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The Hate U Give - Snitching Book essay
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The Hate U Give - Snitching A luxurious car drives down the street all you see is the tip of a gun out of the window and a gray bandanna on the person holding the gun. These people are gang members terrorizing the people that live in their community. They have the power to control the people to not snitch on them for selling drugs and shooting up the neighborhood. The setting of the book is in Garden Heights a community home to gang members, low income, and a great population to people of color. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is based on police brutality and a powerful gang member controlling the community. The number one rule in Garden Heights is not to break the rules of snitching especially on gang members. In the book snitching is the power that can affect people by doing it. In Garden Heights snitching on someone is like trying to get yourself killed. In this community snitching has a power structure. It goes drug lord, gang members, then the people in the neighborhood.The power structure in this quote moved to the people because they got tired of being afraid. Mr.Lewis is a local barbershop owner he has a live interview on TV with the news. He talks about how the gang members are terrorizing the community. He snitches on them and mentions, ”His name is King, and he lives right here in Garden Heights. Probably the biggest drug dealer in the city. He over that King lords gang. Come to get him if you wanna get somebody. Wasn’t nobody but his boys who did that to the cap anyway ”(189). By snitch on gang member instead of protecting himself is the first step of taking a back his community. To not be afraid of what is going to happen next. By Mr. Lewis, speaking the truth has brought attending to what really happens in Garden Heights besides stereotypical ideas of a poor neighborhood.

Unfortunately, there is always a consequence of one action. For Mr.Lewis

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speaking his truth, he got beat up, ”Mr.Lewis’s left eye is swollen shut and blood drips onto his shirt from a slash on his cheek, but he refuses to go to the hospital”(220). This snitching is a message from the book to stand up for what you believe in no matter what the consequences are. Mr. Lewis ignored the power structure by snitching this affected his perspective on not being afraid and to regain the unity in his community. Having power can make you feel confident, brave, and bold. Starr a 16-year-old girl from Garden Heights and the main character of the book. She had the courage to expose gang lords actions. She did a national live interview for the justice of Khalil in the police brutality case. In one part of her interview, she mentions, ”Anybody who knew him knew how much that bothered him and how much he hated drugs. He only sold them to help out of a situation with the biggest drug dealer and gang leader in the neighborhood.”(288). This snitching affected Starr personal because it showed her to be brave to snitch on how drugs control her community. She has the power now for the huge platform she has to speak up about a drug lord and not to be afraid. The message the author Angie Thomas is saying through the characters in the book is Mr.Lewis and Starr fought for there community and the rights to speak up by snitching because without speaking up there will be no change in the battle with gang members. Snitching affect the people of the community to unite and defeat a drug lord. Maverick Starr father that owns the local grocery store in Garden Heights. Maverick from the beginning of the book kept up the no snitching rule because he was a gang member for a long part of his life. It’s a habit that he has and need to break because he is still protecting the drug lord. Mr.Lewis explaining how maverick is, ”still following all’a that don’t snitch’ mess. And you teaching the kids the same thing ain't you? King still controlling your dumb ass, and you too stupid to realize it”(191). This is how not snitching controls the people in the community to not eliminate the

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gang members. At the ending of the book, Maverick realize that snitching helped him to put away the drug lord in jail. Maverick store was burning down with Starr, Seven, Chris, and Devante in it. The person who starts this fire is King lord the biggest drug dealing in Garden Heights. Maverick and the community at this time realized what he needs to do when the cop showed up he snitched on King. Maverick talking: it’s my store he says. I know he started the fire. Did you see him do it? the cap asks.No That’s the problem.We know king did it, but nobody saw it… I saw him .Mr.Ruben says.He did it. I saw him too, Tim says. So did I, Ms.Yvette adds. ANd shit, now the crowd is echoing the same thing, pointing at King and his boys. I mean everybody snitching. The rules no fucking longer apply..the cops load King and his boys into patrol cars, and the crowd claps and cheers(425,428). This snitching by the community together made the biggest drug dealer go to jail. This will better the community and the first act of change the community did. The community realized they needed to have the power back to be free. This is how the power of snitching is being used and affect people lives now. Angie Thomas message on snitching is it can give anyone power to do anything to snitch or not. Snitching always has an effect on whoever uses it. The message of The Hate You Give says about snitching is always know the consequences of snitching....