Love, Hate and Other Filters (Ahmed) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for Love, Hate and Other Filters … then take off on your own:

1. How would you describe Maya? Do you admire her … find fault with her … or what? Were you suprised by her final act of rebellion; does it seem out of character?

2. How do Maya's dreams clash with her parents' aspirations for her? Are those contradictions typical of most adolescents and their parents? Or are they perhaps more intense among immigrants who want their children to assimilate yet still maintain ties to their ancestral culture?

3. Maya's narrative alternates with interludes of the troubled young man who commits the Springfield killings. How did you feel reading those passages? Did their display of hate and racism unsettle you, even spur you to consider your own preconceived ideas? If you are an immigrant living in a country with a different culture from your previous country, does the depiciton of prejudice in Ahmed's novel ring true to you?

4. Talk about the attack in Springfield and its affect, physically and emotionally, on Maya and her family.

5. Discuss the role Hini plays in Maya's life. What has Hini sacrificed in her pursuit of independence? What does she offer her niece in terms of Maya's own future?

6. Consider the book's title, especially the word "filters"—obviously drawn from Maya's fascination with film and cameras. How does Maya use filters in her daily life? Do you have filters in your own life?

7. Phil … or Kareem? Who are you rooting for? To what degree is Phil responsible for Brian?
 
8. What do you think of Violet and her fierce protectiveness of Maya? Thinking back on your own life, have you ever had a friend like Violet … or been a friend like Violet?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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