Book Summary: The Help
The Help
Journal #1
"This could be one of the most important pieces of fiction since To Kill a Mockingbird" This novel is enlightening, thought-provoking and touching. In the first half of the story we meet, Elizabeth, Aibileen, Minny, Miss Hilly, Celia Rae Foote, Skeeter and her mother, Charlotte. After reading the first few chapter of The Help there were a few themes that stood out, a few of them being, love, society and class and most specifically oppression.
The main character in this novel is Aibileen Clark, a 53 year old black woman who has spent almost her entire life caring for “white babies” and “cooking and cleaning” (1.1) for white families. Aibileen has taken care of and raised quite a few babies over the course of her life but the last and most recent, Mae Mobley Leefolt, is Aibileen 's "special baby”. Aibileen 's own son, Treelore, was killed in an accident over two years before the novel begins.
Aibileen uses her strong relationship with Mae Mobley as an advantage. Aibileen teaches Mae all about racial equality and civil rights. Aibileen is not supposed to be teaching Mae and If she was caught trying to teach her about the equality and civil rights of different races she could face serious consequences, including losing her job. Aibileen is aspired to "stop that moment from coming – and it come in every child 's life – when they
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I, having previously read the entire book, I know that it does following in the theme of oppression. Oppression being “prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control” is what was taking place throughout this entire novel. This can be specifically proven true when a bill comes out stating that white and blacks can no longer share the same restrooms, therefore Miss Hilly had a separate bathroom constructed for Aibileen. When Mae Mobley attempts to use Aibileen’s bathroom she is shamed by Elizabeth. After this is when Aibileen takes matters into her own hands to teach Mae the true meaning of racial equality and civil
The Pursuit Of Dreams In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
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Examples Of Racism In The Help
1574 Words | 7 PagesBy an anonymous writer later revealed as Skeeter also known as Eugenia Phelan. Skeeter, a white woman, returns to her hometown (Mississippi) to discover that her motherly nanny Constantine has left but no one tells what happened. Soon Skeeter realizes the injustice her society practices and decides to write a book where voices of black will be raised. She approaches Aibileen for sharing her narrative to which Aibileen responds positively and also let’s Minny in their secret. Minny, Aibileen’s friend, another black help, reveals a secret about Miss Hilly that ensures Miss Hilly’s silence after the publication of their writing project.
Examples Of Racism In A Raisin In The Sun
1584 Words | 7 PagesThe Help focuses on the story of a upper class writer that tries to find her social identity as well as others. With help from the maids of Jackson, Mississippi, they all overcome stereotypes and discrimination. Aibileen's story was the foundation idea for Skeeter because she had been through so much in her life that she decided to tell her story. The fact that she was black, and a woman the role of a maid for the upper class families were passed down from generations so she saw her fair share of being looked down upon. Being a part of the Black/African African race, there were certain things
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The Things They Carried, By Zora Neale Hurston
1746 Words | 7 PagesKathryn Stockett’s The Help, attests to the hateful and cruel reality that is the life of African Americans in Jackson, Mississippi circa the 1960’s. Stockett writes many anecdotes surrounding the relationship between Constantine, an African American maid, and the child she cares for, Skeeter. Skeeter reflects upon a memory of Constantine and
Discrimination Exposed In Kathryn Stockett's The Help
853 Words | 4 PagesStockett uses the characterization of her to speak truth to readers while explaining her life story. Aibileen’s son, Treelore, is maliciously thrown onto a truck after being killed as if he were trash. After his death, a bitter seed is planted inside of her and she becomes fed up with how
How Is Scout Portrayed In To Kill A Mockingbird
1247 Words | 5 PagesThe name of the novel being explored is 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1950's in Alabama Maycomb during the racist times towards the blacks. Throughout this topic the focus is on the main character/narrator Scout (Jan Louise Finch). This essay will explore Scout's character and the negative and or positive influence she has on other characters at the start, throughout and at the end of the text. At the beginning of the novel 'To kill a Mockingbird' Scout is a naïve, has a very tomboy like personality, is a judgmental five year-old girl who was oblivious to the cruelty's of the outside world.
Hilly Holbrook In The Help
589 Words | 3 PagesIn the novel, The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, there are many characters that can be identified as an antagonist throughout the story. However, Hilly Holbrook is the most significant of them all. With her attitude towards colored people, her controlling personality, and the methods she uses in order to have her way, it is obvious that Ms. Hilly is a definite villain of this novel. In the novel, many white families, including Ms. Hilly’s, had hired African American maids to help them around the house.
Courage In The Help
696 Words | 3 PagesThe Help (2011) directed by Tate Taylor, is an inspirational, courageous and empowering story about Southern women in the 1960s. It's the story of the help: the black maids of Jackson, Mississippi, and the relationship with their white employers. The central theme of the film is courage, and how the characters embrace courage to overcome obstacles and fight for social justice. Whether it is their ability to deviate from in-group norms, or overcome fear, courage is essential throughout the characters' journeys. In this essay, I will analyse the situations endured by the characters, and how they respond to these situations with courage.
Social Stratification In The Movie The Help
610 Words | 3 PagesBlack women are treated less than because of their ascribed traits, their gender and race, and are often dehumanized and belittled throughout the movie. They are treated like slaves and are seen as easily disposable. There are several moments throughout the film that show the racial, gender, and class inequalities. These moments also show exploitation and opportunity hoarding. The Help also explains historical context of the inequality that occurred during that time period.
Power Struggle In Kathryn Stockett's The Help
808 Words | 4 PagesShe battles to free herself from the power that white Americans hold over her and her community during this time. With the help of a few fellow maids and Miss Skeeter, the white women who sparked the question of change, Aibileen hopes to change people’s opinions about how they perceive blacks
Conflict In The Help
759 Words | 4 PagesThe profound novel, The Help, can be interpreted as having many themes and subliminal messages about life, but to truly understand the meaning of them, the conflicting points must be recognized. Due to the fact that the setting of the novel is during segregation, the friction between blacks and whites is what creates the novel. Although it is easily recognizable that one of the main conflicts is segregation, there is a major conflict between two prominent characters, Hilly and Skeeter, wealthy white women. Some of the issues within this novel lye in location and the social aspects of living in a small southern town in that time. There are several underlying conflicts in The Help, but the main one that sets up all the themes are the conflicts
The Tortilla Curtain: Racism And Discrimination
1084 Words | 5 PagesIn the novel The Help, Stockett writes about the lives of the African American women working for the prominent white families and the trial and tribulations that they have encountered. The African American women are the people who are taking care of the white families home and children while being disrespected and unappreciated by their boss. “I’d like to write this showing the point of view of the help. The colored women down here.' I tried to picture Constantine's face, Aibileen's. '
What Is Aibileen's Change In The Movie The Help
455 Words | 2 PagesAs a result of Aibileen’s changes, Aibileen’s voice is brittle, tremulous and quavering while expressing her perspective because she is angry at the inequality. Now she cannot accept this unfair and irrational discrimination from the world. She changes amazingly. She showed her courage and opinions to white racists. The other blacks starts to pluck up courage to confront the whites’ wrong view about racism, for example Minny who is a black maid participates to help Skeeter publishing the book and then all of maids start to decide telling their stories for a book.
The Help Movie Analysis
3436 Words | 14 PagesA young college graduate, Skeeter, returns home to be with her ailing mother, and in her ambition to succeed as a writer, turns to the black maids she knows. Skeeter is determined to collect their oral histories and write about a culture that values social facade and ignores the human dignity of many members of the community. Two maids, Aibileen and Minny, agree to share their stories, stories of struggle and daily humiliation, of hard work and low pay, of fear for themselves. It is a time of change, when
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