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G Rosen

Ms. Albin

English 9 Honors

14 September 2021

Love, Hate & Other Filters Paragraph

The author of Love, Hate & Other Filters uses internal and external conflicts to tell a deeper story of

Maya's quest for freedom. Throughout the book, Maya is often required to filter herself, or to become

what others want her to be. Maya experiences both internal and external conflicts that force her to choose

between her dreams, and the dreams that the people around her have for her. Most of the time this is

shown through Maya's interactions with her parents. She is forced to choose between her community

values, and her individual values. Even though Maya fears what the outcome will be, she decides to stand

up for herself, and chooses to live her own life, away from the expectations of others. In a moment of

adrenaline Maya is able to stand up to her parents, stating: “‘I'm not modern or whatever because of Hina.

I'm the way I am because I live now. In the twenty-first century. In America. And I want to make

movies.’ My eyes are wide. I'm rebelling. I'm going to be a desi movie-making rebel" (128 Ahmed). This

is Maya realizing what she wants, and that she deserves autonomy over her own life. This is her choosing

to break free from the path that was laid out for her. I think that is very brave, and bravery and freedom

are what’s at the heart of this book. Almost everything Maya faces in Love Hate and Other Filters is a

result of her struggling with the image that people assign to her. The perfect Muslim daughter that her

parents want her to be. The good Indian girl that Kareem sees her as. The terrorist that Brian is convinced

she is. The smart girl. The nobody. The background character. Some of these things Maya even assigns to
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herself. All of these titles are frames that are placed around her based on identity, and personal prejudice.

They plague Maya from the very first sentence of the book. But over the course of the story, she gains the

ability to free herself. Maya starts to surround herself with the people who appreciate the real Maya. Like

her aunt, Violet, and Phil. Maya finds the courage to pursue her dream, and to stand up to those in her life

that put her in unfair boxes. Most importantly, you can see Maya shift her personal view of herself, and

by the end of the book she is able to see herself as the "main character" in her own story. Maya is now

capable of recognizing that she doesn't need to hide behind a camera anymore, because she deserves to

live her own life. The author expresses this when she writes "beneath the chaos in my mind, the tender

reeds of hope take root and grow inside me. I no longer have to document it all from the perimeter. I am

the girl, and this is my story" (258 Ahmed). In conclusion, Love Hate and Other Filters tells the story of a

protagonist who struggles yet overcomes internal and external conflicts to pursue her dreams. The road to

NYU was tough, but for Maya it was worth it in order to live her life the way that makes her happy.