The Help And Redfern Now Comparison

Kathryn Stockett’s novel, The Help and Rachel Perkins’ television series, Redfern Now: Stand Up sheds light on similar ideas and themes, despite different text formats and social contexts. Stockett narrates a story of African-American maids, working in the white households of 1962, Jackson, Mississippi. Contrastingly, Perkin’s episode four of Redfern Now follows a sixteen-year-old Joel Shields, who attends one of Sydney’s most elite private schools on an Indigenous scholarship. Through their joint disapproval of their respective societies, Stockett and Perkins address parallel themes of racial tension, reformation and education.

Both Stockett and Perkins use irony, to make a comment on the racial tension within the separate societies. In

The Help, Stockett delivers this idea through the ignorance of Miss Hilly Holbrook and her consequential ‘Home Help Sanitation Initiative’. This is placed within historical context of 1960s America, where the novel addresses the concept of ‘separate, but equal’ under the enforcement of Jim Crow laws during the era. Miss Skeeter is the voice of reason for modern day readers, and she exposes Miss Hilly as a hypocrite; ‘I wait for her to catch the irony of this, that she’ll give money to coloured people overseas, but not across town’ – page 280. Similarly, in Redfern Now the irony is also conveyed through characters, particularly the principal. There are scenes where the principal is shown to be very patronising towards Joe’s family, and there is certainly a lack empathy displayed by this character; ‘At the end of the day, we are all Australians.’ This line misses the point of what is trying to be expressed and achieved by Joe’s family, primarily in the sense that it denies the recognition of first Australians. To reinforce this view, Perkins uses satirical shots displaying the Indigenous Flag after Joe’s expulsion; and relates images of Anglo-Saxon stereotypes with the National Anthem on his search engine. Ultimately the irony in both texts allows the readers to acknowledge the need for change in their respective societies.

Both stories use the protagonists to explore the beginnings of reformation.

Stockett explores this early on in the novel, through the narrative perspectives of Miss Skeeter, Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson. Miss Skeeter already defies the social expectations of white women in the 1960s; however, it is her devotion at considerable risk to a book featuring the real stories of black women working in white households, that could very well place her and others in danger. ‘All my life I’d been told what to believe about politics, coloureds, being a girl. But with Constantine’s thumb pressed into my hand, I realised I actually had a choice in what I could believe.’ –page 63. As the novel progresses Skeeter becomes more distant from her safe social status as her outlook on the world alters; and the readers realise that she has the most to gain and even more so, the most to loose. Likewise, the narrative perspectives of Aibileen and Minny see their struggle to break free of the status quo and push for equality. Comparably, Perkins uses Joe as an advocate for Indigenous rights, by not standing or singing for the national anthem at his school assembly. His father supports Joe; but his mother is more concerned for the consequences. She argues that her family made the choice to live in a way that is stereotypical to western society, ‘You can’t pick and choose, when it suits you.’ Sending the message that sometimes you need to comply with what expectations may stand in order to keep the

peace.

The Help and Redfern Now have a common theme of education, and this is explored through the respective settings.

The novel looks at the attitudes towards education and the unequal access for women and African-Americans in the social context of 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. Education is not deemed a necessity for women, as the social expectations at the time were to marry a husband and maintain the household. Miss Skeeter finds that this also translates into fewer and lower paid job prospects for females as well. ‘Isn’t that what you women from Ole Miss major in? Professional husband hunting?’ – page 118. This quote from Stuart Whitworth supports this social view of the time. African-Americans had the same struggle in the South; this is explored significantly through Yule May, who devoted her work to financing her twin boy’s college tuition. In this way, there are some significant comparisons that can be drawn between Yule May and Joe’s mum, Nic. Both characters view education as a way of alleviating themselves out of poverty or financial burden. Therefrom, she sought for her son to obtain an Indigenous scholarship to the prestigious Clifton Grammar. The scholarship program aimed in ‘closing the gap’ between the educations of non-indigenous and indigenous people. Perkins subtly communicates this through the contrasting mise en scene of the affluence of the college, and the more humble setting of the family’s household. So despite the difference in social contexts, both authors

argue the importance of education.

Both Stockett’s novel, The Help and Perkins’ television series, Redfern Now: Stand Up, illustrate fantastic portrayals of the dissimilar societies. Addressing issues that cross time, social and political divides of racial segregation, inequality, reformation and education. Emphasising that human concerns remain the same, whether placed in 1960s, Jackson, Mississippi or 21st Century, Sydney, Australia.