In the deep south of Jackson, Mississippi, cultural lines are ridged, as are the gender roles of white females and black females in relation to their male counterparts. In Kathryn Stockett’s “The Help,” these assertions are validated by Skeeter’s constant battle with her mother about marriage. Skeeter is a young woman that was raised in the south by her maid Constantine. Equip with a different set of values than her friends, Hilly and Elizabeth, Skeeter decides to attend college, make a name for herself through writing, and put marriage on hold, despite the opposition she faces. Celia Foote, an atypical white woman of the time period, defies the gender roles set for women; although she is yearning to conform to them. By juxtaposing Skeeter’s …show more content…
and Celia’s character traits with Hilly’s, Stockett suggest that true success stems from a woman’s ability to disregard the gender roles created by society, as they limit one’s full potential, by being independent, ambitious, and aware. The standard gender roles during the time period causes trouble for Skeeter and Celia by means of fear, intimidation, and insecurity; while on the other hand, Hilly lives peacefully.
Stockett is living vicariously through Skeeter. When Stockett shows worriedness for writing “The Help,” it is represented by Skeeter’s fear and self-doubt. Stockett realized that she was “crossing a terrible line, writing in the voice of a black person” (Donaldson 39). The fears of the black maids would be passed on to her, causing her to have an anxious state of mind. During the time period, “interracial contact, however, [was] dangerous for African Americans. It [was] legally punishable by imprisonment, though [it was] more likely to spark vigilante violence or even murder” (Tueth 28). Skeeter often second guesses her decision of writing the stories of the black maids in Jackson because it is detrimental to the lives of both parties involved. Skeeter’s fears are intensified by the “brutal murder of Medgar Evers,” as it “emphasizes the possible consequences to Skeeter and the others if their illegal conversations [are] discovered” (Tueth 28). Although Skeeter’s anxiety level is heightened, these intimidation factors motivate Skeeter to continue to give voices to the maids, which would empower them, and in turn, would allow her to develop strength and …show more content…
independence. Following the gender roles set by society, Hilly had little trouble with gaining popularity and gaining support from other women. Following the direct opposite path of Skeeter, “Hilly Holbrook and Elizabeth Leefolt, both dropped out of college to get married like many other girls during the 1960s (Meibom 20). They depend on their husbands to provide financially and did not have to work as hard as Skeeter to establish their economic status; however, in the case of a divorce, the lack of education would limit the already slim chance of them finding a decent job. This further highlights the inequality for women in the workplace as they were usually assigned to stereotypical jobs. Skeeter begins to doubt herself when she is constantly being “discouraged and discriminated against by the majority of society, even her own mother” (Meibom 11). She faces pressure in all directions to conform to gender roles; she “is constantly urged on by her mother to follow the example of her two best friends and get married (Meibom 20). The reoccurring persuasion starts to take a toll on Skeeter; it causes her to have doubts. She decides to play it safe but eventually; she decides to be the best possible version of herself and take risks. This new sense of self development in Skeeter causes her to be “rejected by Hilly. Hence, Skeeter is completely rejected and has no friends left” (Meibom 11). Hilly had a huge influence on the decisions made by other women in Jackson. Seeing that Hilly has a greater following than Skeeter, she is happier and is able to have her ideas readily acted upon. In opposition to Hilly’s social influence, Skeeter is able to use the power of words to have toilets placed in Hilly’s yard. Celia wants to belong to a friend group and be able to have children, but she also did not follow all of the gender roles women were supposed to follow. Celia “a newcomer to the town who has married a wealthy plantation owner, is ostracized by Hilly and her ladies” (Tueth 27). Celia later realizes that Johnny loves her regardless and she does not have to follow what society wants because true happiest stems from your sense of self. White women are supposed to stay at home and take care of their children, while white men are supposed to work.
The white women sought the aid of black women to take care of their children. The two groups of women play similar roles; however, they could not form a relationship because it goes against social norms. Celia believes that she would only be useful if she could provide Johnny with a child. She desperately wanted a child so she became depressed, thus, putting her health at risk in attempt to abide by the gender roles. These same set of people who are following the rules are creating them as well. Since the majority of people go with the status quo, going against it is taboo. Therefore, it would cause trouble to violate the code, proving that Hilly would live peacefully, while Skeeter and Celia would both struggle. The opposition provides a valid point, but Skeeter and Celia continue to ignore these roles highlighting that by juxtaposing Skeeter’s and Celia’s character traits with Hilly’s, Stockett suggest that true success stems from a woman’s ability to disregard the gender roles created by society, as they limit one’s full potential, by being independent, ambitious, and
aware. Skeeter takes charge of her life by not depending on a husband to financially support her. Instead of getting married and subjecting to her husband, Skeeter becomes a “young aspiring writer spurred on by the ambition of producing a book” (Donaldson 42). Determined to be successful, a goal oriented Skeeter lets go of her inhibitions and takes the necessary steps to write her book. She conquers the task by first finding a job “writing a homemakers advice column for the local newspaper,” this was considered to be “a typical assignment for a college-educated white woman at that time” (Tueth 28). Due to the lack of education, Hilly and Elizabeth would not be able to obtain a job. As her ambitions intensify, Skeeter is pushed out of her comfort zone when she is encouraged to write on a topic that corresponds to her values. Skeeter begins the task of writing the stories of the maids in Jackson. It is uplifting for Aibileen and Minny, as Skeeter “comes to rescue the African American women” (McHaney 81). Skeeter is seen as a hero for listening and recording the stories. Skeeter realizes that all women are not as different as they seem. While reflecting on the stories, she includes herself in the struggles of the black women by stating “not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I’d thought” (Donaldson 44). Seeing as both white men and black men are rarely mentioned in the book, awareness among women is crucial. Skeeter recognizes that the problems that white women and black women face are different on the surface, but they both are oppressed and expected to please others through conformity, rather than living life for themselves. Skeeter being “the principle white character, yearns for more than marriage, children, and a cozy life in Jackson, Mississippi” (Smith 28). She wants to make an impact on the world by taking on the personal responsibility of being a positively contributing member of society. The true feelings of the white housewives are often hidden. Their emotions are usually reflected by how they “treat each other, their parents, their children and their husbands with total callousness” (Smith 34). These women are upset with their current situation, but since the other women have not spoken up about it, they assume that the others do not feel the same way; therefore their unhappiness is released upon their loved ones. Hilly and Elizabeth “with their troubled relationships and unloved children, carry burdens equal to those of the black characters” (Foster-Singletary 96). Elizabeth struggles to find time for her daughter while Hilly lacks consideration for her mother. The bitterness is directly correlated to the different views Mae Mobley and Mrs. Holbrook have on life. Celia is independent in how she treats black women. When Minny is allowed the freedom of choosing her work hours, “it is clear that Celia is different” (Foster-Singletary 97). Minny is used to being given orders, so when Celia gives Minny the opportunity to have a choice, she is pleasantly surprised. As it is unusual in the south for a white woman to treat a black woman in such a way, Minny has trouble trusting Celia. When meeting Celia, Minny believes that “she cannot be classified as a proper white woman” (Foster-Singletary 97). Since Celia seems to ignore the standards for white women, Minny believes that she must be mentally unstable, as it is impossible for white women not to have shared values. Minny reacts in this way because it is what she is used to. She has conformed to society because the other women have as well. Not only is it an implicit rule known to all women, it is also explicitly taught to her by her mother who was also a maid. Although the development of independence in women is a fundamental principle in overall self-development, it is also important to support one another, as interpersonal relationships establish the foundation of lifelong success. The gender roles in “The Help” were also applicable to men, as “Skeeter’s father and Johnny Foote are examples of loving, considerate white men” (Foster-Singletary 98). They were individuals that were nonconformists of the gender roles to be upheld by men. Being aware of what is happening in the world is critical in order for progress to occur.
A common theme in books that involve slavery, but extremely important. Race can be defined as a group of people who are grouped together because they are related by similar descent. Throughout the book the whites were grouped together and separated by their power. The blacks as well were grouped together and was withheld from freedom. Even in the book when Celia persistently told the lawyer that she worked alone in her crime. They did not want to come to terms with the fact that no other slave helped, especially given her gender and physical state. They categorized the slaves based on there race, in wanting to punish someone for the death of Mr.
Racial inequality was a big thing back in the day, as the blacks were oppressed, discriminated and killed. The blacks did not get fair treatment as the whites, they were always been looked down, mocked, and terrified. But Moody knew there’s still an opportunity to change the institution through Civil Rights Movement. As she matured Anne Moody come to a conclusion that race was created as something to separate people, and there were a lot of common between a white person and a black person. Moody knew sexual orientation was very important back in the 1950s, there was little what women can do or allowed to do in the society. For example, when Moody was ridiculed by her activist fellas in Civil Rights Movement. Women indeed played an important role in Moody’s life, because they helped forming her personality development and growth. The first most important woman in Moody’s life would be her mother, Toosweet Davis. Toosweet represent the older rural African American women generation, whom was too terrified to stand up for their rights. She was portrayed as a good mother to Moody. She struggled to make ends meet, yet she did everything she could to provide shelter and food to her children. Toosweet has encouraged Moody to pursue education. However, she did not want Moody to go to college because of the fear of her daughter joining the Civil Rights Movement and getting killed. The second important woman to Moody would be Mrs. Burke, She is the white woman Moody worked for. Mrs. Burke is a fine example of racist white people, arguably the most racist, destructive, and disgusting individual. In the story, Mrs. Burke hold grudge and hatred against all African American. Although she got some respects for Moody, State by the Narrator: “You see, Essie, I wouldn’t mind Wayne going to school with you. But all Negroes aren’t like you and your
She establishes "the 'do' and the 'don't' of behavior" (Smith 132) in her children and believes, "If you could just keep from them all the things that must never be mentioned, all would be well!" (Smith 142). At the same time, the southern white woman sits atop the pedestal of Sacred Womanhood that her husband and his ancestors built for her (Smith 141). She meekly sits there, a symbol of southern society used to benefit men's ideals, feeling empty and powerless against everything going on around her (Smith 141-2). The whispers in her children's ears and her presence on that pedestal fulfill the white woman's role as protectress of Southern Tradition, but does not fulfill the southern white woman. In fact, the roles of the southern black woman and the southern white woman are equally important and equally oppressive: "In a culture where marriage and motherhood were women's primary roles, neither black nor white women were free to be fully wives or mothers, and neither were able to shield their children from the physical and psychic destruction of the racist society in which they lived" (Gladney 6).
To the modern white women who grew up in comfort and did not have to work until she graduated from high school, the life of Anne Moody reads as shocking, and almost too bad to be true. Indeed, white women of the modern age have grown accustomed to a certain standard of living that lies lightyears away from the experience of growing up black in the rural south. Anne Moody mystifies the reader in her gripping and beautifully written memoir, Coming of Age in Mississippi, while paralleling her own life to the evolution of the Civil Rights movement. This is done throughout major turning points in the author’s life, and a detailed explanation of what had to be endured in the name of equality.
Kathryn Stockett's book The Help has sold over five million copies and has spent more than 100 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. Stockett's book has also been made in to a major motion picture. The Help is a story about African American house maids based in 1960's Jackson, Mississippi. The story is told by three main women, Minny, Aibileen and Skeeter. Aibileen and Minny are both African-American maids, while Skeeter is the daughter of a privileged family. Aibileen is raising another white child by the name of Mae Mobley whose mother does not participate in her care. Minny is working for an outcast, newlywed, white woman who is keeping her employment a secret from her husband. Skeeter is working on becoming a journalist and takes the risk of interviewing Minny and Aibileen for her book that she publishes. All meetings are done in secret. All of the maids Skeeter interviews talk of a woman named Hilly, who holds the ideal that whites are superior to African-Americans and intends to get everyone in her “ladies group” ( in which Skeeter is a member) to join in the ideal and embrace it. Hilly is one of the specific antagonists in this story, which ends in her demise. This story describes everyone in Hilly’s circle to a T, but it is published with an anonymous author and the names get changed so that no one can figure out who wrote it. Most people will “rant and rave” that Stockett's book is an amazing story of the struggle for African American's in
This novel also looks at social norms overseeing gender in the southern states around the 1960's. White women in the book are valued by the amount of children they can reproduce for the black women to raise. Even though getting a job is difficult for these black woman, the white women have a hard time seeking out a job as well. But these black women sacrifice their lives to be major workhorses surrendering their own families to work for white employers. Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter confront the roles put upon them by society and receive fulfillmen...
The author distinguishes white people as privileged and respectful compare to mulattos and blacks. In the racial society, white people have the right to get any high-class position in job or live any places. In the story, all white characters are noble such as Judge Straight lawyer, Doctor Green, business-man George, and former slaveholder Mrs. Tryon. Moreover, the author also states the racial distinction of whites on mulattos. For example, when Dr. Green talks to Tryon, “‘The niggers,’…, ‘are getting mighty trifling since they’ve been freed. Before the war, that boy would have been around there and back before you could say Jack Robinson; now, the lazy rascal takes his time just like a white man.’ ” (73) Additionally, in the old society, most white people often disdained and looked down on mulattos. Even though there were some whites respected colored people friendly, there were no way for colored people to stand parallel with whites’ high class positions. The story has demonstrations that Judge Straight accepted John as his assistant, Mrs. Tryon honor interviewed Rena, and George finally changed and decided to marry Rena; however, the discrimination is inevitable. For example, when Mrs. Tryon heard Rena was colored, she was disappointed. “The lady, who had been studying her as closely as good manners would permit, sighed regretfully.” (161) There, Mrs. Tryon might have a good plan for Rena, but the racial society would not accept; since Rena was a mulatto, Mrs. Tryon could not do anything to help Rena in white social life. The racial circumstance does not only apply on mulattos, but it also expresses the suffering of black people.
In Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the author subjects the reader to a dystopian slave narrative based on a true story of a woman’s struggle for self-identity, self-preservation and freedom. This non-fictional personal account chronicles the journey of Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) life of servitude and degradation in the state of North Carolina to the shackle-free promise land of liberty in the North. The reoccurring theme throughout that I strive to exploit is how the women’s sphere, known as the Cult of True Womanhood (Domesticity), is a corrupt concept that is full of white bias and privilege that has been compromised by the harsh oppression of slavery’s racial barrier. Women and the female race are falling for man’s
The 1960s was the time when women and men were treated with cruelty, were paid barely enough money to spend on food, and were beaten senseless just because of their race. Though it sounds like an excruciating life to live, many of these African Americans lived life to the fullest despite what others thought of them. In Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, African Americans are treated hastily by whites, as analyzed by the book’s historical significance, personal analysis, and literary criticisms to fully comprehend life in the 1960s of the south.
Not only did “Help” influence the thoughts of society in regards to racial segregation but it also created an opportunity for Skeeter and Aibileen to challenge sex segregation or the norm that said women are homemakers and men work. “My eye’s drift down to HELP WANTED: MALE” (Stockett, 69). During the 1960s women such as Skeeter, who were not yet married with children by the age of 23 were seen as social outcasts. Few women worked because their job in society was to be home, caring for the family. Being a social outcast didn’t bother Skeeter and writing “Help” allowed her to get a job at Harper & Row Publishing in New York which during that time, most ...
Feminist theory is a term that embraces a wide variety of approaches to the questions of a women’s place and power in culture and society. Two of the important practices in feminist critique are raising awareness of the ways in which women are oppressed, demonized, or marginalized, and discovering motifs of female awakenings. The Help is a story about how black females “helped” white women become “progressive” in the 1960’s. In my opinion, “The Help” I must admit that it exposes some of our deepest racial, gender, and class wounds as individuals and social groups, and that the story behind the story is a call to respect our wounds and mutual wounding so that healing may have a chance to begin and bring social injustice to an end. The relationship between Blacks and whites in this novel generally take on the tone of a kindly, God-fearing Jesus Christ-loving Black person, placidly letting blacks and whites work out their awkwardness regarding race and injustice. Eventually both the black and white women realize how similar they are after all, and come to the conclusion that racism is an action of the individual person, a conclusion mutually exclusive of racism as an institutionalized system that stands to demonize and oppress people based on the color of their skin and the location of their ancestry.
In the story “The Help” written by Kathryn Stockett, we are taken back in time to Jackson, Mississippi in August of 1962, where we meet three women by the name of Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter. Aibileen and Minny are black women who work for white families as the help. Skeeter is a young white woman in her early twenties who befriends the other two and gets them to tell their stories of what it is like to be the help. They reluctantly hesitate, but eventually give in knowing that the stories they are telling are more important than the negative impact it could have on their lives. While reading “ The Help” you cannot help but notice the symbolism that drips from almost every page.
In the novel the Help by Kathryn Stockett the character Skeeter develops progressively throughout. Her relationships with Hilly and Aibileen, and her motivation are the three key elements to her development as a character.
Throughout her life as a maid she has raised seventeen white children. Aibileen tries to teach the children that she raises that the color of a person’s skin does not matter. Unfortunately, this message is often contradicted by the racism in Jackson. During the movie she works for Elizabeth Leefolt and takes care of her toddler Mae Mobley Leefolt. The death of Aibileen’s son inspires her to help Skeeter write her book about the lives of colored maids in Mississippi. Aibileen experiences many forms of social inequality throughout the movie. For instance, throughout her life, Aibileen is forced to take care other people’s children while her son is at home taking care of himself. Additionally, at the end of the movie due to her involvement in helping Skeeter write her book, Hilly falsely accuses Aibileen of stealing silverware and convinces Elizabeth to fire her. She was fired for trying to show the social inequality between colored people and white
The Help chronicles a recent college graduate named Skeeter, who secretly writes a book exposing the treatment of black maids by white affluent women. The story takes place in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi, during the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. The death of Medgar Evers triggers racial tension and gives the maids of Jackson the courage to retell their personal stories of injustice endured over the years. The movie depicts the frustration of the maids with their female employers and what their lives were like cleaning, cooking, and raising their bosses’ children. The Help shines a light on the racial and social injustice of maids during the era of Jim Crow Laws, illustrating how white women of a privileged society discriminated not only against black women, but also against their own race. The movie examines a very basic principle: the ethical treatment of other human beings.