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 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary
Maya and Phil meet again at the bookstore to discuss The Namesake. They share another piece of cake. Maya mentions that she likes cake, and Phil asks, “Cake, not barfi?” (39). Maya is astounded that Phil remembers the Indian dessert that Maya’s mother brought in to school for her seventh birthday. Maya and Phil continue to talk. She says she wishes she lived in New York City so that she would not be the only Indian Muslim in town; she also wishes to live her own life while still being a good daughter. Phil asks why she cannot do both, and Maya explains that her parents want her to be a lawyer and to marry an Indian doctor. She also talks about Indian practices, such as arranged marriages and love marriages. Phil asks if Maya’s parents have already picked a guy for her to marry. She laughs: “No. I’m only in high school” (42). Phil is surprised to learn that Maya does not know how to swim. He says he will teach her. Maya protests, but Phil insists. He looks forward to his tutoring role.
Ethan drives on the freeway with sweaty palms. He hears voices in his head: the prayers of his mother; the rejection of his father, who believes he will never amount to anything; the bark of a woman telling him he will not be needed for a second interview; the encouraging voice of a middle school teacher who gave him a gold star. He looks in the mirror and thinks, “There is no turning back” (45).
Chapter 5 Summary
Maya takes a train to visit her Aunt Hina, who lives in Chicago. Hina is unmarried and lives alone. Kareem has asked Maya’s parents for permission to meet her. Kareem arrives at Hina’s apartment to pick Maya up and asks if she has a curfew. Hina tells him, “Not at my house. Have fun” (53). The evening at Geja’s Café begins awkwardly, so Maya pulls out her camera and begins filming and asking Kareem questions, as if she is making a documentary. Kareem orders a glass of wine, much to Maya’s shock, since her parents do not drink for religious reasons. She does not know what to make of this and continues filming when the food arrives. Maya and Kareem talk about Indian food and culture, and then Kareem mentions the trouble he has getting through customs at the airport. He has already been detained twice for questioning related to his name. On the way back to Hina’s apartment, Kareem kisses Maya. As she gets ready for bed, Maya thinks about the kiss, but in her imagination she is kissing Phil.
A young daycare teacher comforts a crying boy. She takes his hand and asks him if he likes fire trucks.
Chapter 6 Summary
Maya returns home and uploads photos that she took over the weekend. Phil asks about the swimming lessons, and they agree on 11:00 the following morning. Sofia knocks on Maya’s door and enters before she can respond. Maya resents her mother’s intrusion. Sofia asks if Kareem called Maya today; Maya says she has already told Sofia everything about the dinner with Kareem. Sofia points out that she does not want her daughter to be alone in the future. Maya asks, “And you had a love marriage that Dad’s parents didn’t exactly approve of, right?” (69). Sofia does not like this question. Maya asks for privacy: “All I’m asking is that you give me a little space. If Kareem and I decide to get married, I promise you’ll be the first to know” (69). Sofia says that Maya is ungrateful and that they should have sent her to a boarding school in India. Maya yawns in an attempt to end the conversation. Sofia asks what Maya is doing tomorrow; Maya says she plans to sleep in and then spend time with her friends.
A security guard smiles at a teacher at the daycare center. He feels good about his job.
Chapters 4-6 Analysis
These chapters show Ethan Branson making a deliberate decision to continue with his plan to commit terrorism. They also introduce some characters who will be affected by Ethan’s decision: a young daycare teacher, a crying boy, and a security guard. Glimpses of these characters are short—consisting of three or less paragraphs at the end of each chapter—but the character sketches build suspense. The text is not yet explicit about the exact nature of Ethan’s plan, but the daycare setting with children and the presence of a security guard suggest Ethan’s sinister intent.
Maya and Phil’s characters also develop in these chapters. Through conversation between Maya and Phil, we learn how Maya feels about her life: “I guess I don’t know how to live the life I want and still be a good daughter” (40). Maya expresses how difficult it is for her to be a minority. She wants to live in “a place where I can live and do what I want and not be the Indian girl or the Muslim girl” (40). Maya sees New York City as the place where she can live her life freely. We also see Phil starting to realize his own racial privilege. When Maya talks about her feelings about being the only Indian Muslim family in Batavia, Illinois, Phil tells her, “I never thought of it that way” (40). Though Phil is not prone to pondering the experiences of minorities in America, he demonstrates a willingness to consider new perspectives.
Maya’s troubled relationship with her mother comes to the forefront in Chapter 3. Sofia wants to know every detail about Maya and Kareem’s parent-approved date in Chicago, but Maya asks for privacy. “Who needs privacy from their parents?” Sofia asks (69). Sofia wants to share in the process of her daughter’s growing up, but she’s at a loss when confronted with Maya’s American-ness. Maya’s journey to adulthood, in which she must navigate her ethnic background as well as her present environment, is more complex than Sofia is prepared to handle.
