Essay

In the book Letters From The Inside, John Marsden presents a character who wasn’t in a particularly honest friendship. I would argue that Mandy faced the challenge of a dishonest friendship with persistence and determination, showing that these qualities can get a truthful response out of a person.

Near the beginning of the novel, a situation arises where Mandy feels that Tracey is not being particularly truthful about her life. Tracey previously told Mandy about her life, making out that she was an all-round normal girl. It wasn’t until Mandy found some gaping holes in Tracey’s story that she started to get suspicious. “Trace, what’s going on? … Remember Prescott High? That’s the school you said you go to… they said they’d never heard of you…” Tracey then began to avoid the problem she had caused and stopped writing to Mandy. This seemed to confirm that Tracey wasn’t being very truthful.

Mandy does not mimic Tracey’s actions and stop writing because the latter was being untruthful, but naturally wanted to find out the truth. She used persistence and determination to get an answer out of Tracey and sent the latter letter after letter trying to either persuade or annoy Tracey into telling her the truth. “Trace, I’m no Sherlock Holmes… Please write back and level with me_ I need to know… I can hack anything except silence… I’ve got to know the truth at least… I’m going to write everyday if I have to, until I get an answer…” Tracey eventually replied to Mandy, but tried to brush it off by saying, “Let’s forget the whole thing…” But Mandy wouldn’t take no for an answer and attempted to guilt Tracey into telling, “…I don’t think you ever trusted me at all.” After this it only took two more letters to persuade Tracey to reveal the truth about her life.

The answer Tracey gave wasn’t what Mandy was expecting. It turned out that Tracey was in a youth prison. She decided to conceal this part of her life in order to find out what it was like to be normal. Writing to Mandy gave her that and she was afraid that if she told Mandy the truth, the latter would stop writing. Tracey was proved wrong. Mandy didn’t desert Tracey but embraced the latter’s situation and tried to make light of it. The way Mandy dealt with this challenge has shown me that being determined can help you through a dishonest friendship. The way Mandy dealt with the answer she received showed that she is not one to judge a person straight away. Because Mandy was not judgemental, she was able to help Tracey through a very difficult situation. Finding the good side in people who have done wrong allows you to help them become a stronger and more positive person.

Mandy is a strong and persistent character and the way she deals with the challenge of an untruthful friendship shows that she can be persuasive without being offensive. If the answer she gets isn’t a very positive one, she is very accepting of the situation the person may be facing. Mandy is certainly a character to look up to.

Beginning and Ending

At the beginning the two girls begin writing to each other after Tracey puts an advert in a magazine for a pen pal for a joke. Mandy answers the advert and we immediately pin her down as the rebel out of the two after the first few letters. We also pin Mandy down as the one who seems to have it the hardest at home comparing her letters to Tracey's and after she tells Tracey about Steve. "Geez, your life sounds perfect...I'm jealous!"

At the end after everything is revealed, things seem to get better what with Christmas and everything, but Mandy stops writing just after Christmas. Tracey continues to write assuming that Mandy is on holiday but gets more worried as the gap since Mandy's last letter gets longer. Then all of Tracey's letters are sent back to her with 'Return to Sender' written on the front, but not in Mandy's handwriting. "Well, now I knoiw that something's wrong. I got six letters back today, all marked 'Return to Sender'. And it wasn't in your writing."

At the beginning, we assume that Mandy has a difficult home life and Tracey has it great but the tables turn when all the secrets are revealed. There aren't really links between the beginning and end, the events throughout the novel link the beginning and end together.

Important Event

An important event in the novel is when Tracey tells Mandy that she's in Garrett. Leading up to this moment, Tracey avoids all questions that may lead to Mandy finding out her secret but Mandy suspects that Tracey isn't telling the truth and begins to persuade Tracey to tell her what's really going on. When Tracey finally decides to tell Mandy that she's in youth prison, the former feels that Mandy won't want to write to her anymore. "Keep writing if you want... I wouldn't know what to say." This event leads to Tracey telling Mandy why she started writing in the first place. "I wanted to know what a real life was like. I wanted to know what normal people do"

This event shows us that Mandy, who managed to persuade Tracey to tell the truth, is a strong, determined and non-judgemental person due to the way she dealt with the whole situation. It also shows that Tracey is a very defensive person who tries to escape the problem by avoiding Mandy and then trying to scare her away, but things got better after Tracey told the truth. This situation also shows that friendship is very important when some is going through a tough phase. It isn't easy for Tracey, being in youth prison. But to know that she has someone 'outside' to talk to makes the situation a bit easier to cope with.

Setting

We are never told exactly where and when the novel is set but due to the use of the phrase "fair dinkum" it is safe to assume that Letters From The Inside is set in Australia. The two main characters wrote letters to each other so this may be a clue as to when the story is set, possibly before the internet became popular in Australia. The novel is written in letters so it would make sense for it to be set around the pre-internet period. The youth prison, Garrett is an important setting to the story because this is what ultimately led Tracey to write to Mandy.



We don't know much about the physical aspects of Garrett apart from the fact that there is an area called A Block for high security 'slags', a Med Unit and the cells. "When you get here you're given a list of rules and what you can keep in your slot." Garrett is an important setting as it is the reason Tracey and Mandy began writing to each other. It is also the onle setting really described in the novel.

Themes part 2

Tracey helps to convey the theme of 'The Importnace of friendship' by writing to Mandy. The subjects covered in the letters Tracey writes to Mandy are of quite a 'heavy' content. The things that Tracey tells Mandy are extremely hard subjects to discuss with just anyone. "It's funny, I go to so much trouble not to whinge about this place when I'm writing to you. I don't want you to know how bad it is." It makes it easier to have a close friend to share your problems with because you know that they'd be some one you could trust and who would listen.

Tracey also helps to convey the theme of loneliness by her situation in the novel. Tracey is in Garrett (a youth prison) so she is completely isolated from the outside world, apart from the letters Mandy sends her. But when Mandy stops writing, Tracey feels truly alone again. "The hardest thing is not knowing. And being in here, I'm totally cut off."

Themes

The Importance of Friendship- Friendship is an important part of life and helps you to deal with difficult situations you may face.

* When Mandy is struggling with problems at home with her violent brother, Steve, she turns to Tracey and decides to open up about her fear of her brother. "See, Trace, the trouble is, I'm scared of Steve. Scared of my own brother - it's not meant to be like that is it?" It's important not to keep things like this bottled up and to know that you have a friend to talk to when things get difficult.

* We find out that Tracey is in Garrett, a youth prison, and deals with a fair few heavy situations while in Garrett. It's not the kind of place where you can have a heart-to-heart session, so writing to Mandy helps Tracey to vent her frustrations. Tracey knows that she can turn to Mandy as she knows that Mandy will listen to her. But when Mandy stops writing, Tracey realises how much she needed that friendship with Mandy. "The hardest thing is not knowing. And being in here, I'm totally cut off. There's no way I can find out if you're OK. That's what's driving me crazy."




Loneliness- To feel or be alone with no one to talk to.

* Mandy feels alone in her war against Steve. She feels as if she has no one to talk to about it. Her parents avoid the subject and her older sister is never around. "And when I've tried to talk to my parents they brush it off."

* When Mandy stops writing to Tracey, the latter feels alone as she has lost a very close friend (or the closest thing she had to a friend) and her connection to the outside world. "Please God, if you're there, let there be a letter tomorrow. And if there is , I'll be the best damn girl guide in this whole dump. Please write, Manna."

Character

Tracey

Secretive -"You wouldn't understand and you wouldn't want to know, believe me. Let's forget the whole thing, OK?" -She's being secretive by avoiding answering the question Mandy asked her.

Lonely- "I wanted to know what a real life was like. I wanted to know what normal people do." -She feels lonely in her world so getting to know someone in the outside world would be comforting for her.

Hopeless- "... I don't care about being the top dig anymore, and when Anita came in, all hot to take over, I wasn't going to stand in her way." -Being the 'top dog' seemed to give Tracey hope or more like something to live for but she seems to have given that position up along with her hope.

Rough- "... I dropped her with a backhander through the nose." -She is a rough or violent person when provoked which would have led to her being in Garrett.

Sensitive- "All I want is for people to be nice to me." -Shows she doesn't like it when people are unkind to her (just like any other person would be) even if she doesn't show it.

Tracey (the main prtagonist) seems to have a strong and positive relationship with Mandy, who she began writing to after sending out an ad in a magazine. The relationship between the girls began as secretive, hiding things from one another by avoiding the other person's question,  but grew to be more positive after they shared some pretty heavey secrets with one another and knew that they could trust each other.

* "Trace, don't do this to me... But I've got to know the truth at leats." -Mandy

* "And I don't show your letters to anyone, although I don't blame you for wondering." -Tracey

* "Thanks a lot for your letter. You are good to tell things to." -Tracey

John Marsden

John Marsden was born in Melbourne, Australia. He was the third out of four children. Marsden's father was a bank manager so the family moved around a lot. Marsden was accepted into Sydney University to study a degree in Law and Arts. He dropped out of this course due to family reasons and his dislike of law. Marsden became depressed after leaving University and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. After his spell in hospital, Marsden tried his hand at around 32 different jobs before settling on a teaching career. After beginning his teaching career, Marsden decided to start writing books for teenagers. This led him to write the critically acclaimed 'Tomorrow' series, Letter From The Inside (on which this study guide is based) and many other books.