The Hate U Give, written by Angie Thomas, was published in 2017. The novel begins with the main character, Starr, going to a party with her friend Kenya. While she is there she reunites with her childhood best friend Khalil. They talk and Starr discovers that his family is having a hard time. She speculates that he may be selling drugs in order to support them. However, their interaction and the party are interrupted when gunshots break out. The pair run to Khalil’s car and drive away in the hopes of finding safety. But as they are driving they get pulled over. Within a very short time, the situation escalates and the police officer pulls Khalil out of the car. Starr prays that he will be safe but as Khalil moves to check if Starr is okay, the officer shoots him three times. The event is horrific and traumatic and though Starr is physically okay, the trauma of Khalil’s death haunts her and brings back memories of her other childhood best friend who was killed in front of her as well. As the story progresses, Starr navigates dealing with the trauma and loss of her old friend while also living a double life. In Garden Heights, the neighborhood in which she lives, she is able to feel a sense of community with her family and friends. Yet, in Williamson where she attends high school, she must deal with being one of the only black students along with the reminder that her friends are white and a white police officer killed her friend. Starr grapples with what actions to take and how to properly give Khalil justice.
The general premise of the novel can be worded in two ways. The first is: What happens when you live in a world where your race places a target on your back? The second is: What happens when you witness your friend become a victim of hate? Both of these premises are connected to each other. The first is a broader statement that we can see as bystanders to the events that happen in real life. The second, on the other hand, is more nuanced and pertains to the events of the novel more closely and that of the specific experiences of people in real life.
These premises lead to the creation of the novel’s controlling idea. As a group, we created the statement: When you project love and positivity into the world and resist the temptation of feeding into the cycle of violence, you will receive love back. We also decided that the counter idea is: The hate and racism that is projected onto youth, along with systematic inequality and economic disparity, forces the youth to learn to survive under unstable circumstances which can lead to poor decisions or violent situations that end in their own destruction.
The Counter Idea is introduced in the first chapter of the novel when Khalil drives Starr home. He explains a Tupac lyric and anagram to Starr, “Thug Life” (The hate you give little infants fucks everybody). This is a negatively charged moment not only because of the negatively charged idea, but also because the scene follows a shooting at a party, and it precedes the murder of Khalil by police.
The Controlling Idea is shown at the end when Starr stops her little brother from perpetuating the cycle of violence by telling him “Dasia, add ending here”. This climactic moment is positively charged, which makes the ending an idealistic one. Overall, I would say the book is a very intriguing read, following all of these themes of hate breeding hate, survival of the fittest, and what to do when the ones we love are gone while trying to maintain their memories and avenge them in the process.
The Rowan Writers 