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The Hate U Give is set in present-day United States, primarily in Garden Heights, a Black neighborhood where Starr lives. This low-income area faces issues with crime and drugs. In contrast, the story also unfolds at Starr's White private school. These stark differences in environment highlight Starr's experience of navigating dual lifestyles.

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1.  Starr Carter

Starr our protagonist is a 16-year-old Black Girl from Garden Heights. Starr struggles to find identity between her two worlds in black and white communities.

2.  Khalil Harris

Starr’s childhood best friend who gets killed by police brutality. Sparking main conflict.

3.  Lisa and Maverick Carter

Starr’s parents. Maverick is a former gang member and activist who wants to help Starr find her identity.

4.  Chris

Starr’s white boyfriend who is trying to understand Starr’s reality.

5.  Haley Grant

Starr’s friend from private school that represents why Starr cannot be fully herself at school. Haley shows implicit biases as result of Khalil’s death.

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The Hate U Give is about Starr Carter, a 16 year old Black girl from Garden Heights, a poor predominately Black neighborhood. Starr witnesses her friend, Natasha, get shot and killed in a drive by shooting as a child, this causes Starr's parents to have Starr and her siblings to leave Garden Heights, so they can get a proper education and escape the violence that plagues their neighborhood. While they attend a private school the Carters still live in Garden Heights because Maverick, Starrs father is attached to the neighborhood and runs a grocery store in the area. Starr attends a predominantly White private school while still living in Garden Heights. The contrast in Starrs environments creates trouble for Starr in figuring out where she belongs in those two worlds.

When Starr watches her childhood Bestfriend Khalil get shot and killed in during a traffic stop it shakes Starr. Khalil was unarmed and this marks the 2nd time Starr has witnessed her friend get killed. Starr feels compelled to speak out about Khalils death, while also grappling with her own safety in her neighborhood, and her relationship with her friends who do not understand Starrs reality. While Starr stands up against police brutality Starr deals with issues involving her identity and the expectation society puts on her. The story showcase’s themes of racial injustice, an identity and double consciousness. The movie ends with Starr having a better understanding about her black identity. She stops separating her two worlds and learns to become just one version of Starr carter this boost in identity gives Starr the push she needs in order to speak out about Khalil’s wrongful death.

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The Hate U Give | Official Trailer [HD] | 20th Century FOX

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Erikson’s theory of development was created by Erik Erikson, a German man born in 1902. Erik went through an identity crisis at a young age. When Erik’s son met a Australian Physiatrist named Anna she heard of Eriksson issues and suggested he study child psychology. With the help of Joan Erikson, they created Eriksson theory of development which suggest that human’s identities are created through 8 stages of development.

1.  Trust Vs. Mistrust (0- 1 years old)

At this stage the children are dependent on their parents/adults to feed and take care of them. If the child’s parents do not properly care for the baby the child will learn not to trust adults in the future.

2.  Autonomy VS. Shame and Doubt (2-3 Years old)

At this stage Toddlers are learning independence, they need help doing something on their own. If the toddler is encouraged, they gain autonomy, if they are criticized, they might feel shame and doubt themselves.

3.  Initiative VS. Guilt (3-6 years old)

During this stage children assert power and control though imagination, social interactions, and play. Doing this creates initiative, if criticized they develop guilt over their wants.

4.  Industry Vs. Inferiority (6-12 years old)

Children begin to find pride in doing good in school and activities. Encouragement leads to happiness while criticism results in feeling inferior.

5.  Identity Vs. Role Confusion (12-18 years old)

Teens begin to search for personal identity, goals, and beliefs. Success leads to security of sense of self, while criticism leads to role confusion.

6.  Intimacy Vs Isolation (18-40 years old)

Young Adults yearn for deep intimate relationships. Successful bonds lead to sense of connection while avoiding them leads to isolation and loneliness.

7.  Generativity Vs Stagnation (40-65 Years old)

Adults focus on contributing to society wither with careers or personally. Many adults want to help guide future generations. Success leads to feeling a purpose, while failing leads to unhappiness and unproductivity.

8.  Integrity Vs. Despair (65+ years old)

Older adults reflect on their lives and either feel fulfilled and accomplished or regret and despair.

Eriksson Theory suggest that each stage builds of the other to create the identity and personality of the person. People who disagree with Erikson’s stages of development think he focuses to heavily on the completion of one stage before a person can continue to the next. Critiques believe people can move along to one stage before finishing another, or that people don’t complete every stage at the same time.

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Erikson's Stages applied: Identity VS. Role Confusion 

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Erikson's Stages applied: Identity VS. Role Confusion 

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Starr primary deals with Erikson’s fifth stage of development Identity Vs, Role confusion. This stage is about finding oneself and understanding where you fit in society. Starr struggles with this a lot throughout the movie. Starr feels like she lives in two different worlds. While Starr is in her predominately black neighborhood Garden Heights, she feels more like herself. Starr sparks freely and is surrounded by family and culture, but due to gang violence opportunities for the future, Starr does not attend the local Garden Heights high school, she goes to a majority private school across town. Starr aims to fit in at Williamson Prep, so she puts on a persona. She is much calmer speaks politely and doesn’t use slang as a way to seem levelheaded and kind. Starr recognizes the double standard between Black and white people. She notices that when she behaves in ways that are typical for white kids, others view her actions as aggressive or "ghetto" simply because she’s Black.

After the death of Khalil, stars sense of self is shaken. This is her first-time experiencing racism and it causes the death of her friend. The internal conflict Starr experiences reflects Erickson’s idea of Role of confusion. Starr wonders where she belongs, how can she balance her Garden Heights and Williamson personalities.  When Starr finally speaks out at a protest and tries to get justice for Khalil, Starr overcomes her role of confusion Starr choses to no longer be complacent and let the micro aggressions her friends say slide. Starr decides to fight for justice everywhere and no longer lets her two lifestyles dived her. Erikson would see this moment as Starr receiving her sense of Fidelity, “The ability to stay true too oneself even when the circumstances in their life changes” (My Psychology) .

Andrew M. My Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers, Macmillan Learning, 2023. Print.

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Starr arrives at Williamson school in The Hate U Give clip 3

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Erikson's Stages applied: Intimacy Vs. Isolation 

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Erikson's Stages applied: Intimacy Vs. Isolation 

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Intimacy Vs. isolation

While Starr is still a teenager she is dealing with the early stages of Intimacy VS. isolation. As Starr’s gains her sense of Fidelity the relationships, she has changes. This stage is about building meaningful relationships and finding people that accept you. You can see the shifting of Starr’s relationship, by looking at her friendship with Hailey. Hailey and Starr’s relationship becomes strained after Hailey makes disgusting comments about Kahlil’s death. Hailey’s racial bias begins to show forcing Starr to figure out what she values in a friendship. Starr decides to end her friendship with Hailey because of this issue.

Another relationship that changes as Starr finds her fidelity is her relationship with her boyfriend Chris. Chris  is white and because of this Starr struggles to tell her family and friends about her interracial relationship. This relationship pushes Starr to decide whether she is going to hide parts of herself or seek true connection. Starr decides to talk to Chris and opens to her family about her relationship. Erikson would see these choices as Starr moving toward intimacy, “A long term emotional closeness with a romantic partner.” (My psychology).

Andrew M. My Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers, Macmillan Learning, 2023. Print.

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1.  The Death of Kahlil sets forth the events that impact Starr’s development. Seeing her friend die simply because he was black changed the way Starr saw the world. It was a traumatic event that shattered her sense of self and safety.

2.  Confrontation with Hailey. Starr’s relationship with her friend changes when she revels her racial biases. When Hailey brushes off Kahlil’s death Starr sees how Hailey does not understand Starr and brushes off her experiences. This causes Starr to question the relationships she’s made at Williamson.

3.  Opening up to Chris. Starr is originally reluctant to express her feelings of grief and devastation about Khalil’s death to Chris because she is unsure if he will understand her perspective. Throughout the movie we can see Starr wrestling with her ability to be vulnerable to Chris because of their cultural differences. However, when she opens up to Chris about Khalil’s death, he is very understanding. Chris and Starr’s develop a deeper relationship that cross cultural lines.

4.  Grand Jury Decision. When the grand jury decides not to indict the officer who killed Khalil it devastates Starr. It is at this moment where Starr grasps the nature of racism, this causes Starr to speak out at the protest and fight for change.

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THE HATE U GIVE  "if you don't see my Blackness you don't see me"

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Erikson's theory of development effectively explained the stages of development Starr experienced. The Hate U Give is a complex story about a girl finding her identity amidst racial injustice. Throughout this film, Starr embarked on several emotional journeys, including grief, sadness, anger, and resolution. I was pleasantly surprised that Erikson's theory encapsulated Starr's story. I think the reason Erikson's theory fits this story is because it's all about figuring out your identity; through the trauma and anguish Starr experienced, she was still trying to find herself and her inability to find a middle ground in her school and home life caused her already high emotions to spiral out of control. Even when Starr was dealing with racism, Erikson's theory related to her experiences and her longing to figure out where she fit in society. Overall, I believe Erikson's theory of development is valid. However, I disagree with the notion that individuals can only experience one developmental stage at a time. Humans are very complex beings, and when different aspects of our lives are being questioned or challenged, it can cause us to go through multiple stages of development at once.