The Love Haters

The Love Haters explores the tension between different definitions of courage and heroism. The novel’s plot hinges on the ideal of heroism, as this is what Katie spotlights in the YouTube videos that get her hired to make a promotional video for the Coast Guard. Katie’s “Day in the Life” series, focused exclusively on female heroes, illustrates her understanding of the courage it takes just to be a woman in a patriarchal and often misogynistic world. Though she never thinks of herself as a hero, she becomes one by the end of the book, finding both the physical courage to risk her own life in saving George Bailey and the emotional courage to reject years of sexist conditioning and love herself and her body just as they are.

When she meets Hutch, Katie initially finds his heroism daunting. On her first rescue mission in the helicopter (called a sortie), she momentarily fears Hutch will drown but notes how “For something so extraordinary, they really made it look easy. Just another life-saving sortie, I guess” (143). This is the stereotypical, inaccessible form of heroism that alienates people like Cole, who resentfully describes his brother as so impossibly virtuous that there must be no human soul behind his chiseled physique. Though her focus is meant to be on the heroism of these deep-sea rescues, Katie sees that Hutch’s heroism often takes more modest forms. While filming, she constantly sees how the selfless man puts others first without expecting anything in return and constantly goes out of his way to make things easier for others. Throughout the novel, it is revealed that Hutch learned these traits from the heroic women in his life: his mother, who sacrificed her life for Cole, and Rue, who surmounted her grief to do what was right and protect the young brothers, regardless of her loss.

Heroism and courage come in many forms throughout the novel, and though her focus is on Hutch’s role as a hero, Katie also becomes a hero toward the end of the novel. She acts heroically to rescue George Bailey, going back into the heart of the storm and overriding her sense of self-preservation to help Hutch and his dog. Katie continues to keep George Bailey safe throughout the storm, prioritizing him while putting her own well-being at risk, not unlike what Hutch would do in a rescue mission. Katie shows a hero’s selflessness and courage in the final chapters. Though she is terrified of the storm and what will happen, she stays resilient and does what she has to do to keep herself and George Bailey safe. Yet Katie’s most courageous choice is one she has been working toward the entire novel: She finally chooses to love herself. As Rue had told her earlier, “No one’s born fearless […] You have to earn it” (107), and Katie does earn courage by the end of the novel. She apologizes to and forgives herself for how badly she has treated her body and, in turn, herself, and while learning what it means to be a hero, Katie takes on heroic qualities herself.