Life | Teen Ink

Life

February 13, 2019
By Anonymous

In The Hate U Give Angie Thomas, the author, takes the readers through Starr’s life after she witnesses her best friend’s, Khalil, death.  Then Starr must decide whether she will fight for Khalil and risk her, and her community’s safety, or keep quiet.  Throughout The Hate U Give, Starr’s life is generally realistic, as she experiences relatable feeling like loss, disappointment, and endurance.

The book begins with Starr at party, she sees Khalil and the start catching and even “after all the months apart”, and they have “ fallen back into normal like its nothing” pg.14.  Then a gang dispute breaks out and khalil gives her a ride home, while driving they are pulled over. Starr’s parents had two talks with her when she was young “One was the usual birds and bees… the other was about what do if a cop stopped” pg.23, her, and she hopes that someone had that talk with Khalil. Although unfortunately for him, he didn't follow those rules, and the cop shot him three times and he died. After losing Khalil, Starr decides to take action against the cop, and speaks out as a witness of his death.

Although the likely outcome occurs, Starr is disappointed and angry, when she learns that the cop that killed Khalil won’t suffer any consequences.  Star felt as though many people in her life, and in the media thought “Khalil’s death wasn’t horrible enough to be considered a crime… None of it f***ing mattered. “, and that “He was just a thug who deserved to die”pg.388. Filled with anger, Starr and some of her family and friends, rioted around the neighborhood. Then while rioting, she made an inspirational speech to the provoked crowd before the police had stopped the protest.

After everything that had happened Starr endured through her obstacles. She promised “Khalil, I'll never forget. I'll never give up. I'll never be quiet” pg.444, even though she could have been put in danger by do so. She promised to not stop fighting for Khalil literally and figuratively. She would fight for justice and what is ethical. Starr believes that “Khalil lives”pg.412, not only in memory, but in Starr's fight for justice.

 As a result of all these experiences, and feelings throughout Starr's life, it can be perceived as generally realistic. Although there may be some instances where Starr's life seems borderline-unrealistic. When her father, maverick, brings together two different Garden Heights gangs to become friends in his own house seems far-fetched. However the many other experiences and she experiences are usually relatively relatable. In conclusion, Starr’s Life, in The Gate U Give is generally realistic because of her experiences throughout the book.


The author's comments:

This book was pretty fun to read, and overall a good experience. 


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