed by an off-duty police officer, who was mad at him for listening to loud music. We don't catch up with Jus again until twenty-seven days after the fact, after he has been released from the hospital for his own injuries. We get most of our information about Manny's case from these news segments rather than from Jus himself. They are therefore very important to our understanding of the plot. They also indicate to us where the mainstream media's favor lies in regards to this case.
During Manny's funeral, for example, Jus feels trapped inside the service because he knows that the media is waiting outside to get a comment from him. He also knows that they have already begun "speculation" on Officer Tison's case, bringing Manny and Jus's innocence into question: "He would love to just get up and walk out. . . Problem is there are media people everywhere outside. Based on some of the 'speculation' he's heard—Manny threatened Garrett Tison, one of the boys threw something into Tison's Suburban, Justyce had a gun, etc.—he'd rather not be seen" (126).
Music (Motif)
Throughout Dear Martin, the characters use music in order to negotiate their lives. Manny and Jus are fans of Deuce Diggs, an Atlanta-based rapper. Manny and SJ are also fans of Carrie Underwood. The fact that Manny is a fan of both rap and country music is an indication of his character—he does not fit easily into stereotypes and instead traverses many different environments with ease.
Deuce Digg's lyrics speak about the daily realities of Manny and Jus's lives: racism, oppression, and police brutality. Manny turns to Deuce Diggs after he starts fighting with Jared and his other friends in Chapter 12. In many ways, Deuce Digg's music encourages Manny's political awakening. As he tells Jus, after he fought with Jared at the music festival, he went home to listen to Deuce Diggs: "'All day Sunday, I sat in my basement, just fuming. I think I listened to Deuce Diggs and played Medal of Honor for like six hours straight. The whole time, all I could think about was how I said the same thing to you. How right you were. How good of a friend you've been—'" (108). In this passage, the act of listening to Deuce Diggs opens Manny up for a learning experience, in which he realizes that he had been acting willfully blind to his friends' prejudices in the past.
Later, in Chapter 13, when Manny is upset about Jared's father pressing charges against him, he is blasting Deuce Diggs in his car. Deuce Diggs's lyrics speak to the feeling of frustration that both Manny and Jus feel at their circumstances:
So catch that ball, Nigga; shoot that shot.
Put on them gloves, Boy; kock off ya brotha's block.
Lace up them track spikes; get ready to run.
Here comes the fun, wait for the sound of the gun. . . (116).
In these lyrics, Deuce Diggs is relating the normal activities of boyhood (sports, track races) with the violence that is so prevalent in Black teenage boys' lives. The "you" that Deuce Diggs is speaking to seems to be in a precarious situation and needs to prepare himself to run away from the shooting gun. What Manny and Jus don't know yet is that Garrett Tison, who is driving next to them on the road, will get angry at the volume of Jus and Manny's music and shoot them both. The "sound of the gun" in the song becomes a literal gun that takes Manny's life.
Afterwards, Jus is angry at the world. He looks to multiple sources for advice on how to move forward, but he feels like no one truly understands how he feels. He finds solace in Deuce Diggs's music, and wishes he could reach out to the rapper: "You know who gets it? Deuce Diggs. Jus has been listening to his music a lot since he woke up without a best friend" (157). Jus identifies with one Deuce Diggs track in particular and plays it on repeat:
Turn on the news, another black man slain.
They say 'It's okay. Save your voice, don't complain.
This isn't about race, so stop using that excuse.
Now look at this funny picture of Obama in a noose!
See how color-blind we are? You're not really black to me.
Underneath, where it matters, we both bleed read, you see?
So put away that race card; it ain't 1962.
There's no more segregation . . . isn't that enough for you?' (157-8)
In these lyrics, Deuce Diggs includes the voice of a white speaker who is responding to the news that another Black man has been killed. The white person's response—that it's not about race, that racial inequality no longer exists—mirrors Jared and the rest of the "crew"'s points-of-view about race from Chapters 3 and 4. In the same way that Jared argues that racial inequality doesn't exist but continues to make racist jokes, the white voice in this song insists that race no longer exists and yet still makes offensive jokes about race: "Now look at this funny picture of Obama in a noose!" There is another parallel between Manny's friends' attitude and the white person in this song. In Chapter 4, Kyle tells Manny: "Like I totally don't even see you as black, Manny!" (33). In the Deuce Diggs track, the white person says: "You're not really black to me." The similarity between what Deuce Diggs has his white people say and what Jared and the "crew" say suggests that these narratives are a common experience for Black people. This kind of messaging completely ignores the lived reality of Black people's lives and the urgency of their fight for justice.
While having to fight for justice for himself and Manny, Jus also has to hear white people's opinions about the tragedy that changed his life. They insist that we live in a "color-blind" society and that racism no longer exists. Despite this, Black teenagers keep getting killed within Dear Martin, perhaps with no end in sight. Jus finds solace in Deuce Diggs's music as he waits for the world to change.
