Societal Norms In The Hate U Give By Angie Thomas

Hudson Lewis English 11 Carlson 5 31 May 2024 Trying to be “Normal” The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas sheds light on how trying to conform to societal norms can be the root of significant problems in a teenager's life. The main character Starr Carter is a 16-year-old black girl who lives in a primarily impoverished and very gang-violent neighborhood. She goes to school in a predominantly rich and white-heavy area, and throughout the novel, she experiences a lot of times where she feels her experiences and the differences that she faces separate her from everyone around her. Starr finds herself in a situation where her very close friend Khalil has been shot by a cop while checking on Starr while they are pulled over. Khalil is pegged as a drug dealer, and

Starr sits out and actually goes to class, which is just something else she does that is different, and Starr says, “They act like I’m the official representative of the black race and they owe me an explanation. I think I understand, though. If I sit out a protest, I’m making a statement, but if they sit out a protest, they look racist”(186). Starr’s connection to Khalil just makes her stand out more than everyone else, and even though she changes the way she acts, she doesn’t think the same as everyone else, which makes her different and creates even more divisions between her and her friends. Starr experiences people being rude and inconsiderate, even racist. One of her best friends, Hailey even stops texting her and unfollows her because she posts things that have to do with cops killing innocent black kids, ultimately this all boils over to Starr and she starts to lash out, and cause more problems with not only her friends, but it starts to affect her relationships with people like Chris who’s her boyfriend. Devante, who was close to Khalil, and is now in trouble with the gang Khalil was trying to get out of, and her