The Help Notes Setting: “The Help” takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s. Plot: The “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. …show more content…
Many of the citizens speculate that the book is about Jackson, but Hilly Holbrook does everything in her power to convince everyone that the book isn’t about Jackson, Because of her “Secret” getting out about the “Terrible Awful”. At the very end of the book Mrs. Leefolt accuses Aibileen of stealing Silver and fires her, and Minny finally leaves her abusive husband. All of the main characters find happiness in the end and Aibileen gets a job opportunity that she would have never of gotten if it wasn’t for the …show more content…
Elizabeth Leefolt is the employer of Abileen and the mother of Mae Mobley. Elizabeth Leefolt is friends with Hilly and listens to everything she says or does. She also is bad parent because she is physically and verbally abusive towards her daughter Mae Mobley. Mae Mobley: Mae Mobley is the two year old daughter of Elizabeth Leefolt. Mae Mobley is mostly looked after by Aibileen and is also told civil rights stories throughout the book by Aibileen. Sadly Mae Mobley is somewhat affected by her mothers abuse, but Aibileen is always there to reassure and comfort her. Celia Rae Foot: Celia foot is the Employer of Minny and the wife of Johnny Foote. Celia Foote doesn’t fit in with the other women because she dresses provocatively while the other women dress conservatively and she grew up in a dirt poor town called Sugar Ditch, while the other women were born with money. Celia Rae foot isn’t racist like the other women and embraces Minny when she comes to work for her. Hilly Holbrook also hates Celia because she’s married to her ex boyfriend. Johnny Foote: Johnny Foote is the Husband of Celia Foote and is a very heartfelt and loyal character in the book. He also openly accepts Minny and treats everyone with
Loma is known to be bossy, jealous, and has a poor temper. She wants to be an actress or a writer, and she acts against her dead end marriage with her husband, Campbell Williams.
Mrs. Simpson- Emma's mom who was in the book for a short time . She help out around the house . Even with the fathers chores like watch the slaves .
Initially, Elisabeth is the matriarch of the four generations of women talked about in the story. Elisabeth works in the house, but she’s married to a field slave and has three daughters. Not much insight is given on Elisabeth and her feelings, yet through the narration it is as if she lived vicariously through her youngest daughter, Suzette: “It was as if her mother were the one who had just had her first communion not Suzette” (20) Even though Elisabeth too worked in the house, Suzette had more privileges than her mother and the other slaves. Elisabeth represented the strength and the pride of her people: “You have a mother and a father both, and they don’t live up to the [plantation] house” (25). She would constantly remind Suzette of her real family, which signifies the remembrance of a history of people and their roots. It is up to Suzette to keep the heritage even through the latter miscegenation of the generations to come.
Antwone’s foster mother that abuses and belittles Antwone while a lad along with his two other foster brothers.
1. Walter - His dreams of owning a licquor store conflict religiously with Mama's value system. The conflict between Mama and Walter is amplified by the fact that it is Mama's apartment in which the family lives and Walter is unable/unwilling to make decisions because Mama is so domineering. Ironically, it is the one decision that she eventually lets Walter make which nearly destroys the family.
Even though she is a very strong woman she knows her role in the family. Ma knows when it is her time to help the family and when it is appropriate to step back and let the father run things. It is an unsaid statement but known by all in the family that "ma was powerful in the group" and they look to her for important decision making (133).
As we come to a close I hope you now see what I see, why Stockett chose to include those aspects of the book and how they lead to the growth of two significant characters. Although they are not the main characters or the focus of the book by any means, this relationship does shape a lot of the things that happen in this book. It affects both Minny and Celia in how they act, think, and talk to each other and others. If Celia didn’t have miscarriages, the bond probably wouldn’t be as strong between her and Minny. The traumatic experience and the secret keeping/telling that occurs would have never happened. Not to say the bond wouldn’t at all, because the homeless man attack fortified their relationship. We see all this come to life when Johnny, Minny, and Celia all cry together.
Janie’s first marriage was to Logan Killicks, an accomplished middle aged farmer. Her grandmother wanted Janie to be financially set and be protected, so she pretty much forced Janie into marrying Logan. With her grandmothers rough past of being a slave and all she did not wa...
Ellen Dean ~ Ellen is one of the main narrators. She has been a servant for the Linton’s and Earnshaw’s all her life. She knows all of them better than any one else. People that are close to her call her Nelly.
In the beginning of the story, Janie is stifled and does not truly reveal her identity. When caught kissing Johnny Taylor, a local boy, her nanny marries her off to Logan Killicks. While with Killicks, the reader never learns who the real Janie is. Janie does not make any decisions for herself and displays no personality. Janie takes a brave leap by leaving Killicks for Jody Starks. Starks is a smooth talking power hungry man who never allows Janie express her real self. The Eatonville community views Janie as the typical woman who tends to her husband and their house. Janie does not want to be accepted into the society as the average wife. Before Jody dies, Janie is able to let her suppressed anger out.
There is no reference to Florens’s mother’s name. She is only addressed as Florens’s mother. Rebekka is the white European immigrant married to Jacob, who was sold by her parents to escape her upbringing. The slaves Jacob buys Sorrow who is an African mixed race girl who is the only survivor of a slave ship. Lina is a Native American. She is victimized by the event of the virtual extinction of her race.
Bailey; is the son of the grandmother. He and his wife ignores her, does not care much of her.
In the story “The Help” written by Kathryn Stockett, we are taken back in time to Jackson, Mississippi in August of 1962, where we meet three women by the name of Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter. Aibileen and Minny are black women who work for white families as the help. Skeeter is a young white woman in her early twenties who befriends the other two and gets them to tell their stories of what it is like to be the help. They reluctantly hesitate, but eventually give in knowing that the stories they are telling are more important than the negative impact it could have on their lives. While reading “ The Help” you cannot help but notice the symbolism that drips from almost every page.
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.
One of the main emotions that Elizabeth feels is anger. Elizabeth is angry with herself for sending her daughter away to a different school. She is angry that she is not the best equipped to take care of her daughter. Elizabeth is also very upset that her daughter was born this way. Elizabeth is part of a distinguished crowd, and during one of her functions Carla has an outburst. Elizabeth gets so upset by Carla’s outburst because “it was so embarrassing”. Elizabeth is embarrassed that her daughter does not behave like everyone else’s daughters. She is upset at the attention that Carla draws to her and for how everyone laughs at her and judges her because she cannot control her daughter’s actions. Along with the anger Elizabeth also feels disappointed, powerless, and also acceptance at times. Elizabeth is disappointed in herself, but also in Carla. The disappointment that Elizabeth feels also makes her feel powerless. Carla’s mother feels disappointed and powerless because she sent her daughter away. Elizabeth claims that “I’m gonna make it up to that girl”, she feels disappointed in herself because she could not take care of her daughter so she had to send her away from her family in order for her to be taken care of. Along with this, Elizabeth feels powerless when Carla returns to her family. Elizabeth says “there are mothers out