Starr Carter's Journey: Character Development In 'The Hate U Give'

Raabiyya Mooradun
Ms. Chesney
ENG2DI
January 17th, 2022
Starr Carter’s Journey: Character Development in The Hate U Give
As Erik Erikson once said, “In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity.” In other words, there is no point in being alive if you cannot stand up for yourself and your beliefs. Everyone in this world has a purpose and staying inside their comfort zone prevents them from achieving this. In Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give, throughout Starr Carter’s journey as she works through finding herself and the confidence to step out of her comfort zone, this is portrayed. At first, Starr struggles with embracing her culture and community but a traumatic event prompts her to confront

As the story concludes, Starr evolves into a powerful advocate for justice within her community and she becomes comfortable in her own skin, no longer worrying about the opinion of others. In the book, Starr’s disagreement with the absence of justice around her causes her to overlook her insecurities and voice out her beliefs, resulting in her no longer feeling any guilt for not speaking out and gaining confidence in herself.
In the beginning, Starr struggles with her identity, ashamed of her culture and community; however, encountering a traumatic event challenges her to reevaluate her insecurities, despite being fearful to, in order to stand up for her beliefs instead of feeling guilt. Due to growing up and living in the primarily black Garden Heights and going to school in the primarily white Williamson, Starr feels torn between the two drastically different neighborhoods. She cares a lot about the way her white friends and boyfriend at

Starr is ashamed of the Garden Heights community and this causes her to try her best to mask the lifestyle she grew up in. On her way to school, Starr says, “That means flipping the switch in my brain so I’m Williamson Starr…Basically, Williamson Starr does not give anyone a reason to call her ghetto” (Thomas 71). Starr explains how she basically turns into a different person the second she steps in Williamson. She does this in order to conceal her true identity to avoid being judged. Starr lists some things she refrains from doing like using slang, getting upset at people, giving side-eyes, etc… She avoids these small actions to avoid giving anyone an opportunity to put a label on her as “ghetto” or “too black”. This also portrays Starr’s own internalized societal messages that white people and their culture are superior and she feels that gaining acceptance from them is more important than her own validation and self-worth. The death of Khalil, a close friend of Starr’s, deeply traumatizes her and affects her emotionally and psychologically. She struggles with feelings of guilt, grief, and anger as she tries to come to terms with his death at the hands of a police officer and the social and racial issues it brings to