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Essay On The Help

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The book “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett,follows the story of three women in Jackson Mississippi, seeking to make a difference in their communities. Aibileen is a maid who cooks,cleans,and raises white children though her own biological son died. She works for Miss Leefolt, who neglects her own daughter Mae Mobley, leaving even the most simple tasks to Aibileen,including loving Mae Mobley. Aibileen’s best friend Minny is another maid, but unlike Aibileen she is defiant and very outspoken, she worked for Miss Walters but her attitude and foul mouth landed her in hot water, resulting in her losing that job. Miss Skeeter is a young, ambitious, aspiring writer who notices the ill treatment and dehumanization of the help. Using her writing talents Miss Skeeter, decides to shed light on the horrible situation.This brings the three women together in an unlikely situation that changes everyone’s view of the help and all the women …show more content…

The author did not spare the reader on how harsh the racial tensions were back then. So, I could really feel what the men and women of that time period went through. A character that represents this historic aspect in the book is Miss Hilly. She uses the fact that she is a white woman who has authority over the help, to terrorize them and make their lives miserable. Hilly continuously dehumanizes the help, for instance in the text Miss Hilly says, “‘a disease-preventative measure...I don’t think you ought to be joking about the colored situation’” (Stockett 20). Miss Hilly disregards the fact that the help and all other black people are actually human. She speaks of them as if they are a different species and that they are below her. This was the mentality of many people during this time period, and I like the fact that the author showcased this in the book in such an upfront way, because it is a very important part to the

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