Nguyen Thanh Ngoc

10.1

Big Mav
Starr is one of the luckiest girls in the world. Besides going to a
private prep school while staying in a chaotic neighbourhood; having
a lovely white boyfriend; she has a great father. Big Mav, or Maverick
Carter, is a father to Starr, Seven, and Sekani.
The first thing we can notice about Maverick’s personality is
maturity. When he was young, he was once a drug seller, who
belongs to the King Lord gang in his neighbourhood. But then he
changed the way he thought, he realised that joining a gang is not a
cool thing to be proud of anymore. So, he accepted the deal, which is
going to jail to be “kicked out” of the gang.
He was in jail for three years, from Starr was 3 until she was 6.
While he was in there taking responsibility for what he has done,
Starr was outside living under the protection of Lisa, Ms. Rosalie, and
Uncle Carlos. Despite the fact that Carlos took care of his kids, he
was still jealous of Carlos, who was the only man able to see Mav’s
children’s first things.
However, Big Mav showed all respect to Ms. Rosalie. “We ain’t
forgot how you kept Starr and Sekani for us. We weren’t ’bout to let
you be empty-handed.”, that was when Ms. Rosalie refused to take
his money. The quote shows that he is very loyal. He would not let
his helper lost in deprivation when he knows her situation.
He is also a protective papa to his three kids. Seven did not live
with him and Lisa, he lived with his mom and King, an abusive man.
When Mav knew that King often beat Seven up, he immediately
asked Seven to come and live with him. Or when Uncle Carlos came
to ask for permission to investigate Starr, he denied it without Starr’s
opinion. He believed that the police want to threaten her, which is
why he did not want to let her go.
Last but not least, he is proud of his community. He was
affected by Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party. Maverick
followed their path and opened a grocery store which helps his
neighbourhood a lot. He also put a painting of Malcolm X next to the
Black Jesus painting in his house, showing the importance of the
community to him.