Essay Sample on Similarities and Differences Between 'The Hate You Give' Movie and Book

Introduction

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas has become one of the most critically acclaimed novels of the decade. It is also one of the books with film adaptations. Despite the movie's similar to the book, there are notable differences that shall be discussed in this essay. The political scene especially has been interpreted and used as a reference for Black Lives matter inspired material. They revolve around the story of a sixteen- year old girl, Starr Carter who lives the poor predominantly black neighborhood, Garden Heights. However, she goes to school a neighboring white community (Tillman et al.).

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Similarities

Among the similarities of the book and the movie is their plot which revolves around the shooting of Starr's childhood best friend by the police when they were driving from a party. In both, she is faced with the dilemma of testifying against the police or keeping her identity a secret. Additionally, her father, Maverick had been sent to prison after he admitted to a crime he had not committed to protecting King, an influential gang leader. In the end, DeVante testifies against King, and he is sent to prison for a long time (Thomas, 127). While there are many themes in the book, injustice, and oppression of minority groups, racism and police brutality are the predominant topics. Thus, the essay will juxtapose the persona of Kendrick Lamar as portrayed in his lyrics, with that of the fictional character Starr.

Another similarity is the persona of Starr in both the movie and book. First, she is an advocator of justice. She witnessed the innocent murder of her childhood best friend. While at first, she had decided to become an anonymous witness, she later spoke out after the public riots. Second, she is bold because she took part in the black lives matter revolution, providing grounds for interaction for the black community. The event where Starr takes part in the public protest by accepting a television interview to tell the world what happened is witnessed in both works (Tillman et al.). Third, she is a conflicted persona in both works. Starr is traumatized and confused about speaking out possibly because of her double-sided life. At school, she changes her accent because of the fear of being discriminated. Hence, after the death of Khalil, she is filled with guilt and pain over the occurrence. They were both very inspiring materials, offering first-hand information of the extent of police brutality towards the African American community.

Differences

The most significant difference between the book and the movie is their endings whereby the ending of the film was twisted. For instance, the end of the book shows the king and his group of criminals hanging around after the fire incident and laughing about it. Soon the fire brigade arrives and interrogates Mr. Lewis and Maverick. Mr. Lewis told the police that King had set up the fire an allegation that was denied by him. Maverick also confirmed Mr. Lewis's statement. The rest of the residents also, in unison, backed the claims which led to the arresting of King. Even after the arrest, King's family spoke about the event, and their speech implied that ing would get out on bail within a short period so that he could revenge. However, DeVante, Carlos and the police found out King's drug hideout which could help them put the accused away for a considerably long time as they gave the witnesses police protection. Mr. Lewis finally offers to give Mav his store who agrees to rebuild it and a show of a new start of positive events in the community (Thomas 421).

On the other hand, the ending of the movie shows a standoff between the police, Mav and the King. These events follow the escalation of the fire that was set by the king on Maverick's store. Little Sekani uses Maverick's gun and points it at ing. The whole scenario becomes tense with an unpredictable ending. It leaves the audience wondering whether the police would shoot the little child and whether Sekani was going to shoot King. It revolves around the revealing of 'thug life' which was an abbreviation for the phrase 'The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everyone.' However, at the end of the tense scenery, no one was shot, and the police managed to arrest King for starting the fire (Tillman et al.).

Another difference is witnessed on Khalil, drugs and his mum. Khalil's character is perfectly cast in the film. Starr and Khalil are shown kissing on the night before the shooting (Tillman et al.), while in the book, sexual tension is evident between the two loves and there is no evidence for kissing. Also, even though she is aware of her lover's dealings in drugs, the book does not reveal the reasons for his involvement in drug vending until later in the story. Another case was during the burial where King is seen laying a gray bandana on the deceased as an indication that they were together in the gang, but later, Starr finds otherwise.

Works Cited

Thomas, Angie. The Hate U Give. New York, NY: Balzer, 2018. Print.

Tillman, George, Robert Teitel, Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Audrey Wells, Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Algee Smith, Lamar Johnson, Issa Rae, K J. Apa, Common, Anthony Mackie, Mihai Malaimare, Craig Hayes, Dustin O'Halloran, William Arnold, and Angie Thomas. The Hate U Give. , 2019.