Love Hate And Other Filters Quotes

What would you do if your dreams were shattered by the weight of societal expectations? Within the pages of the captivating novel, “Love Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed”, a profound exploration of identity, love, and personal agency unfolds. At the heart of this novel stand two interesting characters, Maya Aziz and Phil Hernandez. Maya is a courageous Muslim girl, with Indian heritage, who finds herself residing in a predominately white community, where her parent's traditional values clash with her inside-burning desire for self-independence and self-expression. Similarly, Phil Hernandez, a young man of white descent has his own internal struggles, attempting to do his personal ambitions without publicity, to avoid humiliation or embarrassment.

While Phil Hernandez is a very outgoing and sociable young man with great social skills and knows how to make people feel important and valued. For example, when Maya looks up Phil’s social skills and wants to be more like him, she says the following: “I keep forgetting that the reason everyone seems to like Phil is that when he talks to you, he makes it seem like you’re the only person in the world even when it’s only polite chitchat.” (Ahmed 43). From this quote, I can see that Phil is that one social guy in school, the guy that everyone loves and adores and enjoys being around and wants to be around more often. I can also infer from the quote that Maya adores Phil’s social skills and wants to have them at similar expertise when she says “he makes it seem like you’re the only person in the world” which is from personal experience. This quote is important because it tells the reader how excellent social skills Phil possesses, and how he has a charming personality and successfully can get along with

“When Phil shared his desire to be an EMT, it seemed strange to me then that he would ever have to hide a part of himself. But we all have secrets, hopes that stay locked deep inside, trapped by our fears of the world’s judgment.” (Ahmed 199). From this quote, I can see that Phil's and Maya’s experiences are reflections of a common human struggle, in which people often feel pressured to say their true passions and dreams because of the worry of judgment. The expectations from Maya’s mother and father, and the expectations of Phil’s friends forced them to hide components of themselves that won't align with their thoughts and choices. Just like Maya, who hides her reputation to NYU, Phil maintains his desire to turn out to be an EMT hidden from his pals. I can see that each of them has an inner worry about being perceived differently. I also can count on that for Phil, despite having excellent social skills, he still has inner social anxiety leading him to stay quiet about his inner