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Shinaloter Quotes From The Help

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The novel, “The Help”, written by Katherine Stockett, is a story written about black maids in the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi. In this novel woman were the queens of the domestic world whilst men climbed the corporate ladder, earning money to provide for their families. The more money the man earned, the more powerful and successful the his family was perceived. There were huge gaps in society based on race - black people were believed to be the serving class, and not as the white people’s equals. Through the character main Skeeter we are able see a change in this opinion this over time. Through the influence of Aibileen, Hilly Hillbrook and Charlotte Phelan we are able to see the different characters in the novel and how they are used …show more content…

Charlotte Phelan is a very traditional southern woman, and does not agree with the fact that her only daughter wants to become a writer. Through the symbol of the shinolator, we are able to see the way that Charlotte tries to push Skeeter towards the society that she, Charlotte knows and is comfortable with. In trying to get Skeeter to conform with this views, Charlotte actually influences Skeeter to move away from this view. The symbol of the shinaloter shows us this best. The sinolator represents all the effort woman and girls of that time would go tot look how they thought that society though they should look. ‘Darling, just try it on your head. It cost eleven dollars. It must be good.’, this shows all of the expense that people spend trying to look like everyone else, or be the prettiest among their group. Charlotte influences Skeeter because she expects Skeeter to follow the correct (ie Charlotte’s) path in society but in doing so actually encourages Skeeter to move away from this thinking and form her own independent views. Therefore this is important for the purpose of the novel as it reflects how the people around Skeeter change her views. In this instance it is because she does not want to end up like her mother, and she wants to have a career for herself, not just following her husband around. In today's world this reflects the influence of society on people's opinions and expectations. The media portrays and makes us believe in the expectations of what is socially acceptable which causes us to have certain beliefs about ourselves and others. However, the media in lots of ways is a reflection of mainstream views of society so does not necessarily reflect minority views, and minority views are often what drives change when the mainstream becomes aware that these views exist. This is how

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