Full title  The Hate U Give

Author  Angie Thomas

Type of work  Novel

Genre  Bildungsroman; Young Adult Fiction

Language  English

Time and place written  2009, 2014-2016; Mississippi

Date of first publication  February 28, 2017

Publisher  Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins

Narrator  Starr Carter narrates The Hate U Give as events unfold.

Point of view  Starr speaks in the first person, offering commentary and insight into how events make her feel and providing background information. While her observations are subjective, Starr does not intentionally distort the truth, and in fact tries to clarify as much as possible the way she feels and why.

Tone  Starr tells the story in a colloquial manner as if talking to a friend. She reacts to events as they occur, leading to a wide range of emotions as she experiences them.

Tense  Present

Setting (time)  2010s

Setting (place)  Garden Heights, an inner-city neighborhood in the southern part of the United States, possibly a fictionalized version of the Georgetown neighborhood of Jackson, Mississippi, and the suburbs associated with that city.

Protagonist  Starr Carter

Major conflict  After a police officer shoots her friend, Khalil, Starr Carter must gain the courage and confidence within herself to testify before a grand jury to seek justice for his death.

Rising action  After One-Fifteen shoots Khalil, Starr gives a statement to the police about what happened. However, at Khalil’s funeral, Ms. Ofrah reveals that the police are not intending to prosecute One-Fifteen. Starr decides that she can no longer keep silent and agrees to testify before the grand jury. King warns Starr not to bring him into the testimony. Starr condemns both King and One-Fifteen on television.

Climax  Starr testifies before the grand jury, finally bringing to light the full truth of what happened the night Khalil died. After this testimony, Starr has done all she can do to seek justice for Khalil.

Falling action  The grand jury decides not to prosecute One-Fifteen. Starr speaks at the head of the protest but gets caught in the ensuing chaos when police throw cannisters of tear gas. Starr and her friends take refuge at the Carter family store, but King tosses a Molotov cocktail into the store and burns it down. The neighbors tell police that King started the fire, and the police arrest King.

Themes  Identity and blackness; the weaponizing of stereotypes against black people; the cyclical nature of racialized poverty

Motifs  hip hop, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” Harry Potter

Symbols  One-Fifteen, Maverick’s roses, Garden Heights

Foreshadowing  Khalil’s world-weariness; King threatening Maverick; Lisa’s anecdote about Starr’s birth; Maverick worrying about the store

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