The Help, By Kathryn Stockett

Last year in United States history when we studied the Civil Rights movement we discussed the turning points but never the moments that lead up to them. Years and years of put down words and thinking that one is better than another continually eroded at the viewed self-worth of the help. Like we see in the story at the end of

African American’s role in this country has been long and has never been easy. During the early years of the United States, African Americans endure the hardship of slavery and had to deal with beatings, harsh working conditions and constant yelling from their racist white owners. Even after the abolishment of slavery, African Americans still endure another one hundred years of discrimination. A perfect way to examine a pivotal time in American History of African Americans and the racism they went through is seen in the movie “The Help”. The movie is set to take place “in Mississippi during the 1950s-1960s, Skeeter is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends ' lives -- and a Mississippi town -- upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families.” (The Help) The movie was originally based on a book written by

In “The Help”, Stockett utilizes allusions to focus on the social issue of racial segregation in the United States. Firstly, the setting of the book is an allusion, as it takes place in Mississippi, a place which in the sixties was notorious for being a state full of racism and pro segregation. The Book also alludes to a significant amount civil rights movements and figures such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., The March on Washington, sit ins, and Medgar Evers. These

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 novel The Help is plagued by many issues society faces today, but fails to realize. Just like in the setting of the book, none of the characters we deem racist think or know that they are acting this way, it is just accepted as a societal norm of the time. This much reflects our society in the present; we fail to realize that we discriminate. Much of this is embodied in the character of Hilly Holbrook, who, through her villainy, takes control over much of the "going ons" of Javkson, Mississippi. She promotes segregation and racism through fear and humiliates all who try to undermine her authority.

The Help occurs during the segregation period during the year of 1962 in Jackson, Mississippi. The main character is Aibileen Clark, a 50-year-old African American maid spending most of her life raising white children ever since her teenage years. She works for Elizabeth Leefolt, a wealthy housewife, who is the best friend of the antagonist, Hilly Holbrook. Elizabeth has a child named Mae Mobley whom Aibileen is very close to. Aibileen’s best friend is Minny Jackson; she is a maid who works for Hilly Holbrook and her mother Missy Walters for nearly a decade. Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan is a young, white American woman, seeks a successful writing career after graduating from the University of Mississippi and returns to home, soon to find out her long-time maid, Constantine, supposedly quit working for her family; this was a great mystery for Skeeter because Constantine did not write to Skeeter explaining why she left. Skeeter found out Hilly Holbrook, Elizabeth Leefolt and their friends believe blacks “carry various diseases to the white people”. Hilly drafted a disease

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.

Civil Rights literature has been in hiding from the millions of readers in the world. Kathryn Stockett’s book, The Help, widely opens the doors to the worldwide readers to the experiences of those separated by the thin line drawn between blacks and whites in the 1960s. Kathryn makes her experiences of the character’s, making their stories as compelling as her own.

The Help is an inspiring movie, centralized on themes of showing courage in the midst of adversity and racial desegregation. The selection of actors with specific attributes, lighting/camera angles, and music, allows the movie to entertain in detail, and highlight the prime issues of the 1960s. With the movie being directed with these specifities in mind, the author, Kathryn Stockett, is able to successfully relay her message in the screenplay.

Before watching the movie, I already had a general knowledge of racism in the United States, the civil rights movements of the 1960s, and the discrimination that African Americans went through. I have seen different movies based on the civil rights movement and segregation, but this movie was the first one that I saw that focus on African American women experiences during the civil rights movement. After watching the movie, years later I decided to read the book that based on. The book “The Help” was published in 2009, by the author Kathryn Stockett. This story is about African Americans women working for white households in Jackson Mississippi, during the early 1960s.

The Help is a 2011 movie based on the book that was published in 2009. The entire movie is set in the early 1960s during the civil rights era. This movie looks into the lives of African American maids during this time period, seeing what they experienced and endured on a day to day basis. Due to the movie being set in the 1960s , The Help bares multiple social problems that can be found today. The most profound social problem depicted throughout the movie is racism. Female inequality is also a social problem that presents itself in the movie. Lastly, education was another social problem that I found very important, though the people of this time period didn’t see it as an issue. All of these social problems play a part in successfully portraying the

“‘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.’” (Stockett 120) During the 1960’s racism and violence is prominent in southern states due to the Jim Crow laws. In the novel, The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, it depicts what life was like Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960’s. The novel is told through a group of maids telling their stories to a young writer, Skeeter Phelan. These maids, Aibileen and Minny, describe what it is like being African-American during this time period as they risk their lives sharing their struggles and hardships they go through on a daily basis due to the lack of equality in Mississippi.

The movie “The Help” was based In the early 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi. During this period of time it was very segregated, very much so that whites did not want African Americans to have contact with them, but were expected to fully take care of their children from birth to adulthood. Most of the African American maids later developed a strong bond with the children that they looked after. They tried teaching the kids to see no color, just to later witness them grow up to be brainwashed by the world to think of African Americans as less than. Except for one southern girl named Skeeter Phelan, who saw the equality in everyone. And one day she decided to interview the maids to get their perspectives on life and to get their story out to the world. At first the maids were hesitant because it would be serious consequences if anyone knew who exactly spoke up, but Skeeter did whatever she could to make sure all the maids were anonymous and no one knew. She risked many hardships like losing her relationship with her boyfriend and also building tension with the women of the Junior League. Successfully the maids stories got out and it opened eyes little by little.

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.

Society has changed and evolved throughout time. Perhaps one of the most significant changed in contemporary American society is the treatment towards African Americans. “The Help” a feature film directed by Tate Taylor is based on the non-fictional novel “The Help” written by author Kathryn Sockett. The feature film explores the life of African American maids of Jackson Mississippi, in the early 1960’s. The 1960’s displayed all African Americans to being left out of the “American dream” through neglect and racism. African Americans faced prejudice and discrimination in almost every aspect of their life, from jobs to housing and even their education. They were denied the right to sit at the same lunch counter or use the same public rest