As you know, symbolism occurs when a person, place, or thing (such as hair) represents itself and something beyond itself. Hair, strangely enough, is a symbol in Hurston's novel. Other symbols that Hurston uses are the weather/hurricane and the pear tree. If you are reading
The Hate U Give, what are some symbols that you've noticed? The cool thing about symbolism is that you have to figure it out. Calling all literary sleuths: How (in the world) is hair a symbol in Hurston's novel? What about the pear tree and/or hurricane? What does the title of each novel refer to? How does this passage relate to a possible theme of the novel? Hmmmm...
One symbol I noticed in the novel, The Hate U Give, was Starr calling officer Brian Cruise, One-Fifteen, even after she learned his real name. I believe this is symbolic because by calling him One-Fifteen, Starr is making him a symbol of racism within law enforcement instead of the person he is. In the novel, the reader is able to see a common pattern of black youth being quickly judged and then prosecuted before they have any chance of defense for themselves. Starr doesn't see officer One-Fifteen as the reason for Khalil's death, but as the person who acted on the way law enforcement criminalizes black youth.
ReplyDeleteThe title of The Hate U Give is a clear motif included in the novel. The reader is first able to identify this motif when Starr is riding in Khalil's car and the two are listening to Tupac. Khalil explains to Starr that Tupac saying "THUG LIFE" stands for "The Hate U Give Little Infants F**ks Everybody." Later on in the novel Starr and her dad are having a similar conversation, and Starr tells her dad that the saying is talking about what society feeds minorities as youth comes back to bite them later. Maverick goes on to explain how the minorities of this world have been trapped in a system where they continually get screwed over so they are stuck in a hate filled cycle known as Thug Life.
While reading the novel The Hate U Give, one symbol that I noticed was Maverick’s dedication towards his rose garden. The roses that Maverick repeatedly pays attention and cares to throughout the novel represents his family. Mavericks work and love he puts into his roses is an image of his work and love he put towards his family; furthermore, all poor black children who grow up with limited resources. For example, as Maverick cares for his own family, he is willing to give DeVante a new path in his life to finish high school. Flowers can be hard to keep alive if the right care is not given to them. Maverick is trying to provide his children with a childhood that will allow them to grow. DeVante was in a bad situation, hence, Maverick gave him a new opportunity to grow that his community and parents did not. During the novel, Maverick makes the observation that the roses are dying, which leads to his conversation with Starr about the meaning of Thug Life. The role of conservation is an important role of parenting, and in the novel, the growth of the roses. At the end of the novel, the Carter’s decide to move out of Garden Heights, and Maverick states that the roses will survive the move to the suburbs. This means despite moving to a white neighborhood, Maverick’s values of black power that he has given to his children will help them through too.
ReplyDeleteThe title of The Hate U Give is a motif displayed throughout the novel that ties to Thomas’ themes. The motif is Tupac Shakur’s concept of ‘Thug Life’, which Khalil begins to explain to Starr while they are listening to his music during the car ride home. Thug Life is an acronym for ‘The Hate U Give Little Infants F**ks Everybody’, which explains why the racist social system among America creates natural cycle poverty and crime. Later in the novel, Starr and her father discuss this message as Starr tries to understand why Khalil was a drug dealer. Maverick explains to Starr that the people at the bottom of society, including minorities, black people, and poor, are oppressed into a system designed against them, Thug Life. This runs through the novel as it is shown the characters Khalil and DeVante. The novel’s themes of racism, poverty, and crime are all empathized through the title of the novel.
The novel, The Hate U Give, contained several hidden symbols, but the ones that I believe brought the most meaning were Khalil's hairbrush and 115. I noticed how the author, Angie Thomas, shortly brought the reader's attention to the hairbrush when Khalil got it out to brush his hair, but I didn't think of it again till it was identified as the so-called gun. Khalil's hairbrush and the officer represent the distrust society has towards minorities. The book exemplifies this idea through the protest's chant "A hairbrush is not a gun". This chant expresses the community's frustrations toward society. The officer's fears, stereotypes, and racism caused him to feel threatened by things that weren't there. He believed he saw a gun because he presumed there would be one. Khalil's hairbrush represents minorities anger towards quick reactions based on fear and incomplete information. Whereas the officer, 115, represents society and its distrust towards minorities and low income communities.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest symbol in the novel, The Hate U Give, is the thought of Thug Life. Thug Life means "The Hate U Give F**ks Little Infants." In the beginning of the story, this acronym comes up right before Khalil gets killed when he is talking to Starr about Tupac. Then it comes back up when she is talking with her dad, Maverick, in the car and he asks what Starr thinks it means. She then says that what it means is that what society feeds and shows minorities comes back to bite them later on.
ReplyDeleteAnother symbol is that Chris is dating Starr and doesn't care about her race. He has feelings like everyone should have, liking people based on what they are like instead of liking people based on what they look like. It shows throughout the novel that many people discriminate against Khalil because of his race and Chris is just wanting to know the truth the whole time. Chris is the symbol of what society should be like and many of the other people in the story are symbols of what society actually is.
In the novel, The Hate U Give, I found a couple of symbols. The first one would be One-Fifteen. Even after learning One-Fifteen's real name, Starr still refers to him as the badge number thus reducing One-Fifteen to a symbol of racism in law enforcement. By choosing to mainly refer to the officer as One-Fifteen instead of Brian Cruise, the novel does not criticize specific cops, but the way law enforcement criminalizes black culture. The way other officers protect One-Fifteen and how Starr's testimony was distorted in her first interview. The police institution simply does not condemn One-Fifteen, even though a crime was obviously committed. By using One-Fifteen as a title, Angie Thomas shows that although One-Fifteen was an individual, it could have been any officer in his place. One-Fifteen was just a cog in the violent machine and neither his name nor his story changed the fact that he wrongfully murdered a black teenager.
ReplyDeleteAnother symbol I found and thought was interesting was the name of Starr's hometown, "Garden Heights". The name "Garden Heights" is a symbol because it emphasizes that children, like plants, need care and nourishment to grow and are ultimately the product of where they grow up. This is obvious because a constant struggle in the novel is how Starr feels the need to act differently in her home versus where her friends live. Although there is very little nature in Garden Heights, many of its roads are named after green things like "Magnolia" and "Carnation". The difference between the names of the streets and the reality of the streets demonstrates how poor the conditions are in Garden Heights for children. A prime example is how when Natasha was murdered, Starr fell into a rosebush and got all bloody, which symbolizes hidden dangers that the children of Garden Heights face while growing up.
One symbol in The Hate You Give is Khalil's hairbrush. While driving home from a party, Khalil and Starr, who is in the passenger seat, are pulled over by a cop. This cop, as readers come to learn, is referred to as One-fifteen. As Khalil opens the driver's door the cop begins shooting at him, killing him in the process. Later it is revealed that One-Fifteen believed that he saw Khalil reaching for a gun in the door, when in reality it was only a black hairbrush. One-fifteen assumed it was a gun because Khalil looked "black enough". He saw a weapon when there was not one. For this reason, when riots start happening in the neighborhood, people began chanting, "A hairbrush is not a gun!" Khalil was killed because of the color of his skin. One-fifteen assumed there was a weapon. A hairbrush is not a weapon. Khalil was innocent. One-fifteen is not. Yet, the cop is not sentenced for the murder of child because he did the "right" thing in society's eyes. The black hairbrush, that was never a gun, symbolizes the power of racism in the real-world. Khalil never got a chance to prove he was doing nothing wrong. Black people are going to be guilty, and are never going to be given the chance to be innocent.
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ReplyDeleteThere were many symbols Angie Thomas included in the novel, The Hate U Give, but the first symbol I noticed while reading was Khalil’s hairbrush. Officer Cruise alleges that he shot Khalil because he mistook his hairbrush for a gun. This represented the distrust that the police force and society have against minorities. Later in the book, the African American community was chanting “A hairbrush is not a gun.” This showed their anger towards police officers shooting unarmed black people based off of false information or stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteAnother symbol I noticed while reading this novel was Starr calling Officer Brian Cruise his badge number, 115. On the way home from a party, Starr and Khalil get pulled over by Officer Cruise who then proceeded to shoot and kill Khalil. By referring to him by badge number, Starr reduces him to a symbol of racism within law enforcement. It is a common theme throughout the novel that the youth of the black community is often judged by the police force and society before they have a chance to explain their actions or defend themselves. Starr is not blaming the person Brian Cruise for the crime, but she is blaming the corrupt system of the police force for Khalil’s death.
In the novel “The Hate U Give,” the most significant symbol throughout the novel was the use of the nickname, “One-Fifteen.” Coined by Starr Carter, One-Fifteen is the name given to officer Brian Cruise right before Khalil was tragically killed. Despite having knowledge of his given name, Starr uses the term One-Fifteen to degrade the character of Officer Cruise as a symbol of racism and bigotry in law enforcement. Throughout the novel, it is commonly shown that the African American community is significantly impacted by negative societal views and distrust amongst law enforcement officials. With that statement, African Americans are rarely given the opportunity to explain their actions or provide a logical defense explanation regarding the situation because society and law enforcement proceed with instinct, not reason. Starr uses the term One-Fifteen not to criticize Brian Cruise, but to expose the corrupt system. An additional symbol that I noticed while reading was Khalil’s hairbrush, which was mistaken for a gun and resulted in his tragic death. The hairbrush is a symbol for the distrust that society has on African Americans and other minority groups and is a prolonging issue that exists not only in the book but in our society today. Like Officer Cruise, some law enforcement officials feed off of the misinformation and stereotypical views implicated by society, which often results in wrongful outcomes, or in the circumstance of Officer Cruise, the shooting of an unarmed black minor.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel “The Hate U Give,” symbolism is an important way for the author to get their point, or thesis, across to the reader. A major symbol is the repetitive appearance of Black Jesus throughout the novel when there is tension within the black community. In the novel, Black Jesus is a cultural figure that symbolizes strength within the black community during rough times. Several times after Kahlil’s death, Starr looks to Black Jesus as a guiding light through the emotional pain and grievance of losing another childhood friend.
ReplyDeleteThe title of “The Hate U Give” represents a much bigger picture than just the story told in the novel. The title comes from a saying Tupac is known for, which is “Thug Life.” “Thug Life” is an acronym that stands for “The Hate U Give Little Infants F**ks Everyone.” The acronym describes how minorities are “stuck” in the lower class of society because of what society gives them at a young age and that it comes back to sting them later on in life. When Maverick and Starr are in the car, Maverick tells Starr that the government forces the minority group into the lower class by allowing them to have less opportunity than others. As a result, many minorities are “forced” into the drug business and ultimately set up for a broken life.
Symbolism occurs in many forms in "The Hate U Give", one that I noticed was Thomas’s choice to have Starr refer to the officer responsible for the shooting as One-fifteen rather than his real name. When Thomas decides to do this, she was showing that not just the one officer was responsible for Khalil’s death but rather law enforcement’s over criminalization of minorities. In other words, any officer could have been responsible for making rash decisions and judgments based on race. Another big symbol and theme in the novel was the understanding of Tupac’s concept of thug life or “The Hate U Give Little Infants F**ks Everybody”. This acronym is used to explain crime and poverty as a result of underprivileged children growing up in a biased racist social system. Lower class and the oppressed are given less opportunities because corporate America doesn’t bring as many jobs to their communities. Also, poorer schooling leads to a lack of career success in the future. Starr and Khalil first mention this idea shortly before he was killed but later in the novel Starr discusses the meaning of the acronym with her father. After their conversation, she decides to break her silence to do her part in trying to make a change in the system. This acronym is also the source of the title of the book and relates to the theme of the mistrust law enforcement has of low class and minority members.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Hate U Give", one symbol is THUG LIFE. Khalil and Starr discuss this shortly before Khalil's death. Khalil really likes this acronym hat his idol Tupac came up with. "THUG LIFE" means The Hate U Give Little Infants F*cks Everybody. This acronym signifies the racial social system. This is also foreshadowing because Tupac died at the age of 25 by a gunshot, even though Khalil is younger than Tupac here it still hints at something may happen to Khalil.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel The Hate You Give a symbol that seems to appear a lot is the music that is played and artist that are talked about. Starr mentions multiple times the lyrics in the songs and how much they impact her and make her really think. When Iesha shows up to Sevens Birthday party and things take a turn Starr searches for the song Seven played for her shortly after Khalil died. Another time the music in the story really created a impact was when everyone was on Magnolia street rioting and a song by Ice Cube started playing. The lyrics really got in everyone’s head and it caused them to start breaking windows and starting fires in businesses.
ReplyDeleteIn The Hate U Give a symbol that stuck out to me was Khalil's hairbrush. The hairbrush is a symbol of the distrust that police officers have for minorities. One-Fifteen says that he shot Khalil because he mistook his hairbrush for a gun. Starr's dad says One-Fifteen made this assumption not simply because the hairbrush handle was “black enough” to have looked like a gun, but because Khalil himself was “black enough” to have been carrying one. One of the chants, "A hairbrush is not a gun", represents the anger that the African American community feels. The hairbrush can also represent the senselessness of racism.
ReplyDeleteSymbolism is displayed everywhere in Angie Thomas’ novel “The Hate U Give”. Khalil’s dimples really stood out to me for displaying his innocence and life in a neighborhood like Garden Heights. Starr emphasized them by saying they ruined his “G persona” and kept him from looking tough. This was important to note because it was said right before Khalil was shot for a false accusation. He was such a cheerful kid, as shown by his dimples, and did not deserve to die so soon. When Starr asked Khalil why he had been busy lately, those dimples quickly disappeared. This made it clear that he had been involved in a bad crowd, but was not proud of it. Thomas used Khalil’s dimples to symbolize the good side to him, the one that Starr grew to know and love. They showed that he really was just another kid trying to live life no matter how hard his situation was. He didn’t want to get involved in drug dealing, but felt there was no other choice to save his addict mother. The police didn’t care for his reasoning and tried to make Khalil sound like the bad guy. At the very end of the book, Starr mentions his dimples one last time to make the point that the true Khalil was nothing to be afraid of or looked down upon and especially not a thug like everyone assumed. He was simply a kid living in a dangerous and unfair world.
ReplyDeleteThomas uses names as a way to symbolize big things about a character or place in the novel. Maverick is named after a character from Roll of Thunder, Hear Me Cry, Khalil, Kenya, and King represent the KKK and all of the bad things that plague inner-city African Americans (racism and police brutality, domestic abuse, and gangs/drugs, respectively), and Starr calling the officer his badge number instead of his real name is used to point out that what he did was not a humane thing. The constant references to plants and flowers in Garden Heights paints the image that the neighborhood is a living, growing thing. I did some research on this and found out that the reason Thomas decided to depict Garden Heights in this way is because of a poem written by Tupac called “The Rose That Grew from Concrete.” Thomas says that the “rose” is the children who grew up in Garden Heights, and the “concrete” is the harsh life they faced while living there. They were able to survive and prosper in Garden Heights, just like the rose in the concrete, even though the odds were stacked against them.Tupac and references to him are prevalent everywhere in the novel. Starr is named after him (her first name is what he said he wanted his daughter to be called and her middle name, Amara, is the female version of his middle name, Amaru), she and her dad sing along to his music in the car, and the name of the book even comes from a quote from Tupac saying what he thought “Thug Life” stands for. One can also find many similarities between Tupac and Starr’s father, Maverick Carter. Tupac and Maverick both believe in racial justice and the teachings of the Black Panthers. Both were arrested at young ages and were deep thinkers. Some say that the book description of Maverick is similar to Tupac’s physical description as well. I believe that Thomas used references to Tupac in the novel in order to give some kind of face and personality to “Black Jesus.” The characters in the book look up to Tupac and his beliefs and overall see him as a role model for their children.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Hate U Give," music was pretty symbolic in a lot of the story. When the riots started, a song by Ice Cube, a rapper from the group NWA who rapped a lot about the life on the streets and police injustice, started to play. I think this was extremely symbolic because Ice Cube and other rappers from NWA at the time really painted the picture of how people in the projects viewed the police and how the police viewed the people; negatively. Also, the references to Tupac and his thug life motto came up a few times, and Tupac was another rapper from the streets who died from gun violence. I think music was important because it took the pain and anger the people had and put it into words, and allowed them to express their hurt. The references to both rappers are important because both talk about how the government forces the minorities into a cycle; they force them into the bad parts of the city, which forces them into the "hood cycle," or dealing drugs/robbing/turning to crime for money.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Hate U Give" Black Jesus was symbolic to The Carter family. They have pictures of Black Jesus on their walls. Black Jesus represents the strength in African Americans. The family gets strength by praying everyday to Black Jesus. Starr calls her family "Christlims" because they are a mixture of Muslim and Christian. For example Jesus is a symbol of their Christian belief while they abstain from eating pork in respect of Starr's mothers Muslim belief. Thus Black Jesus represents blended religion.
ReplyDeleteIn "Their eyes were watching God" hair is a symbol of beauty, youth, and independence. In the beginning of the novel a group of women are gossiping about Janie and one of them says "what dat ole forty year ole 'oman doin' wid her hair swingin'down her back lak some young gal"(Hurston 2). She is being judged because she is wearing her hair in a way that young kids do despite the fact she is getting older. Also, when Janie works in the store Joe makes her keep her hair up so people are not looking at her. Walter even tried to touch her beautiful hair one time and Joe got very jealous. Once Joe passed away she was free from his rule. She let her hair down and she burned all of her hair rags. She was now independent and could wear her hair the way she wanted to.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel “The Hate U Give” Starr Carter refers to the cop that shot and killed her friend Khalil as One-fifteen. One-fifteen was the officers badge number. Starr’s father told her to always remembers a cops badge number, so this is how she talks about him now. I think that this is a symbol in the story of how Starr believes that the cop does not deserve full attention or respect from her. One-fifteen also represents how the law system was racist towards her friend Khalil.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel "The Hate U Give", by Angie Thomas, Khalil's hairbrush was a symbol that stuck in my mind throughout the story line. To me, the brush represented how quickly something can be changed in someones mind because of who is using it or because of the setting it was used in. A hairbrush is an everyday object that would normally not be seen as a threat to a police officer. However, in the story the officer, who was later identified by Starr using his badge number, took the hairbrush to be something much more dangerous at first glance. He thought it was a gun because it was late at night and the person who held it had given the officer somewhat of a hard time and was an African American male. Another symbol that stuck in my thoughts as I read the book was the title. The fact that the author incorporated it into the dialogue and gave an explanation to the acronym, THUG, made it easier to understand for the readers. It explains a current issue that is presented in today's society.
ReplyDeleteThere are many symbols in the book "The Hate U Give". One that stuck out to me was how Starr referred to the officer that killed Khalil as one-fifteen and not by his name. This shows that she did not want to give that officer any credit by even remembering his name just as a number. Another symbol that stood out to me is how she used the title "The Hate U Give" to represent THUG.The word thug carries a strong meaning which I believe gives the title more emotion to it and interests readers.
ReplyDeleteThomas does such a great job putting symbols into "The Hate U Give" that some of them often go unnoticed. Even the title itself represents the acronym "THUG LIFE" that symbolizes the pressure and stereotypes society starts putting on everyone when they come into the world. The symbol in this novel that took me a while to recognize is the name "Garden Heights", which is where Starr and her family were born and raised. There is quite a contrast between the peaceful name, and what actually goes on, where gang culture is very present and the harsh violence makes it a struggle to be able to grow and survive. Garden Heights is a name that emphasizes the fact that people are like plants, and they are the product of the place where they grow up.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurtson, hair is a symbol of independence and freedom. When Janie marries Joe and he allows her to work in the shop, he makes it a rule that she is not allowed to have her hair down. This is showing the dominance he has over her, and showing that she is not independent. It’s not until after Joe passes away that Janie is allowed to wear her hair down, she even goes as far as to burn all of her hair rags. Her burning the hair rags represents her having her freedom and independence back. It is, in my opinion, a very great way to represent Janie's inner feeling without having to out right say it.
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ReplyDeleteTheir Eyes Were Watching God has many symbols, but I never really noticed the hurricane as being one until mentioned. I wonder if the hurricane represents the tragedy that was to come for Janie, and it was a way of the author to foreshadow the events to come. The hurricane brought forth pain and suffering to the area as a whole, but also to Janie personally. In the hurricane, Tea Cake was bit. This ultimately let to his downfall, which can be compared to the effects of the hurricane- Janie was destroyed. I also can view the dog who bit Tea Cake as a symbol (though this might be a stretch). The dog was fierce and unforgiving towards Tea Cake, and in a way destroyed everything Janie came to care about. The dog could be compared to society. Society over time had hurt Janie time and time again, and ruined her dreams and aspirations because of their prejudices and hate. The dog, symbolizing society, killed her dreams and desires once more. But following the theme, Janie was able to build herself up again, and to became a stronger person because of these experiences.
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