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Chapter 16
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
As Maxine gets older, she notices her siblings’ own lives developing alongside hers: Bronson is increasingly rebellious, and Cecelia begins dating a 20-year-old. A major change in Maxine’s own life comes after her family is caught in an outbreak of chicken pox. After she recovers, her scars from the illness begin to puff up and spread. She and Cleopatra go to a dermatologist, who diagnoses Maxine with keloids, a condition he describes as common among “those African tribes you see on National Geographic.” She receives cortisol injections, but they do nothing to flatten the scars, which continue to spread, burning and itching as they do so. The condition worsens Maxine’s self-esteem even further, especially with increased scrutiny and harassment at school.
Maxine’s struggles with her skin continue with the development of keloid scars. It is almost as though Maxine’s body is rebelling against her desire to blend in as much as possible; although her vitiligo has become unobtrusive, she now has to deal with another skin condition that is both visible and painful. In this sense, her skin conditions have come to signify the hypervisibility and suffering that she endures as a Black person, no matter how much she tries to simply keep her head down and live her life.
Themes
A new youth group starts in Kellyville, and Cleopatra encourages Maxine and Selina to go. The girls are unenthusiastic at first, but the first night, they meet a group of boys they begin to hit it off with. Selina is fond of a boy named Jed, while Maxine gravitates towards Michael “Mick” Callingham, a veterinarian’s son whom Maxine used to play with as a child. The two soon go steady, with Maxine baffled that a boy actually likes her for who she is. Rumor of her dating a rich white boy gets back to her school, elevating her social status, but she refuses to tell anyone about it, as she doesn’t want Mick to be a part of her unpleasant school life.
Maxine’s budding relationship with Mick is a typical adolescent experience that shows how she is gradually coming of age. Furthermore, her decision to keep her relationship with Mick private at school shows how her priorities have begun to shift when it comes to achieving social status at school. Although talking about her relationship would likely earn her more clout, she would rather treasure Mick without dealing with others’ shallow comments.
Themes
Maxine continues to enjoy her fledgling relationship with Mick, regularly meeting him at the youth group and talking to him on the phone. Cleopatra knowingly inquires, but Maxine is reticent to share anything. Mick is in theatre, so she goes to see him perform as Oberon in A Midsummer’s Night Dream. The entire time, she focuses only on him, not paying any attention to the other actors. Afterwards, Mick introduces Maxine to the rest of the cast, who are cold to her; Maxine is frustrated that Mick does not notice this. Eventually, Mick and Maxine drift apart, but Maxine remembers him fondly as the first boy who made her feel loveable.
Maxine’s relationship with Mick ends on a bittersweet note. Although Maxine has some qualms about Mick’s obliviousness to the racism she faces, her sheer admiration of him during the play shows the depth of her affection for him. Although their relationship does not last, it’s clear that the bond that they had has a lasting positive impact on her and her ability to view herself as a desirable romantic prospect.
Themes
