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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
