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Stereotypes In The Help

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The Help: A Discussion of Reality Kathryn Stockett's The Help is a novel set in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi and follows the lives of two black maids, Minny and Aibileen, and a privileged young white woman, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan. Together these three women set out to compile a book explaining how it is to work as a black maid in Jackson. While some critics argue The Help perpetuates black stereotypes and confines black women into "Mammy" roles, the novel actually promotes discussion of racial issues faced in the 1960 by black maids in a realistic manner without confining black women to a racist role. One of the novel's most common criticisms is the reprise of the stereotypical role of "Mammy." Mammy is a fictional character from Gone with …show more content…

Susan Donaldson states in her critique of The Help, the stories the maids tell, "only serves to launch Skeeter into her career" and act as a "vehicle for redemption […] of a long and ugly legacy of racism" (Donaldson 8). While Skeeter does come to realize the shame of the things she does, such as off handedly saying "colored people attend too much church," this is not the driving motive behind Skeeter's intention with her book (Stockett 179). At first, Skeeter's motive is entirely self-centered, using the book as a stepping stone into her career, but the further she gets involved with the book and subsequently the lives of the maids she talks to, the less she cares about what she gains from the book, but rather how they benefit from the book. As they near the completion of the book, Skeeter realizes the responsibilities that "lay on [her] shoulders" (328). The maids need this book, perhaps more than Skeeter herself does. They need it to vent their frustration that otherwise stay bottled up in their chest for fear of punishment. They need the book in order to hope that maybe one day things will change. Skeeter sees this and feels the pressure not because of guilt over past actions, but rather the camaraderie she forges with these women as they take a huge risk, …show more content…

In fact the character with the most noticeable change is Minny. At the beginning of the novel, Minny is closed off, in constant fear of losing her job and stuck in an abusive marriage. Even when she decides to help Skeeter with her book, Minny remains guarded and almost reluctant to tell her everything. Yet, at the end of the novel, Minny not only is noticeably relaxed around Skeeter, but even offers her life advice such as running her "white butt" to New York when Skeeter gets offered her dream job (Stockett 499). Minny also leaves her abusive husband, Leroy, after a particular volatile attack that leaves her "standing barefoot and [at] rock bottom [at] the gas station," when she realizes that for the first time in her life, she has a secure job, Leroy's once needed support is now gone, and that she has the potential to be so much more than an abused wife (515). Minny Jackson is the pinnacle of development among the three narrators of the novel, and yet ABWH claims Skeeter is the main character. Another example is Aibileen, who at the beginning feels she does not have much left to offer in her older age, claims in the final few lines that maybe it is not too late to start anew (522). If The Help really is a coming of age story about Skeeter, then this revelation of Aibileen's would not be the last thought

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