So, you've probably heard of the idea of self-fulfilling prophesy that we become who we think we are, for better or for worse. This question of identity-of understanding and defining who you are-is yet another gigantic life question that shows up in Thomas's & Hurston's novels and in life. One major issue that surrounds questions of identity is who defines it? Do I get to decide who I am in life or do others decide that for me in various ways? This seems like the most obvious question in the universe. Of course, everyone should get to decide their own identities! But, when we look into the hallways of the high school, into the conference rooms of the business world, around the family dinner table, is this always the case? Do we have friends, family members, and co-workers that influence the way we think or feel about ourselves? Are they, in some ways, helping to shape our identities, in negative and positive ways? Or, do they provide feedback, and it's up to us to accept or reject it into our self concepts/identities like a really good peer edit in writing workshop?
As far as Janie and/or Starr are concerned, how does each define herself in the beginning of the novel? Are there points when she lets others define her? What are the consequences of this? How does this change as the novel progresses? What realizations does she make?
The idea of self identity is one that is not learned or decided. It is grown into, and this idea is very apparent when we look at Janie. In the beginning of the novel, we find her in a situation where she is losing her grandmother, who has raised her since birth. We learn that she lived off of the spoon of others, and that she has never received anything of her own. This of course, makes the real world a rude awakening. However, her grandmother's dying wish was that she would settle down with Logan Killicks, and to have a man to take care of her. This social identification she later followed, as she did not know how else to break from the chain of contempt. Joe Starks later helped to push her out of her unhappiness, only to pull her into a new one. She had to tie up her luxurious hair, and help promote a dream that wasn't her own. It wasn't like her to open a store, pioneer a new town, or not speak her mind. All of these traits were adapted due to the circumstances around her. Identification will always be influenced by those surrounding oneself, its' when we find the right people that we can identify ourselves. With the proper support, love, and acceptance we can open. Janie finds herself with experience, and happiness. When she finds her Tea Cake, all he does is love her. She doesn't have to worry about his opinion, because the unconditional love between them is enough to support them both. She grows into a funny girl, a hard worker, and a good shot too. After Tea Cake's death, she finds all of these traits remain even through the grief. Her shell is a little harder, but we can clearly see through the conversations with Pheoby towards the end of the book. She says she doesn't care Pheoby tells the other girls, because she doesn't let it affect her anymore. This shows that identification can be like a peer-edit, however it takes time, growth, and experience in order to allow that criticism to only affect in positive ways.
ReplyDeleteWhen we are born, weare not simply provided with a self-identity that must be lived up to. We identify ourselves through changes and experiences. Identity is something that is constantly changing in its everlasting presence, and more than likely, it is discovered by destiny. In other words, as we grow older, we grow into our self-identification and this idea is truly shown through Starr Carter. At the beginning of the novel, Starr defines herself as one young girl living two separate lives. In her home of Garden Heights, she has the freedom to be herself but chooses not to in order to avoid negative perceptions regarding her enrollment at Williamson Prep. However, at Williamson Prep, Starr must hide behind the mask of her true identity and act similar to her peers so that she is not perceived as a stereotypical African American. In both situations, Starr is unable to find her self-identity because she is constantly shielding away her true personality from the outside world. Throughout the novel, there are moments when peers attempt to define Starr’s identity, particularly at Williamson. When Starr’s friend Hailey makes a racist remark during a basketball scrimmage, Starr does not hesitate to put Hailey in her place by confronting her and explaining that her words hurt deeply. Starr may not act her true self while attending school, but will not tolerate disrespectful comments and those attempting to discredit her or what she stands for. Another example of others trying to define Starr is when the Grand Jury decided not to indict the officer who shot Khalil, regardless of Starr’s testimony as the only credible witness. As the book progresses, the reader begins to see that Starr is quickly coming to a realization in regards to her self-identity as she is both physically and emotionally stronger. By the end of the novel, Starr realizes that she has the right to have an active voice in society and that by using her voice, she can make a significant difference in the world around her. Starr’s identity was not given to her. She had to learn and grow into the person she could believe in before she could truly find her self-identity
ReplyDeleteWe all pick out our outfits in the morning based on our mood and feelings. We also, un-knowingly, pick out our personality traits and perspectives based on those same two reasons, our mood and feelings. Although we may think that all of these decisions are up to ourselves, they are actually influenced by our friends, family, and fellow community members. Even though we pick out our outfits based on our personal style, there is still influence from others such as whether or not a pair of shoes are considered cool and living up to certain societal standards that are expected of you. In the novel, "The Hate You Give", Starr's personality, style, and way of life is influenced more so by her friends, family, and community members than by herself. She mostly lets others define her. Her dad is influential to how she defines herself because he was always convincing her that only the Garden Heights people were "real" and people who lived out of that area and where white were "fake". Another time when Starr let other people define her is when she is at school. When Starr is at school shes says that she has to act like she has no "ghetto" in her and be preppy only to fit in with her friends. The consequences of letting others define her is that she never gets to truly discover herself and open up to people in fear that they won't accept her if she does not live up to their standards. As the novel comes to an end, Starr's worlds begin to collide and she is forced to be her true self which in the end works out for the better because the only people she loses are the people that had negative impacts on her life such as her friend, Hailey. Starr realizes that she did not have to struggle living between the two worlds because if she had just been herself, she would not have had to go through as much pain because she would have been able to let people in and not be so closed off.
ReplyDeleteIdentifying yourself is a long process of trying new things and experiencing new experiences to become who you want to be. It can be influenced by friends, family, and acquaintances, but you are the one who decides your personality. This is shown throughout the novel The Hate U Give by the character Starr Carter. At the beginning of the novel, Starr tells readers that she is a girl living in two separate worlds. At home in Garden Heights, she tries to fit in by hiding her true personality to avoid being ridiculed by her friends because of her enrollment at Williamson High. At school, she acts similar to her white peers to dodge stereotypes of a typical African American person. Both of these situations require her to not be herself to avoid being mocked by society. Her friend, Hailey, helped Starr express her true feelings by saying a racist remark. Starr gets deeply offended by this comment and tells Hailey that her words hurt. After speaking up, Starr begins to realize hiding her true feelings can end up affecting her negatively or can put her in a situation she doesn't like. She also realizes speaking up can make a positive difference even if it puts her in a spotlight she doesn’t want to be in. She finally understood that she should identify herself the way she wants to be, not what other people expect her to be.
ReplyDeleteSelf identity is very much affected by peers and family members in both positive and negative ways. An individual has the ability to either accept or deny parts of this influence. In Janie’s case, her grandma has the greatest affect on her identity very early in her life. She let her grandma define her which later carries over to her submissiveness with her husbands. Janie was always taught to hold her tongue and it shows in her relationship with Joe who sees her as an object of which no one can touch. Once Joe dies, Janie finally gets released of his grasp and “let’s her hair down” both physically and mentally. In her time alone she begins to realize that what her grandma taught her was wrong. She begins to feel happy with her life as an independent woman when a new man, nick-named Tea Cake, sweeps her off her feet and they get married. Tea Cake let’s Janie be somewhat of her own person at first, but as they grow older and he contracts rabies, he becomes more controlling. Once he dies, Janie is more independent than ever and finally feels liberated.
ReplyDeleteOur own self identity is influenced by other people much more than we think. We often change how we speak or act around others, and this change causes us to be viewed differently depending on who we’re around. Our own identity changes because of how we act around others and how they see us as a result. This idea of changing your own identity to please those around you is a topic that author Angie Thomas heavily focuses on in The Hate U Give.
ReplyDeleteIn the book, Starr has two different sides of herself, which she calls Williamson Starr and Garden Heights Starr. Williamson is where Starr goes to school, and while she is there, she is very careful of how she acts. The student body is predominantly white at her school and Starr acts differently at school than she does at home in Garden Heights because of this. She changes how she speaks and does not use slang to avoid being labeled as a hood girl by her classmates. When she is home in Garden Heights, which has a predominantly black population, she uses slang and speaks and acts how others do in her neighborhood. These subtle changes in her behavior depending on where she is and who she is with give her almost two different identities. Different people see a different side of Starr, and her own self identity is very heavily influenced by her separate worlds. She even struggles to decide which side of her is the real Starr and which side is an act put on to please others.
I believe that ones identity is most heavily impacted by the people around you. In the novel "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas, the idea of ones identity being defined or formed can be seen through Starr Carter after her friend Khalil is killed by police. At the beginning of the book Starr has two distinct identities that she will switch between depending on who she is around. The first identity that Starr has is the one which she uses around her family and other related people, when she is around these people she is able to be herself and speak in slang . The other personality that she has is when she is around people like that of her boyfriend or the people that she goes to school with, when se is around these people we can see Starr being more concerned with how she speaks in order not to come off as living in the hood. Nearing the end of the book when Starr's two identities are forced to come together she is scared at first and thinking that her boyfriend will not accept the other side of her but when he does we begin to see Starr become more relaxed around him and be more herself.
ReplyDeleteAs a society, we identify people based on who they claim to be. This includes how a person may look, dress, speak, and their mannerisms towards others. In a perfect world, our identities would be created and altered by one person: ourselves. But in all actuality, perfection is a mere fantasy. The influence of others is so strong nowadays, making it hard to truly be yourself. Starr Carter displays this in "The Hate U Give" when she creates two different "Starrs". At the beginning of the novel, she has the idea that she can't act the same in Williamson and Garden Heights because people will stereotype her due to her race. Growing up, she learned how to be accepted in the ghetto and used the same slang as everyone around her. She even said that she would watch how her friends acted at parties but only used those actions at Williamson because she knew that was what they expected of her. Starr also dressed Preppy and spoke without slang when around people from her school so that they couldn't categorize her as a typical African American. Any time she hung out with people Starr thought it was mandatory to choose how she acted based on her environment. This split identity begins to trouble Starr as her two worlds collide throughout the book. No matter how determined she was to hide the two sides from each other, Starr's friends figured out that she wasn’t telling them everything, forcing her to come clean. As the novel progressed, it became evident that people will stay by your side if they truly love you. Starr realizes this and no longer feels the need to choose what identity would best fit her environment. Instead, she merges the two and finally learns the importance of being yourself no matter the situation.
ReplyDeleteMost people would contest that they are their own person and that they decide who they are for themselves. After all, being independent in our society is the goal; being one’s own person is what some would call the modern American dream. However, many fail to realize that much of our personalities and identities stem from our surroundings and the people we choose to fill our lives. Starr, however, recognizes this and mentions it many times throughout the story. In the beginning of the novel, Starr makes it very clear to the reader that she does not find herself completely submerged into either one of her two cultures. She starts out at a party in her neighborhood where she is clearly uncomfortable, not only because she does not know anybody at the party, but also because she doesn't feel like she fits into the stereotype that many others at the party find themselves comfortable with being a part of. Later on, when explaining her life at school in Williamson, she tells the reader that she feels out of place there, as well. This simply proved to the reader that Starr lets her environment and the people around her affect how she presents herself and even thinks about herself all the time. She says that she feels like she can be truly herself around Chris, but later on in the novel we find out that even that is a lie. She doesn't tell him everything because he is from Williamson and would not understand when she talks about Khalil or when she speaks with the words that her family uses and that she has grown to suppress. At many points throughout the story, Starr finds herself comparing her two personalities: Williamson Starr versus Garden Heights Starr. Not until the very end do we see the true Starr come out, and I personally believe that that is the first time she also saw herself for what she is. Everywhere she goes, she expects others to define themselves so that she can decide who to be around them. Because of this, Starr lets her anger and rage bubble up inside her until she truly can’t hold it in anymore. Her anger towards Hailey got so inflamed that they ended up physically assaulting each other at their school. She let her silence about how angry she was about Khalil go on for so long that, when given the chance to speak to an entire city of angry protesters furious over the exact same thing she was, she threw a can of tear gas at a crowd of police officers. Starr’s inability to show her true self is something I think everyone can relate to at some point in their lives. We all, at some point, let someone else’s personality and beliefs shadow our own to the point that we become someone that we don’t know anymore, simply to appease another person. When Starr finally realizes this, we truly begin to see Starr as who she is. She isn’t shy, timid, and awkward like she seems in Garden Heights, and isn’t a “bite-your-tongue, don’t-be-different” kind of person like she is when she is at Williamson. At the end of the book, Starr finally realizes that she cannot be two people at once and she is so much happier being herself than being a perfect model of what others want her to be.
ReplyDeleteIdentity in today’s standards are mostly influenced by who you tend to be around. Whether it be your family, friends, or strangers your appearance and personality is defined by them. In the novel “The Hate U Give,” the main character, Starr Carter, illustrates how society has such an influence on one’s identity. Throughout most of the novel, Starr has essentially two identities in order to fit in with two different communities. Starr has the “Garden Heights Starr,” which is her normal self that she shows to her family and the rest of her black community. Starr also has the “Williamson Starr,” which is her personality around her rich, white pupils because she doesn’t want to seem like she is from the hood. Starr sometimes lets her peers to define her, especially her “friend” Hailey. Starr’s mom points out that Hailey has controlled what Starr wants and that she may not be the best person to be friends with. For example, Hailey influenced Starr when they were younger into dying her hair the same color as her and playing as a Jonas brother that Starr didn’t want to be in their YouTube video. Starr eventually realizes that she should be whoever she wants to be whenever she wants to be after Chris and her get into a fight at prom and when she brings Chris to the hood. Starr then feels relieved that she doesn’t have to worry about how she acts around her friends and peers from Williamson. In the end, Starr seems much happier and relaxed about her identity no matter who is around or judging her.
ReplyDeleteSelf-identity is one of the most important elements in a person’s life. The way someone thinks of themselves around others influences how they live life when they are with others as well as by themselves. From the book, The Hate U Give, Starr appears less ghetto than the rest of her hood friends since she goes to an essentially white school and has primarily white friends. Although this is true she still behaves differently around her black friends to fit in a little more, just like she does to fit in with her white friends. Most of the time, people try to determine their own self-identity yet are pushed by society and their friends to adapt to fit in with everyone else. This trend can be noticed everywhere in real life as well as in the book, as businessmen have the same speaking and dressing habits and high schoolers have the same dressing and speaking habits. As the book progresses and Starr vocalizes the murder of Khalil, she strengthens in both a physical and a mental state, making her a stronger person overall.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the novel, Janie was heavily influenced by her grandma. She did many of the things she did out of love for Janie. When Janie got older, her grandma told her that she needed to find someone to marry. Janie wanted to go out and find someone that she truly loves, but her grandma chose for her. This made it very difficult for her to shape her own life. Janie got married again to Jody Starks. This marriage was worse because her suffering lasted for a long time. When Jody died, Janie felt a new sense of freedom and independence that she never felt before. She realized that this was one of the things missing in her life. Janie was able to define herself with Tea Cake because he treated her with respect. Tea Cake knows that everyone has the right to take control of their lives and shape their own destiny. Later in the book, Tea Cake contracts rabies. The disease messed with his mind causing to be harsh with Janie. It gets bad enough to the point where Janie had to shoot Tea Cake to save her own life. Even though Janie loved Tea Cake, his death allowed to feel even freer. Living and enduring life with Tea Cake allowed her to fully define herself.
ReplyDeleteSelf identity is defined different for everyone. Most people take into consideration what others are wearing, how they act, how they react, and similar ideas. Some go their own path and completely decide on their own how they identify themselves. Some are a mixture of the two. For kids in school, friends are one of the biggest ways to help identify themselves. Just like how Starr in The Hate U Give acts differently around her friend groups, the activities and social standards change her identity into something more desirable by her friends. Chris and Hailey both have impacts on how Starr, like when Hailey was racist and had an overall negative impact on Starr. Chris was a more positive influence, as she could feel more like herself around him, but even the differences between the two made this more complicated then appeared.
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ReplyDeleteThe idea of your own self identity is create by you subconsciously on your own. Though the people around you may impact the way you act, what you wear, or how you present yourself in public, your true self identity is created by you and you alone. Many people do end up creating their own identity based off the people they surround themselves with but it's a subconscious choice to let how they act/dress/etc. effect how you are in the world. That being said,I myself would say that the majority of people do let the way people around them act effect them personality wise, whether they know it or not.
ReplyDeleteIn The Hate you Give, Starr from very early on in the novel that her self identity is molded by the people she surrounds herself with. She says in the book that she has two different versions of herself depending on who she is around. She is personally making the effort to change herself in order to please who she is with. When she is at school she says that she tries to be the Starr that isn't "Ghetto" and does her best to blend in when she clearly stands out, as she has said multiple times. But when she is around the people in her community and where she lives, she can be herself and be more open and free with how she talks and how she carries herself because she knows that she doesn't need to change herself to please the people that she's grown up around. As the book progresses, there is a point where she brings Chris to her home and where she's grown up and at this point she realizes that she doesn't need to change herself because the people who really care for her won't judge her for who she really is.
Your identity can only be what you choose it to be. In the novel, "The Hate U Give," Starr finds herself conforming to society's standards and not staying true to who she really is, ultimately creating a fake identity for herself. Starr lives a double life and puts priority over her life at Williamson rather than her life at Garden Heights, hurting her self image. Starr finds it challenging to speak for herself without putting her words through a filter beforehand. Starr refuses to speak up for Khalil at first, complicating things for herself.
ReplyDeleteOne day, Starr decides that she is done living in fear and decides to speak up for Khalil on TV. She overcomes the fear of hurting her family and decides to seek justice for Khalil. In the end, Starr finds her true identity and finds justice for Khalil in the process.
I think that society shapes people to the way everyone wants other people to be. For example, many parents force their kids to do what they want and shape them to try and be the best children. Other people try to fit in with the 'cool' group of people and never can act themselves, they let their peers basically decide how they act and what they do. I feel like when given the right circumstances then a person can come out and be who they want to be. Maybe this is when they grow out of the whole school phase where they want to fit in with a certain group of people during that majority of their life.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the entire novel of "The Hate U Give" we see the main character Starr go through many changes in the way she lets society define her. Starr explained many times how she had to try to blend in while she was outside of her home. At her school she was one of the only African Americans there and she had to blend in and hide her 'ghetto talk' around her friends and teachers. She said that she basically had two different personalities depending on where she was at. When she was at home she could not talk like she does when she is at school because people would look at her weird. We see Starr change from the girl who would just blend in and be like everyone else in society to the girl who would do what she wanted and stand out against what society wanted her to be. After Khalil got shot she went through some life defining moments. Her ghetto self was exposed at her school and her white boyfriend became known to her family and friends. When they announced the cop did not get in any trouble for shooting Khalil then riots broke out and Starr got to show who she was with her voice and actions. She rioted and spoke up against the cops and she did what she wanted and didn't let her peers define who she was.
There is an old proverb that says you have three faces. The one you show your friends, the one you show your family, and the one you show acquaintances. Nobody does this quite like Starr from The Hate U Give. Starr's Williamson face is very different from her Garden Heights face. At school, she is very proper and acts more tame because she thinks her true self is too ghetto for the people in her school. In her neighborhood, talking about her life at school is hard because people view her as some kind of traitor to her class and/or race because of the school she goes to and the company she keeps.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the novel “The Hate U Give” Starr defines herself as a girl from Garden Heights, the daughter of Big Mav, and a girl who goes to school a primarily white school. However that’s not an identity, an identity is so much more. Identity is somewhat indescribable. There are so many facets to a persons personality and it’s impossible to mention everything you are to someone or even to understand them all yourself. An identity is more than just your name or things you like to do, its the entirety of who you are. Everyone that you’ve ever come across would describe your identity differently and that’s what makes it such a complicated thing, because no one is the same and it’s hard to describe what makes you different than others. Although, the only person that matters when describing your identity is you. Throughout the novel Starr is comfortable letting people define her because she doesn’t want to ruin her reputation. Yet none of the people that she lets define her know every facet of her personality. No one in Garden Heights knows who she is when she’s at school and no one at her school knows who she is when she is in Garden Heights. From the start of the novel to the end she comes to terms with the fact that she is more than just a girl who goes to Williamson, more than just a girl who lives in Garden Heights and more than just Big Mavs daughter. She is Starr Carter, a strong girl who has gone through a lot in her life, who is caring, compassionate, can get angry and is more than anyone else could define her as. She realizes that she has a voice and an individual identity and she will continue to use it to help others and give Khalil justice.
ReplyDeleteJanie, in Nealson's "Their Eyes Were Watching God," learns through time who she is. Janie, at first, is identified by who she was by her grandmother who chose her first husband. Janie, through her second and third marriages, learns who she is. She, throughout the book, uses a pear tree as symbolism for her life and love. She describes it as spreading and the way of life. The pear tree symbolizes what Janie learns through time and experience, and with this, the tree grows. On page 20, Janie describes herself as a "...cracked plate." This symbolizes the suppression and prejudice that she is raised in. The pressure Janie is under and how she was once naive about life and love. The pear tree relates to this as the was Janie grows to her true identity as the branches of the tree spread. Janie learns who she is through her experiences and how people think they know who others should be and basing their judgement on what they hear instead of learning who the person is. The people of Janie's society and time base everything they know about others on rumors and what they see on the outside rather than getting to know someone for who they truly are and the mysteries they hold within.
ReplyDeleteIn Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie does not choose her identity during the beginning of the novel. Nanny chooses who Janie is and even who she marries. Janie then goes on to her second marriage where again her identity is chosen for her. Joe Starks wants Janie to be his trophy wife, and views Janie as his object. It is not until after Janie's marriage to Joe that she chooses her own identity and decides to marry Tea Cake, who treats her as an equal, just like Janie wanted.
ReplyDeleteAt the start of the book, Janie is defined by her grandmother. Her grandmother says what she has to be and who to marry. After suffering through that marriage, Jodie promises her a better relationship and more freedom. But he keeps her under his boot and defines her once again. Janie by this time is fed up and when Jodie is on his deathbed, Janie finally stands up for herself and defines who she is. Even after she leaves with Teacake, she is her own woman and only she defines herself.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God", Janie's grandmother, Nanny, defines who Janie is through her love for her. Nanny wants Janie to find a good man who will treat her right, and Nanny wants this to happen before she passes. Janie does end up marrying someone that Nanny approves of. The consequences of this are that Janie is stuck in a miserable, loveless marriage, which is far from the kind of life Janie wants. The way she defines herself changes throughout her marriages, as she realizes she wants and deserves a better life.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the novel The Hate U Give”, Starr is defined not by other people, but the way she would like others to perceive her. She has seen the way people act around her at home and at school and developed her personality in ways that make her feel the most comfortable around others. her Personality is not shaped by others; instead, she molds herself into the person she wants to be. Later in the book Starr’s personality becomes more timid and is starting to be shaped by what people expect of her after the death of her friend Khalil. This forces Star to become angry at others and ultimately leads to her fighting with her best friends. This feeling of rage towards her friends who don’t understand what she went through eventually morphs Starr into a new person essentially who is more willing to speak her mind no matter what others think of her. Because of this, I do think that it is possible for society to help mold your personality. I also believe that the situations in life that help mold your personality can be handled differently, which has a much bigger impact on your personality than the situations themselves.
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