Two Personalities Of The Starr Carter
In the book, The Hate You Give, Starr Carter is the main character. She is a 16-year-old girl. Starr Carter is an African-American that lives in the “Hood” as some would say. She lives in a neighborhood called Garden Heights. Starr lives with her mother Lisa, her father Maverick, her little brother Sekani, and her older brother Seven. Starr attends a white private school called Williamson Prep that is 45 minutes away from her home. In this book Starr witnesses the deaths of two people really close to her. Her two best friends Natasha and Khalil. Both were shot, one by drive-by shooting and the other by a cop. The novel follows Starr as she attempts to navigate the two worlds of Garden Heights and Williamson Prep while dealing with grief over Khalil's death.
In this book, Starr refers to herself as two different people. She refers to herself as “Garden Heights” Starr and “ Williamson prep” Starr. This means that Starr has to put on two different personalities when in Garden Heights and when in Williamson. Starr usually changes even the smallest aspects of her personality to fit in at school. In Starr’s neighborhood the fact that she attends Williamson Prep makes her an outsider.
Kenya is King and Iesha's daughter. Kenya is also Seven’s half-sister and one of the few people in Garden Heights that actually talks to Starr. Starr describes Kenya as being pretty enough to be a model, with a flamboyant personality and love of drama. Kenya keeps Starr connected to Garden Heights. Kenya is the one that took Starr to Big D’s party in the first place.
Kenya and others complain that they never see Starr around, and imply that she thinks she’s too fancy for the neighborhood. For example, Kenya says “Hey, I’m just saying. You act like you don’t know nobody ’cause you go to that school.” She is implying that just because Starr goes to a white school that makes her different. She's also implying that Starr acts differently because she goes to a different school.
Another thing Kenya says is “Them li’l bougie girls from your school don’t count.” She is basically saying that because Start goes to a white school and has white friend those friends don’t count. This just shows that Starr is torn between two different worlds. In one of them (Garden Heights) she is the stuck-up, black girl, that goes to an all white school. In another (Williamson) she is a sweet black girl that lives in the “Hood” and goes to a white school and dates a white guy named Chris.
In the book, Chris is Starr's boyfriend. Chris is a rich white boy as some would say that lives in Williamson and goes to the same school Starr does. Starr and him share similar likes. They bond over things like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, sneakers, and rap music. Starr is scared of what her dads reaction will be like when he finds out she’s dating a white guy at her school. Starr tries her best to keep the secret and make sure that her dad doesn’t find out, but he finds out anyway do to Chris being eager to meet him. Chris is mad when he finds out that Starr hasn't been as forthcoming as she should’ve been. Chris really cares about Starr. He’s there for her through all the ups and downs. Although at times he may feel like its a lost cause but he pulls through. He understands that Starr is going through a rough time so he supports her and does not pass judgement.
At Garden Heights, Starr uses slang, isn't afraid to get mad and release her anger, and argues with other people. In Garden Heights there is lots of noise around people shooting, fighting, stealing, you never know. In Garden Heights, there are two major gangs. There are the King Lords and the Garden Disciples.
When Starr is at Garden Heights she’s more open, but she’s not too open because although she's black and everything she still goes to Williamson. With her going there people use that against her as to why she's stuck-up and too good for them. They treat her different because she isn't like everyone else that goes to the same school and are together 24/7.
When Starr is at Williamson she is the only black girl there. The biggest thing noticed between the two was that in Garden Heights, everyone knew about the incident with Khalil right away. It was huge news there and almost everyone was talking about it. However, at Williamson Prep, pretty much no one knew what had gone on. Even though Garden Heights is only 45 minutes away, it was like all of the students that attended the school were shielded from the issues of the outside world.
Starr gets to experience both sides of life. She is able to see what goes on in an inner city area where children witness shootings and robberies, and then leave that world to enter the one that is safeguarded from issues in society. I think this comparison is extremely relevant in the real world. People that grow up in safer areas do not know what is like to experience things that people living in places like Garden Heights do. It is interesting, while reading this story, to see the differing lifestyles.
Starr does some specific things that help her navigate the two worlds. For example, Starr has to act a different way around a certain group of people and another around a different group. For example, Starr says, “I wish I was myself just like Will is in fresh prince of Bel-Air.” This shows that Starr knows that she isn't perfect, I mean who is? She also knows that she is not always forthcoming as to who she really is. Meaning, Starr is aware of what she’s doing and she doesn't act like herself around others.
At Williamson, Starr is pretty conscious about not appearing “ghetto.” Starr makes adjustments to her personality in order to cover her blackness. She does this because she feels out of place. Starr is in a position where she can’t be open because the people at her school are really judged mental. And the people in her neighborhood just be criticizing her.
Starr differentiations between the persona that's on at Williamson Prep, where the student population is mostly white, and her mostly black neighborhood called Garden Heights are recognizable. Even though she may refer to herself as “Williamson Starr” and “Garden Heights Starr.” but she tries to open up more and be more real.
Starr tries to make her blackness more palatable to the sensibilities of her white classmates, who, because of their racial privilege, have grown up with some of the prejudice. For example, Starr says “If I face the truth, as ugly as it is, she’s right. I was ashamed of Garden Heights and everything in it. It seems stupid now though. I can’t change where I come from or what I’ve been through, so why should I be ashamed of what makes me, me? That’s like being ashamed of myself.” This means that since Starr began attending Williamson, she has always felt two-faced. “Garden Heights” Starr and the “Williamson Prep” Starr; both operate on different behavior and act different ways. Kenya has always recognized this problem. She calls out Starr for pretending to be someone that she really isn’t.
Later on in the novel, Starr comes to a similar realization. She accepts that she can’t change her experiences, and she questions why she would even want to. Her family, her background, and every event that has occurred in her life have shaped her into the person she is now, so to be ashamed of those events would equate to being ashamed of her own self.
