The Help By Kathryn Stockett

Throughout The Help, Kathryn Stockett incorporated a variety of cultural themes that are as relevant today as they were fifty years ago when the story took place. The main themes that remain an issue throughout the book are racial discrimination and class limitations as well as restrictive gender roles. These issues help to add to the contemporary value of the book because even though it has been half a century, news headlines involving issues or breakthroughs regarding race and gender are still common, just like in The Help. Probably the biggest cultural significance comes from issues in the book regarding racial inequality. The book takes place in a highly segregated town where African Americans are discriminated against and looked down upon. In modern times, just the year before the publication of the book, in 2008, Barack Obama was elected the first African American president of the United States. This milestone was an incredible accomplishment for African Americans all over. Because all African Americans, men and women both, have been able to vote without any restrictions for over fifty years, the fact that the first African American president was elected as the 44th president was a bit surprising, solely due to the fact that this feat took the amount of time that it did. A breakthrough this monumental shows just how much progress is still yet to be made regarding race in the United States. Another cultural value in the book is the

The Help, in light of the top of the selling novel by Kathryn Stockett, is a movie about segregation in Jackson, Mississippi in the mid-1960s. the work clarifies, African-American ladies had couple of alternatives yet to work as abused domestics for affluent white families. While socialites endowed the bringing up of their youngsters to the house keepers, the last were scarcely ready to tend to their own particular families. And this happen after the united states Civil War.

In Kathryn Stockett’s novel, The Help, she shows readers the harsh reality of living in the racist cities of southern United States. Set in 1960’s Mississippi, The Help focuses on the austere lives of black maids working for white families. Some people living in this society wanted change to be made in society. However, one character in particular, Hilly Holbrook, exemplifies how many people wanted everything to stay as it was, including the racist tendencies and biased attitudes. Stockett uses Hilly as the main antagonist of the novel to show the audience that the mindset of people like her are morally wrong and in no way justified. Hilly’s villainy goes unmatched by the way she uses her social standing to influence others, bullies anyone who disagrees, and provides a character foil to Skeeter.

“‘Don’t you ever wish you could change things?”’ (Stockett 10). In Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s. A 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 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

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 above statement emphasizes Kathryn Stockett’s acknowledgment that The Help is a work of historical fiction. Like other historical fiction books, The Help is a book that entertains and takes the reader to a different place, which in The Help is Jackson, Mississippi in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. Stockett’s use and inclusion of

The film ‘The Help” is originally a fictional novel based off of the actual characteristics of southern societies during the 1960’s. It is also recognized to display the end of racial injustice towards blacks to bring forth a new era of the civil rights movement. Even though it is merely a fictional book and movie, The Help is historically accurate as it portrays an economical, social , and political division between female white and African American societies. In The Help, white middle and upper class women are portrayed to be southern belle’s of Jackson, Mississippi while black women and their families live in poverty.

In The Help, Kathryn Stockett presents the view that racism is often used in societies as a way to profit off an oppressed culture, mostly when associated with social classes. Throughout the novel, there are many events where prejudice is present, as the colored maids are always being treated with disrespect and are never thanked for their assistance in households. One of the main, and most obvious, issues in the book is the treatment of people based on their skin tone, and this being prevalent in the story allows for the reader to understand the culture of African Americans during the 1960’s in the southern United States. First, the theme’s presence in the novel is represented when Hilly introduces her bathroom initiative to Miss Leefolt,

“They say it’s like true love, good help. You only get one in a lifetime,” (Stockett, 437). The Help is an enlightening book in which Kathryn Stockett talks about the things others are scared to approach. This is a story about racism, segregation, risk, and violence, specifically between the help and their employers, in Jackson, Mississippi around the time of Martin Luther King Jr. This touching book was turned into a movie in order to reach an even larger number of people. From the protective relationships between the help and their employers, to the love between the white babies and the aids, to the abusive, cruel correspondence between the help and the white people in Jackson, this story covers it all. Although the written account of

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.

This paper examines the theme of deception within Kathryn Stockett’s novel, The Help. It particularly focuses on the oppression of minorities as a consequence of deceptive attitudes that existed strongly within the context Stockett writes, 1960’s society in Jackson Mississippi. The paper focuses on two main groups of minorities, the African Americans as a racial minority, and females as a gender minority.

Sometimes the actions of one individual can enormously impact on how society sees itself. 1960s based film, ‘The Help’ written by K. Stockett and directed by T. Taylor, told a story about the life and social context in Jackson, Mississippi throughout the early 20th century. Stockett wrote with a purpose of entertainment through an informing message of equality and self-awareness. The target audience was influenced to think that ‘a person is a person who deserves respect and equality no matter their race, gender and or beliefs’. This powerful message was communicated from the point of view of housemaid Aibileen Clark through intensive characterisation and a unique script. Stockett and Taylor successfully explored the theme of justice by taking

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.

Imagine, you are a colored woman in the 1960’s. The job of being a maid is the only job available to you, the pay is not good, and, you are treated lesser than the rest of society. This was the life of many colored women in the 1960s of Jacksonville, Mississippi. In the novel The Help, author Kathryn Stockett tells the story of the maids aka “the help” during this time. One white socialist and two maids put their stories and talents together to pull off one of the greatest scandals in their Jacksonville community .