Everyone is faced with trials and tribulations throughout their whole life. The saying “life is 10% what happens to you and 90% is your attitude towards it” was made famous by well known Christian extraordinaire, Charles R. Swindle. I strongly agree with this statement and try to live my life by it. In “The Help”, we spend some time getting to know two of the ladies in this story, Minny Jackson and Celia Rae Foote. Now these ladies could hardly be any more different, however they seem to be dependent on each other for various different reasons. As the story unfolds we learn more of their back story and who they really are as people. I strongly believe that in Kathryn Stockett’s “The Help”, Stockket uses three significant subplots to show their growth as dynamic characters. …show more content…
Aibileen is listening in on the bridge game when she hears Hilly say “I keep telling her, if that Minny can’t cook she needs to just go on and fire her.” (7) talking of course about her mother, whom Minny is working for. However Minny is referred to as “near bout the best cook in Hinds County, maybe even all a Mississippi.” (8) by Aibileen and in the next chapter we learn Minny’s side of the story, “what you feed Miss Walters at bridge club today? I worked all morning making that fool a Carmel cake and she wouldn’t eat a crumb.” (16) We also learn of Minny’s temperament from Aibileen in the first chapter, “Minny got a mouth on her.” (8) and about her strength in the second, “Minny could probably lift this bus up over her head…” (15). in chapter two Aibileen also shares with Minny that “I think she got her eye on you, Minny.” She being Hilly since Minny works for her mother. Minny later gets fired because Hilly is moving her mother into a home, but before she does she makes sure Minny can’t get another job; she tells the other ladies around town she is a thief. Minny gave Hilly “what she deserve” (25) with a mysterious
Both awe-inspiring and indescribable is life, the defined “state of being” that historians and scholars alike have been trying to put into words ever since written language was first created. And in the words of one such intellectual, Joshua J. Marine, “Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful”. Essentially, he is comparing life to a bowl of soup. Without challenges or hardship into which we can put forth effort and show our potential, it becomes a dull and flavorless broth. But for characters in novels like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the difficulties and trials that we all must face can transfigure the mundane liquid mixture of existence into a vibrant and fulfilling gumbo. The protagonists of these works are two strong-willed and highly admirable women, who prevail in the face of overwhelming odds stacked in everyone’s favor but theirs. In their trying periods of isolation brought about by cold and unwelcoming peers, particularly men, they give their lives meaning by simply pushing forward, and living to tell the tale.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic novel written by Harper Lee. The novel is set in the depths of the Great Depression. A lawyer named Atticus Finch is called to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. The story is told from one of Atticus’s children, the mature Scout’s point of view. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, the Finch Family faces many struggles and difficulties. In To Kill a Mockingbird, theme plays an important role during the course of the novel. Theme is a central idea in a work of literature that contains more than one word. It is usually based off an author’s opinion about a subject. The theme innocence should be protected is found in conflicts, characters, and symbols.
In a country like the United States of America, with a history of every individual having an equal opportunity to reach their dreams, it becomes harder and harder to grasp the reality that equal opportunity is diminishing as the years go on. The book Our Kids by Robert Putnam illustrates this reality and compares life during the 1950’s and today’s society and how it has gradually gotten to a point of inequality. In particular, he goes into two touching stories, one that shows the changes in the communities we live in and another that illustrates the change of family structure. In the end he shows how both stories contribute to the American dream slipping away from our hands.
This account of enduring adversity begins with a man by the name of Robert Newsom. After his wife passed away he apparently craved the need for sexual fulfillment. He came to the conclusion that the best possible way to nourish his craving was by purchasing a young, healthy slave to keep as his personal "mistress". So at the age of 14, Celia became a white-man's sexual object. Over time Celia accepted her role in the Newsom household and bore two of Newsom's children. Towards the end of her five years at the Newsom farm she began a personal romance with another slave by the name of George. Finally, George's masculine pride erupted and he demanded that Celia end this sexual relationship with Newsom. Celia went to Newsom in an effort to stop the nature of their affair, but was unsuccessful in doing so. Out of desperation it is believed that Celia even went to Newsom's two daughters, Virginia and Mary, who still lived with their father, to plead protection from him and his enforced sexual interactions, with no luck once again.
“Often fear of one evil leads us into a worse”(Despreaux). Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux is saying that fear consumes oneself and often times results in a worse fate. William Golding shares a similar viewpoint in his novel Lord of the Flies. A group of boys devastatingly land on a deserted island. Ralph and his friend Piggy form a group. Slowly, they become increasingly fearful. Then a boy named Jack rebels and forms his own tribe with a few boys such as Roger and Bill. Many things such as their environment, personalities and their own minds contribute to their change. Eventually, many of the boys revert to their inherently evil nature and become savage and only two boys remain civilized. The boys deal with many trials, including each other, and true colors show. In the end they are being rescued, but too much is lost. Their innocence is forever lost along with the lives Simon, a peaceful boy, and an intelligent boy, Piggy. Throughout the novel, Golding uses symbolism and characterization to show that savagery and evil are a direct effect of fear.
Living during the early nineteen hundreds was not easy for African American women. Women gained power through marriage, but they still were looked down upon and treated like slaves. In the story “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Zora Neale Hurston uses diction, symbolism, and foreshadowing to reveal how Janie sought to discover her own identity marrying three different men who helped her discover her independence leading to the fact that women were poorly treated during this time period and deserved more respect than they received.
Three Cups of Tea, written by David Relin and Greg Mortenson, is a story about Mortenson's mission to provide education to children in Pakistan and Afghanistan after he stumbles across a village during a climbing expedition. Supposedly this is a true story. However, Jon Krakauer, author of Three Cups of Deceit, writes to uncover the truth behind Mortenson's story. Although some of the events have been proven as true, Krakauer has found that several others have been exaggerated. The credibility of all three authors is determined by their sources, evidence, and ethics. Based on ethics, Mortenson seems to be the least credible and Krakauer is the most credible, with Relin’s credibility falling somewhere in between.
To be inconsistent with traditional communities beliefs it is hard for many to accomplish. Nevertheless, writer Kate Chopin fights that conflict to deliver the readers a few of the greatest thought vexing literature that a human can get their hands on. Applying to her improvement reflections of narrative stories, such as plot control, irony, and character development, Kate is capable to take the reader towards a world of feelings that humanity would despise. Chopin shows her unbelievable literary ability in “The Story of an Hour” by joining character development and plot, with her use of thought-provoking vocabulary and narrative irony.
Both Davis and Taylor have incorporated structural and stylistic choices in No Sugar and the Help to influence the viewers in adapting similar responses. No Sugar utilizes colloquial language and setting of scenes to influence the reader into adapting a frustrated and sympathetic response. The Help achieves this similar response of shame and concernedness through different stylistic and structural choices of point of view and ordering of scenes. Overall both texts have taken into effect, different structural and stylistic choices to persuade the reader to adapt a similar response.
This is an example of Jeannette’s parents trying to keep their children as optimistic as possible.They knew that their life would be rough and tough based on what they had gone through however if they always kept the positive mindset it would make things a lot easier for
The presence of overbearing authority figures in Miriam Toews’ “A Complicated Kindness” proves that when excessive stringency is applied, negative consequences are created within the target being “controlled”. The groups being influenced may therefor retaliate in acts of defiance or fall under domineer of their authority figures in which case it could represent religion, government and parental authority. This point is emphasized in the novel through events and behaviors by the characters such as social outburst perceived as “taboo”, acts of rebellion and search for “outlets”, the idea of “double life” and conformity within a community causing people to become less self-aware.
She continues in this sequel to talk about the abuse she faced and the dysfunction that surrounded her life as a child and as a teen, and the ‘empty space’ in which she lived in as a result. She talks about the multiple personalities she was exhibiting, the rebellious “Willie” and the kind “Carol”; as well as hearing noises and her sensory problems. In this book, the author puts more emphasis on the “consciousness” and “awareness” and how important that was for her therapeutic process. She could not just be on “auto-pilot” and act normal; the road to recovery was filled with self-awareness and the need to process all the pieces of the puzzle—often with the guidance and assistance of her therapist. She had a need to analyze the abstract concept of emotions as well as feelings and thoughts. Connecting with others who go through what she did was also integral to her
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
The theme that Leif Enger wanted the readers to take away after reading this novel is that we should have faith in God. Through the extraordinary situations described in the book, we can learn that God is always there in our lives to pave a path for us, we need to have confidence in God to see him in our everyday life, and that we can see God through miracles and other events that happen in our life. Even when you are going through really bad moments always remember that there is a reason for that and there will always be good moments afterwards. This is as true as telling someone that tomorrow the sun will rise again. No matter what you are living at this moment if you have faith you will find a solution.
The movie I chose to review was The Help. The Help takes place in the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi. The movie focuses on the lives of two African-American maids, Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson. Aibileen worked for a family who had a young girl that she helped to raise. The other maid, Minny, got fired from the first house we saw her working in because she used the homeowners’ bathroom without their permission. She ends up finding work with Celia Foote, who is not very popular among the other women in the town. After Minny found out Celia was having complications with her pregnancy, the two became very close. Celia even spent a whole night cooking a meal for Minny.