The Hate U Give (2018 film) Essay Questions

Why does Starr keep a shoe box with wands in it?

Starr and her two best friends growing up, Natasha and Khalil, loved to pretend to be characters from Harry Potter. They used the wands to create magic with their imaginations. When Natasha was killed as a child, Starr kept her wand as a memorial of their friendship, a memory of her. At the end of the film, Starr goes to Khalil's house and finds his wand in a drawer in his bedroom, and puts it with Natasha's and hers in the shoebox. Keeping the wands helps her feel that she is still connected to her friends who have passed away, and it gives her a sense of closure.

What is striking about the opening scene of the film?

The opening scene is striking because it features Maverick and Lisa sitting their young children down to talk with them about what to do when they are pulled over by the police, and he gives them the Black Panther list of rights to learn by heart. Maverick is teaching his very young children that as black men and women, they are potential targets of police violence and killings, and he wants them to be prepared for it. The scene is somewhat shocking, as Maverick is asking his children to think about death and their own mortal safety—something they should not yet have to face. As the scene progresses, we see that his desire to teach them this is to ensure their safety and make sure they understand their worth. It is a sobering and dark conversation that has a very positive purpose.

Why is a grand jury assembled for the officer who shot Khalil?

Khalil gets gunned down by a white police officer who thought a hairbrush in his hand was a gun. After the murder, the cop isn't immediately charged. Instead, a grand jury is put together to determine if any charges should be brought against the officer. This in itself is an insult to the memory of Khalil in that it shows that the institution of law enforcement does not value Khalil's life enough to try his killer. Making matters worse, the grand jury decides not to indict Khalil, even after Starr's testimony and all the evidence that is presented. The grand jury's decision reveals the continued bias in the legal system, which protects white people more than black people.

What are the two identities that Starr must juggle?

At home, Starr is Garden Heights Starr, and has to fit in with her black peers. There, her family is part of a black community and she gets to be more at ease with herself. At Williamson, the predominately white prep school she attends, Starr feels that she must curb her identity, be less confrontational and use less slang, lest she get perceived as "hood." The things that help her fit in in Garden Heights are the things that most stigmatize her at Williamson. Thus she is torn between two different identities.

What conflict arises between Starr and her uncle, Carlos?

Carlos is a black man and a cop, so he sees the issues that Starr is grappling with as rather complicated. He and Starr get in an argument about how police officers ought to deal with potential criminals, and in the course of their conversation, Starr gets him to admit his own racial bias—his sense that white individuals are not as dangerous as black individuals. Carlos is seen as a traitor to his race in certain ways, and Starr thinks he ought to be more aligned with black issues than with defending the police force.