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Chapter 15
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Hate Race, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racial Discrimination in Australia
Racism, Childhood, and Loss of Innocence
Race and Beauty Standards
Injustice and Complicity
The Power of Words
Summary
Analysis
Maxine and Selina are incredibly close friends, but in grade eight, Selina is often absent from school due to complications from her asthma. As a result, Maxine struggles with isolation and wants to fit in with the more popular, “prettier” girls. In an attempt to do so, she begs her mom to let her get her hair straightened, and Cleopatra eventually relents. Maxine gets her hair done by a stylist named Greek Charlie. The straightener burns her scalp, but Charlie insists that this is normal. Maxine mentions that she is going to a pool party, but Charlie tells her that she can’t get her hair wet for two weeks. Afterwards, Maxine discovers a chemical burn about the size of a coin on the back of her head.
Maxine’s rather disastrous run-in with Greek Charlie points the struggle to assimilate into white society as a Black person. Maxine’s tightly-curled hair is one thing that differentiates her from her peers, so she attempts to eliminate it in order to conform. However, the chemical burn on her scalp shows the difficulty in achieving this and comes to signify the pain that can come from attempting to suppress her identity to fit in.
Themes
Maxine attends her classmate’s birthday party, even though the girl in question made clear that her mom made her invite Maxine. Cleopatra puts mascara on her burn to hide it. When the girl’s mom asks why Maxine isn’t getting in the water, Maxine reluctantly admits that she can’t get her hair wet for two weeks, prompting disgust from both the mother and the girls over Maxine being “dirty.” Not wanting rumors to spread about her at school, Maxine gets into the pool, ruining her hair’s straightening. The water washes off the mascara on her head, prompting the mother to proclaim in alarm that Maxine has a gash on her head. Maxine realizes that, without Selina, she’d rather be alone rather than spend time with people she doesn’t actually like that much. The realization is bittersweet for her.
Maxine’s attempts to fit in with the other girls are futile, but not through any fault of her own: she is simply trying to compete with a racist, impossible standard. No matter what Maxine does at the party, she will be criticized: staying out of the pool leads to people calling her dirty, while getting her hair wet causes her to ruin it and reveal the burn on her scalp. From this, Maxine learns an important but difficult lesson: it’s pointless for her to vie for the approval of those who are determined to view her as lesser than them.
Themes
