The Help Character Analysis

Throughout the novel The Help, which was set in the 1960s, there were many feuds between the maids and the white ladies that hired them because society looked down upon the maids due to their race. Also, there are many important characters in the novel that contribute to the book and how it is perceived. In the wise, optimistic novel The Help, Kathryn Stockett illustrates the complicated lives of the people on the opposite sides of the racial divide by portraying Hilly Holbrook as the villain. In the novel, she controls all the white women in Jackson, Mississippi by blackmailing and threatening maids, and enforcing the divide between the maids and the white ladies.

Stockett portrays Hilly as the villain throughout the novel by showing how

she tries to control and influence all the white women in Jackson, Mississippi. Therefore, the white women in Jackson listen to Hilly because they think that if they do not listen to her then she can ruin their lives. For example, Hilly says, “All these houses they are building without maid’s quarters? It’s just plain dangerous. Everyone knows they carry different kinds of diseases than we do. I double” (10). The villain in the story, Hilly, was trying to explain to Miss Leefolt that they needed a different bathroom for the help to use so that they do not have to use the same bathroom. Miss Leefolt did not want to build another bathroom because Raleigh, her husband, was an entrepreneur and his business had not yet succeeded. But, because Hilly publicized it and she was the major leader of the white women they all soon used or built a separate bathroom for their help. Furthermore, this shows that Hilly could dictate what all the white women did because of what she thought should be done. This enhances the meaning of the work because while Hilly was trying to keep the racial divide the civil rights movement was going on too.
Miss Holbrook was considered a villain throughout The Help because she would torment and blackmail the maids.

Many people were affected by Hilly in different ways. She viewed maids as less than people and she felt that she was superior to all of them. One of the maids, Yule May Crookle, was put in prison due to the actions of Hilly. Yule May worked for Hilly and she wrote a letter to Skeeter that said, “As you know, I used to wait for a friend of yours. I didn’t like working for her and I wanted to quit many times, but I was afraid to. I was afraid I might never get another job once she’d had her say” (293). The quote shows that Hilly would have done anything to make sure that Yule May did not get another job if she quit working for her because she did not want a maid to quit on her. Also, that would have been shameful for her and would have ensured that Yule May did not get another job in Jackson. Yule May was later sent to the Penitentiary because she stole a ruby ring from Hilly she felt she deserved after everything Hilly had put her through while working for her. Yule May stole the ring because she was trying to get her twins into college. She first asked Hilly for a loan just to get them in and she would pay it all back, but she said no. Hilly had no regard for anyone but herself and she wanted what she thought was best for her and no one else. Also, Hilly tried to make sure at the beginning of the book that Minny would never get another job after Minny made Hilly a “chocolate pie”. No one would hire Minny because Hilly let it be known that she “stole” from Hilly even though that never happened. Hilly ended up having to get a job for someone who was new in Jackson, and that lived very far out from her, Miss Celia Foote. In conclusion, this shows that Hilly is trying to threaten the maids to keep the divide between them and make sure they know their

place.
Another example provided by Stockett that portrays Hilly as a villain is always making sure she supports the divide between the maids and the white ladies. Skeeter decides to cross the divide and write a book about all the stories the maids have from waiting for white women. Skeeter does this in secret and does not let anyone find out about it. Except, one day after a Junior League meeting, Skeeter leaves her satchel full of The Jim Crow Laws and other notes about the maid’s stories at the place where they have the meeting. Hilly finds it and sees the Jim Crow Laws book and is perplexed as to why she even has it in the first place. Skeeter then confronts Hilly at the Country Club one day and Hilly says, “ How is William ever going to get elected in Washington, D.C., one day if we have integration friends in our closet” (241). This quote shows that Hilly has to keep the divide and if she sees anyone straying, then she will not talk to them anymore. When Hilly finds out about the book that they are writing and that it is about Jackson, she tries to assure everyone that it is not about Jackson. She wants them to believe that none of it is even true because she does not want her power and control to be gone once they find out about her eating that “chocolate pie”. Hilly throughout the entire novel makes sure that racial divides are not crossed and Hilly eventually makes Miss Leefolt fire Aibileen who was the main maid who helped with the story. Hilly kept the racial divide clear to everyone and she did not care how many people she hurt in the end.
Hilly Holbrook was perceived as the villain throughout The Help because she controlled all of the white women, and blackmails and threatens many of the maids to keep the racial divide intact. Also, Hilly tried her best to damage everyone who was part of the book they wrote about them, but towards the end everything fell into place and everyone ultimately had what they desired.