Addante 1

Jayden Addante
Ms. Lacava
ENG4C1a
October 25, 2022
THUG Literary Response

Starr feels like she has to act differently in front of her Williamson friends and her Garden

Heights friends because she is scared people will think she is ghetto, she doesn't want to be loud or

different and she just wants to fit in with everyone else. On page 95 she quotes “ Hello. My voice is

changing already. It always happens around “other” people, whether I'm at Williamson or not. I don't

talk like me or sound like me. I choose every word carefully and make sure I pronounce them all well.

I can never, ever let anyone think I'm ghetto.” Starr claims that if she uses her slang words or her

abbreviations that white people may find her ghetto so when around white people, she makes sure she

says everything correctly and tries to never mess up. She also states that she has to have two

personalities. Her Williamson version then her Garden Heights version of Starr. Meaning, when she's

with her Williamson friends she can act and talk like how she truly is but when she's with her Garden

Heights friends or any white people in general she has to act polite.

She says on page 11 about how she doesn't want to be loud or different. She says “ Funny how it

works with white kids though. It's dope to be black until it's hard to be black.” Starr’s meaning is,

people think it's “cool” to be black and it’s “fun” until you get the real problems and the cops are after

you because you are a different colour than them. It's “dope” to be black until you are framed for

something you didn't do or shot over a hairbrush. Starr’s meaning is, it’s dope to be different, until it’s

hard and you stand out to everyone. Finally, she talks about wanting to fit in.

Also on page 11, she quotes “ As long as I play it cool and keep to myself, I should be fine. The ironic

thing is though, at Williamson I don't have to “play it cool” — I’m cool by default because I'm one of

the only black kids there. I have to earn coolness in Garden Heights, and that's more difficult than

buying retro Jordans on release day.” Starr doesn't feel like she fits in here because she is one of the

only black kids there and she’s good at basketball. She see’s Garden Heights as a place where she has

to earn “coolness” and respect because all the kids there are primarily white.
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In conclusion, Starr just wants to fit in like any other kid and have a normal highschool life. She

doesn't want to pretend she isn't “ghetto” or have to earn respect. Those things shouldn't come with

the colour of your skin, race or gender everyone should be treated equally.

Work Cited

Mortis, Jeremy. “50 The Hate U Give Quotes With Page Numbers.” Ageless Investing,

https://agelessinvesting.com/the-hate-u-give-quotes/. Accessed 25 October 2022.