The Help By Kathryn Stockett

The book , The Help by Kathryn Stockett, is about a women named Aibileen who is a black maid. She is taking care of her 17th white baby now. She works for a woman named Miss Leefolt. Aibileen has never disobeyed an order in her life and never intends to do so. Her friend Minny is the exact opposite. When she is around her boss, she has to hold herself back from sassing them all the time. Skeeter Phelan is different than the rest of the white ladies. She thinks that blacks aren’t all that bad. She decides to write a book about the lives of maids for white ladies. Otherwise known as the Help. She with the help of Aibileen and Minny hope to create a book that starts a revolution about what white people think about blacks.

“‘Don’t you ever wish you could change things?”’ (10). In Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960’s, woman ahead of her time, Miss Skeeter, proposes an idea to write a book about the lives of colored maids in Jackson. Aibileen and Minny, two maids, are among the first ones to agree to help Skeeter, despite the potential danger to themselves. In The Help, Kathryn Stockett creates an engaging and immersive world that explores racism and social injustice by using well-developed writing, the ideal amount of imagery, and strong characters.

The book “The Help”, written by Kathryn Stockett, is a book that takes place in Jackson, Mississippi, around the 1960's, when the blacks were segregated from the whites. The story is mainly about a black woman Aibileen whose main job is to take care of children as well as to handle household duties. Along the way they meet a woman Skeeter's whose lifelong dream is to become a writer however the only job she can find, is with the Jackson Journal writing a housekeeping advice column which she knows very little about. To succeed in the job, Skeeter turns to her friend's maid, Aibileen, for answers and help to write the column.

The Help, A novel written by American author, Kathryn Stockett in 2009 tells the story of black maids working in white home. Setting in Jackson, Mississippi during 1960s, the society is obviously segregated into two groups, whites and blacks. Although there is some variety in economic and social class, race is the first determinant of a person's place and whether or not having right to access to educational, occupational, and economic opportunity. Racial tensions are high because white community members employ violence and coercion to possess the Civil Rights Movement from sweeping into their Mississippi town. The unfair practices of post-colonization make the lives of the town's black members so difficult.

“The help” film is a perfect representation of how the south was and gives an idea on how bad African Americans were treated even if they were being paid and not only that but it also shows how different everything was back then. For example, as shown in the movie the women back then were quite different from today. Skeeter the main character is described as a very independent woman compared to the rest of the white female characters. She doesn’t seem to have an interest in men now but considers finding a dependable job unlike the other white females. Skeeter was also an educated woman and even had a bachelor’s degree. Back in that specific time frame this was rather odd for a lady to be educated. Skeeter tries to advocate for the events that are occurring within southern homes by writing the experiences of the Jackson, Mississippi’s black maids. Meanwhile, the film shows southern culture in great detail.

At first, writing Help was just a way for Skeeter to get attention from publicist Elaine Stein, so she could get a job in New York and become a Junior Editor. However, after Skeeter put her plan into motion, began to hear the stories of the black maids across Jackson, and became closer to Minny and Aibileen, her intentions begin to change. Finally, after finding a book about Jim Crow laws; laws that were obviously unfair and unjust towards black people, Skeeter’s idea of writing a tell all book turns into an act of rebellion. She could no longer approve of the way her friends ran their life, and their household, when so many good people, like her own maid Constantine, were treated unfairly because the color of their skin . I would say she

In the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett main character Skeeter Phelan works with the help, who work for her friends and associates all over town, in secret to compile a book of stories, benign and riddled with malice, about their employers. The author uses contrasting locations such as the plantation owned and inhabited by Skeeter and her family and Aibileen's house across the bridge in the colored part of town to show how truly different these two characters are, and that despite their differences in status, upbringing, and financial state, they still come together to bring to light the injustices suffered by maids, and the need for civil change.

Mrs. Skeeter, a young white lady, decides to write a book about the Help’s life and their stories about taking care of the families but were still treated very poorly. There are many reasons they had to keep quiet about their stories such as "Did you hear about the colored boy this morning? One they beat with a tire iron for accidentally using the white bathroom? ... And my cousin Shinelle in Cauter County? They burn up her car cause she went down to the voting station." (Kathryn Stockett Page 102-103). Even with these scary stories trying to stop them, they never quit and kept writing the book, which resulted a great deal of respect from fellow African Americans.

The most compelling character of this novel was Aibileen, an African-American maid working her days taking care of precious Mae Mobley Leefolt and the Leefolt’s house. She cooked and cleaned and earned little to no pay while doing so. Aibileen faced many conflicts throughout this book such as working through her son, Treelore’s death as well as raising a white two year old in a strict white woman’s house. She taught this girl to learn to love herself because her own mother was not. “Gave Mae Mobley one more hug, whisper, ‘You a smart girl. You a good girl.’” (Stockett 111) The biggest conflict Aibileen faced, however, was sitting down everyday and being interviewed by Skeeter Phelan who was a privileged white girl trying to make it as a writer. Skeeter asked Aibileen questions about what it is like to work as a maid, the challenges she faced daily, and trying to overcome the segregation gap in Jackson, Mississippi. As hard as it was, Aibileen answered all of these questions honestly in attempts to help Skeeter publish a book about working as a black woman during that time. Aibileen was developed well by the author because she showed the relationships she developed with white characters such as Skeeter and Mae Mobley. During that day and age, a black woman working together with a white woman was unheard of. Throughout The Help, Aibileen was going against the norm of society to try and find peace in this splintered town which made

The novel The Help is a very interesting and monumental book. The book takes place in Mississippi during the 1960’s. A southern girl named Skeeter returns home from college. Skeeter dreams of becoming a famous writer that writes about important things facing our society. Skeeter astonishes her small town by choosing to write about her interviews with the black women in her community who have spent their lives taking care of white families. At the beginning only one maid Aibileen will speak. As the two women continue more women come forward and speak about the terrible troubles they face. The two main themes of this novel are how Skeeter defies the sexist standards of women in the south and how black maids are treated while taking care white

Kathryn Scott’s The Help takes place in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s. This movie emphasizes tense racial conflicts that dominated the South during this post-World War era.  Segregation of whites verse blacks was a prevailing and dominating theme of the decade. The Help attempts to depict this time period by focusing on a white woman, Skeeter Phelan, who aspires to become a journalist. Society considered Skeeter as an oddity for wanting to leave her family and pursue an education. She goes against all social norms and secretly asks her maid, Aibileen, to help her write a book about the lives of maids. Despite the overwhelming danger associated with their relationship Aibileen agrees and even encourages other maids to take part. The intention behind Skeeter Phelan’s book was to spark a movement and change the way white people view their help. The Help suggests that education is the only route to social change.

In the movie The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, sins are prevalent primarily prejudice takes place against the dark-skinned members of society. The Help is set in the south of the United States in 1962, portraying the lives of black maids and the white women who employ them. The movie is full of sins including sins of commission, sins of omission, mortal sins, venial sins, and sinful social structures. At the beginning of the movie, we immediately encounter a sin of commission.

Based off of Kathryn Stockett’s 2009 novel, The Help is a movie told from an African American’s point of view during the early 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi. The three main characters include, Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson, and Eugenia (Skeeter) Phelan. Skeeter is a young writer who has recently returned from the University of Mississippi. She has been advised by the Elaine Stein, who is the head editor at Harper & Row, to write about a topic she is passionate about, that way she can continue her dream of becoming a serious writer. In addition, Skeeter accepts a writing job down at the Jackson Journal where she writes a housekeeping column. Ironically, she has no housekeeping experience as she grew up with in house help. In order to keep her job she goes to Aibileen, her friend Elizabeth Leefolt’s housekeeper. At this point in her life, Aibileen is just trying to get by. She writes out her prayers on a daily basis as a way to clear her mind since she is fairly reserved on the outside. On the contrary, Aibileen’s friend Minny is also a housekeeper, but she has a rather sharp tongue which doesn’t usually work in her favor. Consequently, she is trying to find a new employer, but is having trouble since there is a bit of discord between her and the most influential socialite in Jackson, Mississippi.

Jake Beardslee Mrs. Wille Online English 4B December 19, 2014 Main Themes of The Help by Kathryn Stockett There are many core themes present in The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Race, class, love, gender roles, and structural violence.

An emotional driven novel The Help by Kathryn Stockett is an important piece of literature. It gives the audience a glimpse of the segregation issue back in the 60’s. It also gives a voice to the colored maids of Jackson, Mississippi which was something they never got. The novel is written in a way based on three major characters’ perspective on racial segregation. Miss Skeeter is a white writer who is determined to use her talent to make a difference.