In order to build, you need to destroy. In the novel The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, characters throughout the novel display their differences by the actions and decisions they make in order to change society. In Jackson, Mississippi, the expectations of a white woman are pretty straightforward; get married, have kids and become a housewife. Most of the women comply. However, one individual questions society. One individual will aspire to be something more. Risks will be taken and sacrifices will be made. That one individual will do everything possible to make a change in Jackson, Mississippi. In the inspiring novel The Help, Skeeter risks exploring outside of the social norm in order to find herself and make a difference. Skeeter went to …show more content…
Miss Skeeter had many interviews that needed to be completed once she got enough maids to help her. Although it was a struggle to get enough maids to help, many eventually came to make this happen. Skeeter’s relationship with her mother was never sturdy in the first place. Skeeter’s mother was obsessed with perfecting her daughter's hair. Skeeter’s hair was frizzy and curly and untamable. The relationship between the two was never good because of Miss Phelan’s nitpicking on everything about Skeeter. Skeeter wasn’t even able to walk by her mother at times because she knew that her mother would have something to say about her. Whether it was about her outfit, hair or face, Skeeter would rush by her mother’s room to avoid criticism. In the novel, Stockett states how Skeeter would even scurry by her own mother’s room covering her face. On top of that, Skeeter’s mom was also let down when Skeeter stayed in college and because of her obvious intentions on never finding a man. While Skeeter and her mother are having a heated discussion on Skeeter’s “love life” if you will, Skeeter asks, “would it be so terrible if I never met a husband?” to which Skeeter’s mother replies, “Don’t. Don’t say that, Eugenia. Why, every week I see another man in town over six feet and I think, If Eugenia would just try…” (Stockett 66) Obviously, Mrs. Phelan wishes that Skeeter would have dropped out of college to get married just like all the other white women in Jackson, Mississippi did. Unlike the rest of the women in Jackson, Mississippi, Skeeter didn't see getting married or finding a man a top priority. Additionally, Skeeter had to further ruin the mother-daughter trust relationship when it came to leaving for the interviews. Skeeter couldn’t let her mother know where she was really going and therefore, lied to her. While Skeeter was out interviewing the maids, she told her mother that she
In the Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria both display straightforward, hardworking, and stubborn character traits. Firstly, Homer and Mother Maria both display a straightforward personality by being brutally honest about their opinions. For example, when Mother Maria asks Homer to build a chapel, Homer speaks his mind by telling her he does not want to build it. Mother Maria shows her straightforward behavior during Homer’s stay at the convent. One morning, when Homer sleeps in late, Mother to becomes extremely upset and is not afraid to show how she feels about him. Secondly, both Homer and Mother Maria display a hardworking spirit. Homer is a hardworking man because after finally agreeing to build the chapel,
These two girls both lack something in their lives that are critical Joy doesn’t have a leg and her health is declining overall and Dee doesn’t have knowledge of her history. Joy lost her leg at a young age from a shooting accident but she does have a prosthetic. The prosthetic leg doesn’t deter her from being this outspoken rude person who loves to talk down on her family. She makes other always feel bad because she though that her education entitled her to have a higher status. Joy learns the hard way that people aren’t always what you expect them to be, Manley Pointer. Pointer was a bible salesman. Joy though she could use that to her benefit along with the fact that Manley seemed to be interested in Joy because he was complimenting her consistently when he visited her. She thought that things would be fine and until she got to the barn with Manley. The two sat in the barn and conversed for a while and then he decided to try and get her to confess her love. The conversation between the two went completely left. Joy decide to tell Manley that she was 30 years old instead of 17 like she originally said and with this opportunity Manley continued on with trying to get them to confess her love. Walker wrote, “The boy’s look was irritated but dogged. “I don’t care,” he said. “I don’t care a thing about what all you done. I just want to know if you love me or don’tcher?” and he caught her to
Janie's outlook on life stems from the system of beliefs that her grandmother, Nanny instills in her during life. These beliefs include how women should act in a society and in a marriage. Nanny and her daughter, Janie's mother, were both raped and left with bastard children, this experience is the catalyst for Nanny’s desire to see Janie be married of to a well-to-do gentleman. She desires to see Janie married off to a well to do gentleman because she wants to see that Janie is well cared for throughout her life.
Julius Caesar is mentioned throughout the book, A Long Way Gone, many times. In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael would be reading Julius Caesar or a soldier would be reciting some of the speeches in the play. In Chapter 12 of A Long Way Gone, Ishmael is called over to talk with Lieutenant Jabati. Then, Lieutenant Jabati showed Ishmael the book he was reading, which was Julius Caesar, and asked Ishmael if he had ever heard of the book. Ishmael had read the book in school, and began to recite a speech from the book. After this happened, Lieutenant Jabati and Corporal Gadafi used emotional arguments to motivate the people in the village to stay there and support the military. Also, Lieutenant showed all the people in the village dead bodies to help
Janie who continually finds her being defined by other people rather than by herself never feels loved, either by her parents or by anybody else. Her mother abandoned her shortly after giving birth to her. All she had was her grandmother, Nanny, who protected and looked after her when she was a child. But that was it. She was even unaware that she is black until, at age six, she saw a photograph of herself. Her Nanny who was enslaved most of her lifetime only told her that a woman can only be happy when she marries someone who can provide wealth, property, and security to his wife. Nanny knew nothing about love since she never experienced it. She regarded that matter as unnecessary for her as well as for Janie. And for that reason, when Janie was about to enter her womanhood in searching for that love, Nanny forced her to marry Mr. Logan Killicks, a much older man that can offer Janie the protection and security, plus a sixty-acre potato farm. Although Janie in her heart never approves what her Nanny forced her to do, she did it anyway. She convinced herself that by the time she became Mrs. Killick, she would get that love, which turned out to be wrong.
In The Big Field, author Mike Lupica explores the theme, "Success uses motivation as fuel." Lupica portrays this theme through the main character, Hutch. Throughout the entire book, Hutch, a young boy that has just recently joined a highly talented baseball team, displays moments that exemplify this main theme. Hutch and his team have a chance to play in the stadium of the Miami Marlins, a Major League Baseball team, as long as they can keep winning games and advancing through a challenging tournament; however, Hutch's favorite position on the field, shortstop, the position located between 2nd and 3rd base, has already been filled on the team. Unfortunately, Hutch gets a demotion from shortstop, to second base, the position located between 1st base and 2nd base. Although Hutch was disappointed and melancholy about the switch in position, he was even more upset about the downgrading of leadership, since the
...e on her part. Throughout the story, the Mother is portrayed as the dominant figure, which resembled the amount of say that the father and children had on matters. Together, the Father, James, and David strived to maintain equality by helping with the chickens and taking care of Scott; however, despite the effort that they had put in, the Mother refused to be persuaded that Scott was of any value and therefore she felt that selling him would be most beneficial. The Mother’s persona is unsympathetic as she lacks respect and a heart towards her family members. Since the Mother never showed equality, her character had unraveled into the creation of a negative atmosphere in which her family is now cemented in. For the Father, David and James, it is only now the memories of Scott that will hold their bond together.
Much work goes into musical , as was the case in “Catch Me If You Can”,which La Joya Middle School drama had the pleasure of watching on January 15, put on by El Diamante High School. The musical was directed by John Sorber and Michael Tackett. This amazing production included many talented actors such as Maverik Dakota Raven starring as Frank Abagnale Jr., Kiley Hoffman playing Brenda Strong, and Jonathan Johns as Carl Hanratty. This incredible play carried a strong lesson. As was seen the protagonist ran from his problems and pretended to be someone who he wasn't. The plot of this story showed us that we can't run from our problems, for that only worsens the situation and is a snowball for our problems.
Anthony Doerr’s novel All the Light We Cannot See shows the reader how children would deal with war and how it shaped who they are today. Doerr’s purpose for writing this novel is to highlight how mentally taxing the war was and that there was no permanent escape from the war. Both Marie-Laure and Werner believed they could escape the war both physically and mentally, yet their involvement in it makes it more difficult. Marie-Laure’s fear of her father going to jail shows how she becomes involved in the war. Werner struggled with trying to escape the war through his fascination with radios when it just brought him further into the war. After understanding the effect on certain individuals; the story zooms out showing how the majority
Unlike many of her friends, Eugenia never really fit into the social standards of beauty. She was almost six feet tall, lanky, with curly unmanageable hair. She received the nickname Skeeter from her older brother Carlton right after she was born. He took one look at her and said “It’s not a baby it’s a Skeeter!” (Stockett 57). However, looks didn’t mean anything
In this story, Mrs. Hopewell constantly criticizes the way her daughter looks and acts. Even to her, Joy is not beautiful. For example, O'Connor states that, "Mrs. Hopewell said that people who looked on the bright side of things would be beautiful even if they were not" (133). Mrs. Hopewell says this in reference to her daughter's poor attitude. She believes that even though her daughter is not pretty, Joy can compensate for her ugliness in the ways that she interacts with others. However, even Joy's mannerisms prove unsatisfactory to her mother. Mrs. Hopewell thinks that her daughter is rude. Consequently, she feels obligated to offset Joy's poor behavior by being extra hospitable and courteous to visitors. Also, Mrs. Hopewell refuses to take any pride in her daughter, even though Joy has become an extremely accomplished woman by going to college and earning a degree in psychology. As a result, the relationship between Joy and her mother beco...
Skeeter seems to breath and live from the words Constantine fed her while raising her, Constantine being her main friend. The only friend who truly loved her, and showed it through her words, kindness, and actions. Her words about ugly living up on the inside show Skeeter that the only reason she had to deal with being called ugly was because miserable people like to take advantage of kind people’s hearts. All of this is significant to Skeeter because she always seems to be lonely, not quite fitting in because of her looks, height, and ideas. This means that when she is called ugly she feels even less like she fits in.
One of the major projects of Hilly Holbrook’s is to get a law passed requiring white families to build bathrooms for their black children to use. At one point in the story, Skeeter finally realizes that what is going on is wrong. She grew up with these women but realized she knew them. After she reads the Jim Crow laws in the library, she starts to understand. “But then I realize, like a shell cracking open in my head, there’s no difference between those government laws and Hilly building a bathroom in the garage, except ten mines worth of signatures in the state capital.”
Minny showed that her husband is violent, " 'Why? Why are you hitting me? ' .... I was trapped in the corner of the bedroom like a dog. He was beating me with his belt. It was the first time I’d ever really thought about it. Who knows what I could become," (485) and "I ain 't telling, I ain 't telling nobody about that pie. But I give her what she deserve! .... I ain 't never gone get no work again, Leroy gone kill me..." (24). Also, it shows that Minny is forced to work for her family to earn money in order to raise their family up. It 's different from Skeeter 's situation in that Skeeter is hoping to continue her career but Minny has no choice to change her situation. Minny is a strong character in the book and she even took revenge against Hilly after she spread rumors about Minny. However, Minny seems so weak, vulnerable and under the mercy of her husband Leroy. Even if Leroy abuses Minny, she endures it because she loves him. Sexism here is in the superiority of men over women that give them the right to abuse them. According to Skeeter, in early 1960s, Sexism appeared in jobs that were open only for men, "My eyes drift down to HELP WANTED: MALE. There are at least four columns filled with bank managers, accountants, loan officers, cotton collate operators. On this side of the page, Percy and Gray, LP, is offering Jr. Stenographers fifty cents more an hour," (68). Characters from
Noah is the one of the main characters of The Notebook. He is the hero of this novel. Noah represents true love and true loyalty. In a way, The Notebook is similar to every modern day romance movie, and Noah represents the “dream man” that all the girls always imagine of having. The characters in movies are used to symbolize ideas, and in this novel, Noah represents true, faithful, committed love. Noah remains loyal to Allie even in the situation where he is unsure whether they will ever meet again or not.