59 pages • 1 hour read
Samira AhmedLove, Hate and Other Filters
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 16-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 16 Summary
Maya is not speaking to her parents. She knows they are scared, but she’s angry with them for breaking their promise about NYU. She drives to the cottage at the forest preserve and notices Phil’s car parked there. She turns the car around and leaves. When Maya returns home, she decides to call Kareem. She is surprised when a female voice answers his phone. Then Kareem asks how she is doing, and Maya apologizes for interrupting. Kareem mentions that he “got back together” with Suraya. Maya explains that her parents have forbidden her to go to NYU. Kareem is sorry to hear it and urges her not to give up making movies: “You’ve got to fight for what you want” (190). She tells him she is tired of fighting; despite her efforts, everything has gone wrong.
The TV station reports another news update. The white truck was rented to Ethan Branson from Indiana. He was 19 and has connections to white supremacist groups. Evidence indicates that he acted alone.
Chapter 17 Summary
Maya’s class goes on a trip to an amusement park. She sees Brian, now back from suspension, in the parking lot. He stares at her. She gets onto her bus; Phil sits next to her. He notes that they have not talked in a while, and Maya says that things have been crazy, especially with the death threats. Phil mentions New York, and Maya tells him that she is not allowed to go anymore. Then Phil asks Maya if she came to the cottage the other evening. She says she did and apologizes; she thought he was there with someone. Phil asks who, and Maya replies that she thought he was there with Lisa. Phil reminds her, “I’ve never taken anyone there but you” (201). Phil explains that he is not dating Lisa. Maya spontaneously smiles for the first time since the bombing.
There is a television report on Ethan Branson. In his hotel room, he had been reading a letter by Timothy McVeigh as well as a novel called The Turner Diaries. Ethan left a note on the desk: “Tell my mother I died for my country. I did what I thought was best. —John Wilkes Booth” (203).
Chapter 18 Summary
Maya feels like she is walking on clouds. Phil smiles at her in the park, and she smiles back. She is filming the sunlight on a brick building when she runs into Brian and his two friends. Brian has a shaved head, and he wears army fatigues. He seems jittery and sweaty. She cannot see a way to physically escape, so she tries talking her way out of the situation by saying she is sorry he got suspended. Brian is angry: “My brother lost a leg in Iraq because of you… people” (207). He squeezes her arm hard. Brian’s two friends do not like what he is doing, and they depart, leaving Maya alone with Brian, who throws her on the ground. He slaps her and stomps on her left thigh; Maya screams from the pain. Then Phil appears; he punches Brian in the stomach and then the face. Maya shouts for Phil to stop. Phil bends down and holds Maya. The police and two ambulances arrive, and Phil talks to an officer. Maya does not want her parents to be notified, but they have already been informed. Violet arrives and gets into the ambulance with Maya; she reveals that the police are charging Phil with assault.
As a young child, Ethan bounces a ball against the wall and breaks a vase. His dad grabs a belt and hits Ethan. The buckle strikes his head.
Chapters 16-18 Analysis
Maya’s filming becomes even more crucial to her life and to the plot in these chapters. Her passion for film drives the basic conflict between Maya’s desires and her parents’ expectations. In Chapter 18, Maya’s love for filming plays another role; she captures Brian’s assault in the park. In a previous chapter, Maya uses her camera to record the damage done to her parents’ clinic. This plays into Maya’s conception of herself as a character in the story of her life. It also proves the prejudice experienced by the Aziz family and others like them, and it establishes that danger lurks everywhere, not just in big cities like Chicago and New York.
These chapters also highlight media’s role in the book. Springfield’s local television channel announces that the white truck in the federal building bombing was rented to Ethan Branson, a teenager from Indiana. Another television program confirms Ethan’s suicide bombing and reports Ethan had been reading letters by Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber. The short descriptions of these television reports stand on their own and tell a story independent of Maya’s, but they also reveal the national news and events prompt the conflict and violence in Maya’s life.
