Family values

By Ally Dunlap -
Throughout The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, there is a clear emphasis on family. Starr's family and siblings not only support her though their words but also through their actions. It is even seen that her close friends are like family to her.
With everything that is going on in Starr's life, I think it is important for her to know that she has a family backing her up every step of the way. The next day after Khalil was murdered, Starr's family is hesitant on what to say. Starr says, "It's like a "Fragile" sticker's on my forehead, and instead of taking a chance and saying something that might break me, they'd rather say nothing at all" (Thomas 33). This scene is very important in the novel because the love is shown through their words or lack of. They are worried about Starr and what this has done to her. They do not know how to be there for her, but they just want her to know that they are there for her.
As the novel continues, Starr is scared to speak up because she does not know if it will hurt her or make a difference. Starr even says, "...people like us in situations like this become hashtags, but they rarely get justice. I think we all wait for that one time though, that one time when it ends right" (59). A lot of Starr's fear comes from what she has seen happen in history and in the past events in her life especially with her childhood friend. However, I think that her family's involvement allows her to feel stronger in the decision she makes to speak up about what happened.
Last, one quote that stands out to me the most is what her mom says right before she goes to speak in front of the grand jury. Starr's mom says, "Brave doesn't mean you're not scared. It means you go on even though you're scared. And you're doing that" (331). Starr's parents are honest with her. I think this quote shows that Starr's mom knows how scared she is, but the fact that she is going through with this shows how brave she is.
I think this is a very important part of the novel for adolescents because it is not easy stepping out of your comfort zone especially with something as big as what Starr went through. The Hate U Give is a novel that will allows adolescents to see that it is important to have your own voice, and in many cases, that is the most important thing to have. Starr having such a supportive family is something that allows her to feel more comfortable in speaking up.

Comments

  1. Griffin ThomasNovember 12, 2019 at 1:30 PM

    Ally this was an amazing post! I love that you said, " This scene is very important in the novel because the love is shown through their words or lack of." That was so insightful! I never thought of or noticed that while reading the book. It is true throughout though conversation seems incredible important to this family and even their lack of words have deeper connections and connotations that you can easily miss as I did. This also has a connection to her going back and forth on whether or not she would testify. I realized how important their voice was in this book but this post made me also think about the significance of their silence as well. Very insightful Ally.

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  2. Kiara McVayNovember 14, 2019 at 5:42 PM

    I agree Ally, standing up for whats right can seem so hard for adolescents. Reading books like this inspire me to stay true to who I am and inspire others as well. I definitely think that family members have a lot of influence on wether someone will stand up for whats right or simply the way they react to situations like such.

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