The Help By Kathryn Stockett

Everyone is burden with pain. No one can escape emotional, physical or mental misery because it is part of what makes us human. Without pain we would live in a world of sameness. Although there is no way we can escape this reality, what if there existed a utopian society in which everyone could live peacefully without the burden of pain? Would everyone be better off or would living in ignorance be a burden for someone else? Lois Lowry gives us a glimpse into what life would be like in a world where conflict does not exist and shows us what this type of world would do to our humanity. In The Giver, she introduces us to Jonas, an eleven-year-old boy who starts off as an oblivious member of his

The giver by Lois Lowry was an interesting book to say the least. In the beginning you are lead to believe these are normal kids and characters, possibly in the future, but in pretty much the same state of mind as our definition of “human” today. As the book goes on, you are slowly let in on details, like the characters can not see color, and that the parents are not biological parents, and everything is organized and decided for the characters in the book. The author did a great job of slowly bringing us into the world of sameness quite the same way the giver slowly brought Jonas into the world of memories. I believe the subject of the book is the Importance of the Individual. As corny as it sounds, we spend much of our life trying to be just like everyone else. I think Lois Lowry wrote this entire novel just to show how horrible it would be if everyone was the same as everyone else.

“The Help” by Kathryn Stockett is a personal memoir written in the perspective of 20 year old graduate Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan. This story begins with Skeeter finishing school and coming home to a house with her maid, Constantine Jefferson, no where to be found. She begins questioning her mother about her whereabouts, with no luck. She begins to understand the prejudice that comes with being black in the day and age of 1962, with hopes of getting these women to tell their sides of the story she sets out on recruiting Aibileen.

Segregation, a prominent social injustice in American history, is depicted in both Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly and Kathryn Stockett’s The Help. By definition, segregation is the separation of someone or something. During 1960s America, colored people were mistreated regularly. Laws separated those who were white and those who were not. Both groups lived apart and were given separate bathrooms, libraries, and more. However, the colored facilities often were worse in quality, and many endured racism from their white counterparts. There was a wide spectrum of hate crime that varied in severity, as some people were even targets for brutal crimes simply for the amount of melanin in their skin. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

Through our society we are all raised up to be independent and unique individuals such as being ourselves and expressing who each of us are to the world. However, in the book The Giver by Lois Lowry, everyone is raised to count on one another and everyone must look and act the same. Our society differs from Jonas’s in many ways, such as the family units, birthdays, and the way we each learn about our past.

Communication is one of the most vital aspect of everyone’s life and that is often hinted at in Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club. Throughout the book, we encounter mother-daughter relationships that are ultimately impacted due to linguistic roadblocks. The mothers are more proficient in Chinese, sometimes struggling to have their daughters completely understand their dialect. This, in turn, poses as a barrier in regards to conserving a cultural connection between the mother and daughter.

Autumn Steeger The Giver "It wasn't a practical thing, so it became obsolete when we went to the Sameness." (pg. 84) The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is told from the point of view of a twelve-year-old boy named Jonas, who thought he growing up in a Utopian society. He attended the Ceremony of Twelve, where every Twelve receives their life-long occupation, and Jonas found out he has been selected to be the Receiver of Memory, the most honored assignment that anyone could have been given in their Community.

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, is a historic novel set in the early 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi. This story is told from the perspective of two black maids, Aibileen and Minny, and a white southern girl, Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan. It focuses in on the black maids, their lives, and their work environment. This book digs into the details of how “the help” were treated even after the civil war had ended. The maids in this novel decide to work together with Skeeter to show all of America exactly how Jackson treats their “help”. The Help shows how black people were treated after the civil war, good and bad, and the views of the maids during this time about this issue all through a book within a book.

The novel The Help by Kathryn Stockett took place in Jackson, Mississippi, during the 1960s, a period that saw the segregation of blacks and the prejudice of whites dominate the southern United States. The novel focused on two black maids, Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson, and their work environment with their white employers. The racism of many high society women, like Hilly Holbrook and Elizabeth Leefolt, was showcased throughout the story. Skeeter was the outlier in her society. After returning to Jackson following her graduation from the University of Mississippi, she wanted to do something more with her life than be a white married housewife. As a result, she worked with Aibileen, Minny and other black maids to write a book that revealed the relations and treatment that maids experienced from their employers. The harsh treatment of blacks in the south and the successes and difficulties of The Civil Rights Movement were displayed through the lives of Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter.

One way the setting of the book The Giver by Lois Lowry creates conflict for the community is the rule that only the receiver is allowed to hold memories from the past. The giver tells Jonas that he gets asked for advice very rarely by the chief elder and if he had more of a say in most of the decisions for the community, he could use his knowledge to bring changes. The giver explains why the memories must be held onto, “ ‘Why do you and I have to hold these memories?’ ‘It gives us wisdom.’ the giver replied”( pg 139-140). This shows that wisdom is only possessed by Jonas and the giver because only they share memories. The lack of wisdom in the other citizens causes them to make decisions that may not be beneficial.

In “The Giver” by Lois Lowry, The Giver talks to Jonas about the previous Receiver, and about Release as well. The conversation between Jonas and The Giver help develop the theme of memories. As The Giver talks to Jonas about the previous Receiver Rosemary, and Release, he says, “Memories are forever.” As their conversation goes on, they come to a conclusion that if everyone in the community were to have the memories of the past, they’d hate it; that life in the community would be a disaster.

The Help (2011), based on Kathryn Stockett’s novel of the same name, follows the stories of Skeeter Phelan, Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson in 1960s’ Mississippi. These women come together to write a book from the perspective of the “help”, a group of African American women who are mistreated by the white families they work for. I chose this movie for its strong female protagonist and the brave women who risked their lives by letting their voices be heard.

People think that sky is always blue but its not. Martin Luther King says “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. “The Help” written by Katheryn Stockett, delivers a discernible story that shows the contrasting lifestyles which impacts children, maids and the protagonist. The story revolves around three main characters; Aibeleen Clark, Minny Jackson, and Skeeter Phelan and their lives on the different side of racial barrier. “The Help” through character, setting and conflict reveals that in a place where there is racial tension and abusive power, it is difficult for a person to find hope. Character of a person is important. However setting is more crucial, as it impacts the charatcer in many differrent ways. Due to the effect of that impact the character may undergo many differrent conflicts. In "The Help" the to most important interesting characters are Aibeleen and Skeeter.

Most of the time, opposition groups who call for the censorship and banning of books, are misguided by religious beliefs or personal values that they insist on imposing over the surrounding community. Such is the case with Lois Lowry 's The Giver, a fictional story of a society without emotions, arguments, or differences amongst people, where equality is the ultimate goal. The story revolves around 12-year-old Jonas, who is chosen to become the Receiver of Memories, which would be given to him by the Giver, a historian of humanity 's past. His lessons force him to confront feelings for the first time and the growing awareness of death. In recognizing his controlling community, Jonas sets out to expose society 's false idea of a utopia and

Kathryn Stockett’s The Help is an emotional and thrilling novel about love and loss. In 2011 the book came to life in an inspirational movie directed by Tate Taylor. I chose to read The Help because it is a New York Times Bestseller and it was recommended by so many readers. After reading Stockett’s novel a member from NPR.org stated, “This could be one of the most important pieces of fiction since To Kill a Mockingbird...If you read only one book...let this be it.”