Discovery can provoke new thoughts and ideas, transforming the individual through a confronting experience. William Shakespeare's 1610-11 play, 'The Tempest' follows the interconnecting stories of Prospero and his daughter, Miranda, who were banished to an island and stripped of their royal titles. The Tempest, a mighty storm caused by Prospero's spirit Ariel, caused Prospero's family to be shipwrecked on the shores of the island and encounter the brother they once betrayed, leading to a fast-paced story of romance, betrayal and magic. Kathryn Stockett's controversial novel, 'The Help', published in 2009 follows the lives of Aibileen and Minny, two African-American maids, and Skeeter, a young, Caucasian, Southern girl, as they struggle to express …show more content…
In a discriminatory society, the separation of the races is incredibly important to maintaining the social status of the white people and subduing the African-American population, however when one individual, Skeeter Phelan, speaks out against the racist behaviours upon her discovery of the Jim Crows Laws booklet, ' I read through four of the twenty-five pages, mesmerized by how many laws exist to separate us,' she isolates herself in an attempt to do the right thing by her moral and ethical standards. When she highlights the racial issue being brought up by Hilly Holbrook, stating, 'Maybe we ought to just build you a bathroom outside, Hilly,' her Caucasian friend threatens to throw her out of the league, responding, ' I don’t think you ought to be joking around about the colored situation. Not if you want to stay on as editor of the League, Skeeter Phelan.” The warning tone and referral to the 'coloured situation' symbolises society's approach to individuals seeking to rectify the discriminatory differences between the white and coloured population, and as such, society's willingness to isolate individuals who place such practices at risk. Skeeter's discovery of the Jim Crow's Law booklets and further understanding of how the coloured maids are actually treated and alienated within the community catalyses her isolation from those who were …show more content…
In 'The Help', Skeeter's relationship with her mother throughout the beginning of the book is secretive and silent, the two leading separate lives, with the occasional bickering and motherly concern of her appearance and reputation within society. As the novel progresses, Skeeter forces her mother to reveal the story of how her beloved maid was fired, a story Skeeter was ignorant and sheltered of until this point. The disgust she has of her mother after she shares the awful details is evident in Skeeter's recount, 'I let my head sink into my hands. There is no redeeming piece of the story. A child should never know this about her own mother.' The contrast between 'child/mother' accentuates her loss of innocence as a consequence of her discovery, the metaphorical 'sink into my hands', displaying the strong grief and sadness that she is experiencing as a result of her discovery and the destruction of her naivety. However to challenge the perception of discovery and experience of losing one's innocence, Miranda's first meeting with Ferdinand conveys how Shakespeare has contradicted Stockett by portraying a positive loss of innocence and naivety as a result of their romantic discovery. Miranda confesses, 'A thing divine, for nothing natural I ever saw so noble' while Ferdinand sees Miranda and announces, 'O you wonder!', both conveying that they have lost their romantic innocence and
With the semester coming to an end, many students are excited. This especially includes those who will be graduating soon. However, graduation can be seen as a bittersweet moment. On one hand, the graduates enter into a new chapter in their lives. On the other hand, they may lose communication with some of their friends. Unfortunately, this is a natural aspect of each person’s life. Everyone will experience some kind of loss in their life, whether it is person or an object. In The Tempest, Shakespeare discusses the topic of loss. While this theme is not talked about much compared to other themes in the play, it is very important since it is a theme that is included in the 1956 movie adaptation Forbidden Planet. While both works illustrate the ways people deals a loss, the later work demonstrates how the advancement in the world have affected the way modern society
The Help is a novel written in 2009 about African-American maids working in Southern homes in the 1960’s and a young white woman pursuing to write a book about the maid’s lives. Stockett was born in 1969 in Jackson, Mississippi. She worked in magazine publishing in New York before attempting to publish The Help, which was rejected by 60 different literary agents. Stockett’s personal background played a major part in her ability to tell this story so well. She grew up with African-American maids working in her household and grew up shortly after the decade in which this novel takes place. The society that she grew up in and her experience working in a magazine helped her to write from the personal viewpoint of African-American help and a woman striving to become a journalist in America during the 1960’s. In The Help, Stockett uses specific setting, point of view, and allusions to tell the incredible story of three young women of different ages, backgrounds, and race that join together in a work that readers will never forget.
In Maryse Condé novel, I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem, Tituba is the victim of the spread of colonial ideology. Colonial ideology is established early in the novel and plays a role throughout. Colonial ideology is the reason Tituba is a slave to white men throughout the play. Colonial ideology is the reason why Tituba’s opinion is considered irrelevant by other characters in the play. Tituba’s life is filled with lost, misery, and disappointment because of the ideology shared by other characters in the novel. The spread of colonial ideology leads to Tituba’s low role in every society she lives in during her life.
Overall The Help is an amazing book by Kathryn Stockett. The three characters Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny all are different people. But somehow, they manage to become close friends. Or almost.
“The Tempest” is a play written by William Shakespeare in early 1600s that has been previewed in different kinds of movies, such as the one made in 2010, directed by Julie Taymor. It is a play containing themes such as; revenge, allusion, retribution, forgiveness, power, love and hatred. When it is compared to the play, there are specific differences seen in the movie, such as; Prospero is reflected as a woman in the movie. The time differences between the play and the movie and how the spirit Ariel is shown as a white man in the movie. The play starts with the story of Prospero, the Duke of Milan. He gets banished from Italy and was cast to sea by his brother Antonio. He has perfected his skills during twelve years of exile on a lonely island. Prospero creates the tempest to make his enemies’ ship to wreck and lead them to the island. Meanwhile, Antonio takes Prospero’s place and starts to make everyone believe he is the duke and makes an agreement with the King of Naples, Alonso. Besides the drama happening in the island, Prospero forgives Alonso and the others.
The Help is a perfect example of a book that has a lot of strong characters who are being held down by segregation. Specifically this book is talking about the unfair discrimination against colored people in the U.S. in the early nineteen sixties. Many people, mostly those being discriminated against, were angry about the injustices that they had endured and had a breaking point at some part of their lives. This was the point when those people decided that somehow they would change the wrong doings that affected people like them and make others see things their way, “it weren’t too long before I seen something in me had changed. A bitter seed was planted inside a me. And I just didn’t feel so accepting anymore” (Stockett 2). It was a tough time fo...
Racial discrimination is a conviction within one’s self. No matter how long we fight against it, it will always remain present in our society. Too often people are quick to judge others based on physical appearances. Often, people base their judgments on the unknown; whether that is fear, curiosity or unfamiliarity. The quote in the novel, “A bill that requires every white home to have a separate bathroom for the coloured help. I’ve even notified the surgeon general of Mississippi to see if he’ll endorse the idea,” Hilly Holbrook, the novels “villain,” wants to legalize such discriminatory actions to separate blacks from whites. In another quote, she states that, “Everybody knows they carry different diseases than we do.” Holbrook re...
Throughout the play The Tempest there is a relationship that pits master and slave in a harmony that benefits both parties. Though it may sound strange, these slaves sometimes have a goal or expectation that they hope to have fulfilled. Although rarely realized by its by its participants, the Master--Slave, Slave--Master relationship is a balance of expectation and fear by the slaves to the master; and a perceived since of power by that of the master over the slaves.
During Shakespeare's time social classification was much more rigid than today and some members of society were considered superior to other members. Shakespeare provides an example of this rigid social structure through his play, The Tempest. Shakespeare illustrates how superior men differentiated themselves from lesser beings on the basis of race, financial status, and gender. Through the character of Prospero, Shakespeare provides and example of one, who had reason to feel superior, yet treated others equally and with the respect due to them.
In her essay “Shakespeare's Tempest and the Discourse of Colonialism,” Deborah Willis argues that the play takes on a much more complex and complete identity concerning the aristocracy of colonialism, and she presents the idea that Caliban as the “other” (Willis, p.277) isn’t inherently wrong but rather misguided in readings. While her article brings up important issues concerning the reading of The Tempest, she ignores the vastness and all-consuming nature of colonialism. Her essay helped me to conclude that I perceive The Tempest as not only being solely about colonialism, but all of the issues featured in the play being tied back to colonialism, including those that Willis emphasizes aren’t as important or are ill-founded.
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.
In William Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest,” the major themes in these play is good versus evil. There are good characters, which do good, help others and try their best to stay out of trouble and there are other characters are the exact opposite. All the characters do is tried to get even with those who hurt them, hoping that ravage would solve the problem. Good and Evil just like the theme of the book also applies to the world that we live in today because there are good people and there are bad people. Good will
The Tempest by Shakespeare is his most fanciful of works. There are elaborate tricks and ideas that Shakespeare has put into play. That’s what many might see on the surface when reading The Tempest for the first time. But what some might be able to explore when digger deeper into the work, is the theme of colonization that Shakespeare bestows upon his characters.
The illusions of justice and freedom, and what they truly are, has been a reoccurring theme throughout the works. The definitions of justice and freedom have become so construed throughout the times. In William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Prospero tries to enthrall his audience in his narrative of social justice. The idea of justice the play portrays represents one individual who controls the fate of all others. Their freedom is controlled by the interference of those around them. Although he spends most of the play righting the wrongs done to him, he is misdirecting so to hide his true motive. Prospero misconstrues the definitions of justice and freedom by enslaving Ariel and Caliban, using magic for his own good, and creating a false happy
The Tempest was written in 1611 as Shakespeare’s last romantic comedy. This play is focused mainly on the theme of power. Shakespeare portrays an aging magician who has been living in exile with his young daughter on a remote island for the past 12 years. Shakespeare presents forms of power in different ways, but mainly through the characters of Prospero. In The Tempest Shakespeare shows 3 different types of power, which are through love, power over his slave Caliban, and power of magic.