The Help By Kathryn Stockett
analytical Essay
955 words
Jordan Conway English II H Outside Novel Essay 11 October 2014 The Help The Help, written by Kathryn Stockett, is a story set in the early 1960 's about three women in Jacksonville, Mississippi, Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter. The story shows how these characters progress and face their inner demons as they struggle to make a statement in a world of hate and segregation and give voice to the black maids of Mississippi. Aibileen, a sweet kind hearted women, works for the Leefolt 's as a maid and has been for many years. She creates a strong mother like bond with their baby girl Mae Mobley whom she considers to be her "special baby" (Stockett. 6). Her inner demon is dealing with the death of her young son and although it is not the focus of her …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Introduces kathryn stockett's the help, a story about three women in jacksonville, mississippi, aibileen, minny, and skeeter.
- Analyzes how skeeter and aibileen teamed up to write a book of true stories about their experiences as the ‘help’ to the white women of jackson, mississippi and the entire country.
- Analyzes how stockett was trying to show that racial prejudice corrupted society and separated communities through violence and judgments toward people of a different color.
- Analyzes how kathryn stockett's novel explores the worst of the false stereotypes about black people that they are lazy, dirty, carry diseases, and are in general less intelligent and less valuable than whites.
Minny is also a maid who, because of her sassy mouth, frequently transitions between jobs and bosses. Immediately readers identify that Minny is courageous and that her anger and snarky remarks get her into trouble quite often as she struggles with keeping her thoughts to herself. She questions why she has to act kind and polite to white people she doesn 't respect or care for, "I saw the way my mama acted when Miss Woodra brought her home, all yes Ma 'aming, no Ma 'aming...Why I got to be like that. I know how to stand up to people." (Stockett, 47) Skeeter, a privileged white girl who just recently graduated from college plans to be a writer. She affiliates herself with other southern house wives who have their own social club referring it to, The League. Skeeter is differnt from your typical person in Mississippi who treats blacks as equal and views the as any normal person. These thoughts were developed as a young child after creating a deep and personal relationship with her maid, Constantine "All my life I 'd been told what to believe about politics, coloreds, being a girl. But with Constantine 's thumb pressed in my …show more content…
She shows how these fictions are woven into the fabric of everyday life in Jackson, from the laws to ordinary conversations, and how these beliefs get passed from generation to generation. It shows a deep mistrust of whites on the part of the black community, who have been betrayed by them again and again. It also shows how powerful and how dangerous it can be to challenge the stereotypes and dissolve the lines that are meant to separate people from each other on the basis of skin
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- Color And Lighting In The Helpanalytical essayMy film choice shows that color and lighting sets the mood for social status as well as segregation in its rarest form. The Help takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the 60’s and shows us the reality of segregation from both sides and how persistence pays off. Skeeter’s persistence in becoming an accomplished writer and the courage of the housekeepers to overcome their fears of the white society, all come to the forefront in this film.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how color and lighting sets the mood for social status as well as segregation in its rarest form. skeeter's persistence in becoming an accomplished writer and the courage of housekeepers to overcome their fears of the white society come to the forefront.
- Analyzes how the film has three narrators – aibileen, minny, and skeeter.
- Narrates how skeeter's and her family had a maid named constantine, who disappeared while she was at college. she was fired, moved to chicago, and died three months later.
- Narrates how skeeter landed a job at the jackson journal and meets with aibileen to find out more about the questions in the column. she is determined to convince the maids to share their stories for her book.
- Analyzes how the color and lighting change during the scenes with skeeter meeting the maids in their homes. the white family scenes portray money and "good living" even though the elite have darker hearts.
- Narrates how minny baked a chocolate pie laced with her own poo, and hilly ate two slices of the pie. she convinced skeeter and aibileen that their best protection against hill
- Analyzes how hilly sets out to get revenge on the maids. she changes her story and convinces elizabeth to fire aibileen.
- Analyzes how skeeter is offered a job in new york city and arranges for aibileen to take her old job writing the column for the newspaper. the white, elite families have colorful clothing, shiny, colorful cars and women have makeup.
- Analyzes how skeeter set the tone for future generations and opened the eyes of "some" of the elite.
736 wordsRead More - Allusions In The Helpanalytical essayThe first major literary feature in this book that creates the story so well is the setting. The Help takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s. This was
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how stockett's personal background played a major role in her ability to tell the story of three young women of different ages, backgrounds, and race that join together in an incredible work that readers will never forget.
- Analyzes how the setting of the help creates the story so well. the protagonist, miss skeeter, struggles with the dangers of writing a book about the african american help in southern homes.
- Analyzes how the narrator switches between the point of view of the three main protagonists in the help. stockett uses first person for each narrative perspective.
- Analyzes how stockett's use of setting, point of view, and allusions was critical to the development and context of the story.
837 wordsRead More - Sexism In The Helpanalytical essayMinny 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
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the novel, the help, shows different stories, relationships, and problems about sexism.
- Analyzes how skeeter is a good example of sexism in the 1960s. she isn't like the women in her town, so she looks funny from her hair to her feet.
- Analyzes how sexism is seen through the character of minny, who is forced to work for her family to earn money to raise their family up.
- Analyzes how skeeter experienced different types of sexism and they showed different reactions to it. different backgrounds also bring out preconceptions.
- Explains that there was sexism between the white women and their black helpers, and that it continues to this day in 2016.
1086 wordsRead More - Essay On The Help Book And Movieanalytical essayThe Help, in both the movie and the book, portrayed a meaningful story of racial relations. I watched The Help alone for the first time; I enjoyed every minute of it. The setting, characters were wonderful, and the exploration of racism, prejudice and courage just touched my heart. In the movie, Skeeter Phelan, the main protagonist, told the story through her point of view which led me to easily focus on her story. Though, I read the book version by Kathryn Stockett; it got me more excited to hear the story from Aibileen and Minny’s point of views. Even though the book and the movie used different narrators to lead the story, both versions portrayed the helplessness of the protagonists toward racial relations through their perspectives.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how both the movie and the book portrayed a meaningful story of racial relations. they enjoyed the setting, characters, and exploration of racism, prejudice and courage.
- Analyzes how skeeter phelan, a white character in the help, disagreed with the racist society around her. she satirized the racial relations between the black maids and the white owners.
- Analyzes how stockett portrayed the racial relations in which two black maids got harmed by the white’s behavior.
- Analyzes how both the movie and the book portrayed the protagonists' helplessness to change the racial relations.
- Concludes that skeeter's movie portrays a helpless white woman who disagrees with her society about the racial relations, while aibileen and minny’s point of view portray the hopelessness of the victims.
1047 wordsRead More - Kathryn Stockett's The Help By Kathryn Stockettanalytical essayKathryn 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
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how kathryn stockett's book, the help, is a story about african-american house maids based in 1960s jackson, mississippi.
- Opines that it is believed all three had been shot and the finger of blame is pointing.
- Analyzes how stockett seems to make light of all of these situations. skeeter is propelled into action but nothing more is said about the laws.
- Explains that most women were not allowed to eat during a twelve-hour shift or even get drinks from the kitchen. some black people would drink from outside the house.
- Opines that she should have been more sensitive in the depiction of her characters.
- Analyzes how stockett's book, the help, lacks historical significance, daily sufferings, and the way the characters are portrayed.
- Analyzes the soft- pedaled version of southern women's lives, in which real danger is usually at a distance.
- Analyzes how stockett's the help depicts verbal and physical abuse that black women endured everyday, but what it leaves out is far worse. all of the violence in the book takes place outside of white homes.
- Analyzes how stockett's portrayal of the maids in the help is degrading to the women that went through it and had to suffer.
998 wordsRead More - The Help by Kathryn Stockettanalytical essayThe book , The Help by Kathryn Stockett, is about a women named Aibileen who is a black maid. She is taking care of her 17th white baby now. She works for a woman named Miss Leefolt. Aibileen has never disobeyed an order in her life and never intends to do so. Her friend Minny is the exact opposite. When she is around her boss, she has to hold herself back from sassing them all the time. Skeeter Phelan is different than the rest of the white ladies. She thinks that blacks aren’t all that bad. She decides to write a book about the lives of maids for white ladies. Otherwise known as the Help. She with the help of Aibileen and Minny hope to create a book that starts a revolution about what white people think about blacks.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that kathryn stockett's the help is about aibileen, a black maid, who is taking care of her 17th white baby. skeeter phelan thinks that blacks aren't all that bad.
- Analyzes how aibileen, minny, and skeeter are different from each other.
- Analyzes how skeeter wants to change how blacks are treated in mississippi. she wants aibileen to help her with the miss myrna articles.
- Analyzes the meanings of ten words in the book, such as naacp, bathroom, and satchel.
- Analyzes the connotative meanings of hilly, aibileen, and the league, which is a group of white women who try to do things right for the city.
- Quotes aibileen as saying that she doesn't mind having baby girl on her legs. white women have a white colored skin, while blacks are people who give them their paycheck.
- Analyzes how displays first-person points of view in the story. aibileen, minny, and skeeter all focus on their feelings.
- Analyzes how kathryn stockett does a very good job with ordering the events. she doesn't have one event and have all three people's point of view.
- Opines that kathryn stockett's the help is an amazing book. the characters skeeter, aibileen, and minny are different people, but somehow, they manage to become close friends.
1563 wordsRead More - 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 ...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how kevin stainback and soyoung kwon used the 2005 korean workplace panel survey to determine if women could make a difference regarding sex-segregation and inequality between men and women.
- Analyzes how skeeter and aibileen challenged racial segregation and the norm that women are homemakers and men work.
- Analyzes how mariam and laila's actions and decisions in a thousand splendid suns affected society in a positive way. the judge and police officer showed remorse and were willing to listen to the women.
- Analyzes how emily c. davis' study suggests that without women like mariam and laila there would be no change in the society and world they live in.
- Analyzes how aibileen and skeeter risked their lives for the greater good of their country in the help and a thousand splendid suns.
- Explains that the help and a thousand splendid suns represent the constant struggle of oppression that human beings have faced throughout history and continue to face.
963 wordsRead More - Kattheryn Stockett's Movie The Help, By Katheryn Stockettanalytical essayThe help referred to black women who were paid very minimal to help around a household of white families. The help, worked around the house and took care of and raised the children. Ablene, who is a maid, becomes very fond of the little white girl she takes care of and there is a powerful moment in the movie when the child realizes that her mother really isn 't her mother because she doesn 't take care of her or pay any attention to her. She looks to Ablene and says, “You 're my momma, Abby”. From spending so much time together, the help and the children typically gain a trusting, loving relationship, just like Skeeter did with her families maid, Constantine.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that katheryn stockett's "the help" is a feel good dramedy that revisits an ugly part of our history, while others have overlooked the fiction portion and claim that there are numerous historical inaccuracies.
- Analyzes how hilly establishes herself as the queen of the group by telling her friends how they should treat their maids. skeeter's friends all have husbands while she hasn't made that a top priority.
- Analyzes the home life of the white americans in the 1960's depicted by the movie. the help referred to black women who were paid very minimal to help around a household of white families.
- Opines that many people complained about the fact that the white girl was the one telling the black women's stories.
- Opines that it took a sympathizing, conneced, and courageous character like skeeter to deliver such an important message in the '60s.
- Concludes that the movie takes place in 1963 jackson, mississippi. ablene narrates a series of laws that segregated black and white americans. the civil rights movement is just gaining traction in this time period.
- Analyzes that both versions relied on stereotypes of blackwomen domestic workers, misrepresented the regional dialect and speech patterns of the mississippi delta, and failed to acknowledge black women's vulnerability to sexual harassment and assault to avoid distracting viewers from key messages.
- Analyzes how the movie has plenty of references to civil rights activism, with scenes of ablene listening to dr. martin luther king jr's speeches being broadcast over radio and medgar evers speech on television.
- Analyzes how stockett didn't want violence to obscure her messages of courage and human values throughout the movie. yulmay was arrested for allegedly stealing a ring from hilly's household.
- Analyzes how katheryn stockett kept the movie light-hearted, while conveying powerful messages of courage with humor throughout. the lack of violence was the only inaccuracy.
1053 wordsRead More - Aibileen's Perspectiveanalytical essayWhat would it be like to be part of “The Help” for a day? How would people respect one another? During the 1940’s, Many people did not think of African Americans as normal people. The story has the point of view of three women named Aibileen, Minny, and Miss Skeeter. In the story, "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett, changes perspectives for the characters for me to understand the different points of view of the timeline the story takes place in.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how kathryn stockett's "the help" changes perspectives for the characters to understand the different perspectives of the timeline the story takes place in.
- Analyzes how aibileen is one of the protagonists in the story who tells her tales as a maid, working for white women, and telling her story about treelore.
- Analyzes how minny is the second perspective in "the help". she is also one of the protagonists in the story who also tells tales as a maid.
- Analyzes how miss skeeter is the last protagonist in the story, a writer who wants to write about the black maids of the community and their experiences.
- Analyzes how kathryn stockett's "the help" changed perspectives for the characters. miss skeeter, minny, and aibileen changed their perspectives by raising the next generation with a smile and treasuring childhood.
595 wordsRead More - The Help: Aibileen Clark And Minny Jacksonanalytical essayThe Help takes place in Jackson, Mississippi, in the year of 1962. Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson are two of many maids who work for white, middle-class families. Skeeter, a white progressive woman who’s recently graduated from Ole Miss, is bothered by the way African American maids were being treated, decides she wants to write a book about inequality of black people and expose the problem with the help from Aibileen and Minny. Though at first, they didn’t want to do, scared people would find out and they would be attacked, they eventually decide they needed to do something, so they worked with Skeeter to document their experiences as maids and anonymously publish the finished book, called, "The Help." As I watched this movie I observed
In this essay, the author
- The help takes place in jackson, mississippi, in the year of 1962. aibileen clark and minny jackson are two of many maids who work for white, middle-class families. skeeter decides to write a book about inequality of black people.
- Analyzes how the portrayal of marriage is different between the characters, especially minny and hilly.
- Analyzes the role of white women in jackson mississippi in the 1960s, and explains the social conflict approach.
- Analyzes the role of hilly as the leader of the peer group in the movie, which shapes the attitude and behavior of celia foote. the family is another important agent of socialization.
- Analyzes how social class: the help shows the effects of class on people's social interactions, specifically with regards to race. elizabeth leefolt and celia foote represent how a white southern woman can navigate social class.
1613 wordsRead More - Miss. Skeeter's Character In The Novelnarrative essayAlso known as Miss. Skeeter is also one of the main characters in the novel. Instead of getting married like her friends, she decides to finish her studies at Ole Miss and obtains her degree. After finishing college, she comes back to live with her mother and father on their cotton plantation. She is eager to become a writer and sends in her résumé to Elaine Stein, a female editor at Harper & Row, Publishers. But since she lacked work experience, she had to get a job as Miss Myrna for the Jackson Journal first. By taking the job as Miss Myrna, she is able to meet and get closer to Miss Leefolt’s maid Aibileen, and after talking for some time she gets the idea to write a book about what it is like for black maids to work for white
In this essay, the author
- Narrates how miss. skeeter decides to finish her studies at ole miss and return to live with her mother and father on their cotton plantation. she gets a job as miss myrna for the jackson journal.
142 wordsRead More - The Help by Kathryn Stockettanalytical essayThe novel The Help by Kathryn Stockett tells a story of the struggles that African American women experienced in the early 1960’s through the eyes of some southern African American maids and recorded by a well to do plantation owner’s daughter named Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan. Skeeter is one of the main characters in the novel. Skeeter is an intelligent young woman who has always done what her family expects of her. When Skeeter returns home from college she discovers that her childhood nanny Constantine is no longer there. She becomes consumed with the desire to find out what has happened to her. In the beginning of the story it is discovered that Skeeter wants to be a writer. She has always felt “the norm” that she has always been taught was wrong, but she fails to speak up and voice her opinion, because this is all she has known and been taught.
In this essay, the author
- Explains kasworm, rose, a. d., and ross-gordon, j. m. handbook of adult and continuing education.
- Analyzes how kathryn stockett's the help tells a story of the struggles that african american women experienced in the early 1960s through the eyes of some southern african-american maids.
- Analyzes how skeeter's learning process can be analyzed through the study of malcolm knowles' andragogy.
- Analyzes how skeeter's internal desire to discover what happened to her nanny constantine helps with self-reflection and growth.
- Cites merriam, caffarella, & baumgartner, in learning in adulthood: a comprehensive guide (3rd ed.).
1223 wordsRead More - Celia And Hilly In One Flew Over The Poo'sanalytical essayIn terms of voice, Stockett does stress the fact that it is not solely a racial issue, yet it is the following, or not following, of society's rules that further create impediments in having one's voice. Celia can be included in this conversation as her class limits the opportunity to get involved with the other women of Jackson despite that she married in their rank. Furthermore, Skeeter too becomes an outsider. Firstly, Skeeter is helping African Americans which is not accepted in Jackson at that time. In addition, she too has to be anonymous and cannot put her own name on her work.1 From aspects outside the racial sphere, Skeeter becomes an outcast as she does not want to conform to the traditional expectations of her sex as she focuses on her career. At the end Minny says that she has to go to New York as she “ain't got a good life here in Jackson...”2 as she has no friends, boyfriend or white community who support her.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how stockett emphasizes that it is not solely a racial issue, but society's rules that further create impediments in having one’s voice. skeeter becomes an outcast as she does not want to conform to the traditional expectations of her sex.
- Analyzes how stockett's novel questions the extent to which the people in the novel believe in society’s views. hilly is a fierce racist who believes in segregation.
- Analyzes how stockett indicates that racial attitudes are enforced by peer pressure, despite the fact that they might disagree with the general view on race. african americans' voice remains limited due to the denial or fear to go against society's attitudes.
427 wordsRead More - The Help Essayanalytical essayThe “Help” Is about a girl named Skeeter Phelan who is a recent college graduate and aspiring writer that returns to her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi after graduating and decides to try becoming a writer. In the book Skeeter is apart of a tight knit friend group, that’s made up of young women in their early twenties. Most if not all of the women in Skeeters’ circle of friends have a racist and closed minded view of the black maids that work for them and love and care for their children as if they were their very own. In the book Skeeter desperately wants to be a writer, and she ends up writing an advice column in the newspaper called “Mrs.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that people that seem completely different can have more in common than they think.
- Narrates the story of skeeter phelan, a recent college graduate and aspiring writer who returns to her hometown of jackson, mississippi after graduating.
- Explains that the help is written in first person and then in 3rd person for the chapter about "the benefit".
- Analyzes how eugenia "skeeter" phelan, a 23-year-old aspiring writer, is different from the rest of her friends. she is also best friends with hilly holbrook and elizabeth leefolt.
1511 wordsRead More