48 pages • 1 hour read
Dear Justyce
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Symbols & Motifs
The Playground and the Rocket Ship
Within the first few pages of Dear Justyce, Nic Stone establishes Quan’s “favorite spot in the world” (19). When Quan is upset, he runs to the playground and hides in the rocket ship. Over time, the rocket ship becomes a symbol not only of escapism, but also of safety and shelter from the storms of life. At the beginning of the book, the playground is described as “brand new,” and much like Quan, it is still fresh and young. The playground becomes a symbol of Quan’s childhood, and over the course of the novel, the playground (and the rocket ship) are invaded by harmful substances and unsavory behavior. Quan discovers a hypodermic needle, a used condom, and “cusswords” around the playground as the years go by. In the same way, Quan’s innocence is corroded by his troubled home life, his criminal record, and his involvement with the Black Jihad.
By the halfway point in the novel (immediately after Dwight’s death), the rocket ship is removed completely after someone dies from a drug overdose inside of it. Symbolically, Quan is “trapped” in the Black Jihad, just like he is “trapped” on Earth with no chance of blasting off to outer space in his imagination. He is directly responsible for Dwight’s death, and with such a serious crime tied to his name, Quan feels like “his rocket ship is gone. His escape is gone. Now there’s no way out” (135). Quan knows that he has permanently indebted himself to Martel, and he is losing hope of ever knowing a life other than this one.
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Quan is a voracious reader in childhood, and he has a special love for Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Quan frequently refers to Dwight as “Count Olaf,” the scheming, thieving villain of the series who is determined to rob the poor Baudelaire children of their parents’ fortune. Quan relates to the Baudelaire children because he often feels like he is at the mercy of the adults in his life and is being targeted for abuse and mistreatment. However, the title of the book series also symbolizes Quan’s life: Like the Baudelaire children, he is living through a series of traumatic moments. Daddy’s arrest, “The Math Test,” his numerous arrests, and the night of the shooting are the most notable “unfortunate events” that plague Quan’s life. Quan states that it “became a running theme” in his life: “not knowing what he could do about anything” (45). On his last day in the library, Quan tries to read the final book in the series, The End, which symbolizes the end of Quan’s love for reading. Quan complains that the library “isn’t a welcoming place. Not anymore” (54), and he abandons the book on the floor and leaves. Reading used to be an escape for Quan, and it isn’t until he is back in prison and working with Doc that he rediscovers his love for reading. Part 1 of Dear Justyce is titled “The End”—a direct nod to the final novel in Quan’s favorite series, and a hint that a metaphorical chapter in Quan’s life is coming to a close.
Quan’s Gun
Although guns are commonly considered symbols of guilt, in Quan’s case, his gun becomes a symbol of his innocence. On the night of the fatal shooting of Officer Castillo, Quan is “not the only one who pulled a gun” (162); he is one of three people who did. Quan’s gun was discovered at the crime scene with his fingerprints on them, but the bullets from Quan’s gun do not match the bullets that were found in Officer Castillo. Ironically, the weapon becomes the strongest piece of evidence that Quan is not guilty of the murder. The gun can also symbolize how neglectful the justice system can be. As Jared states, “Isn’t that something they would’ve checked before making an arrest?” (202). Before Quan was ever charged, the bullets should have been compared to the discovered weapon. This is simply considered good, thorough police work but was somehow missing from the investigation. If this gun is symbolic of any type of guilt, then it is the guilt of those who were tasked with investigating the murder of a fellow police officer and didn’t cover all of their bases. Quan’s weapon represents a poor decision—to join the Black Jihad and find himself at the wrong place at the wrong time—but not his inherent guilt.
Quan’s Nightmare
Towards the end of the novel, Quan starts having “wild-ass nightmares” that represent his feelings of fear, guilt, and inadequacy. He dreams of being “tossed into a pit full of the bones of dead black boys” and being chased to Martel’s, “where all of his boys are waiting to shoot him dead” (282). Quan is haunted by the events of the night of the shooting, and even though he has served over a year of his life instead of the actual murderer, Quan is terrified that in the process of trying to prove his own innocence, he will inadvertently implicate one of the Black Jihad members. He feels like he is betraying his friends in the gang by attempting to get out of prison. The “dead black boys” represent the countless boys who, like Quan, have been imprisoned or killed for crimes they also did not commit, and Quan is afraid of turning out just like them.
However, Quan’s most telling dream involves Justyce “opening Quan’s chest and frowning at whatever he saw inside before summoning Doc to come take Quan out with a shotgun” (282). This nightmare reveals Quan’s deepest fear: that Justyce and Doc are both wrong about him, and that there is no good inside of him after all. Quan is afraid of letting Justyce down and wonders if Justyce and Doc will turn on him. Martel owns a shotgun, and by dreaming about Doc holding one, Quan’s psyche seems to reveal that he is afraid that Doc will turn out to be just like Martel: controlling, cruel, and expecting some sort of payment in return for his services.
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