Genre Analysis: Historical Fiction Detailed and accurate descriptions of past events: One past event that happened in The Help is Medgar Evers funeral. The author explains this very well and with a lot of detail, showing people's reactions and what happened. This is shown on page 231: “Flocks a colored people march up High Street the day after Mister Evers’ funeral. Three hundred arrested. Colored people say thousands a people came to the service, but you could count the whites on one hand. The police knew who did it, but they ain’t telling nobody's his name”. This is very detailed because they could have given a general statement like people walked to the funeral, but instead we are reminded of the issue of race, even at a funeral. Also,…show more content… For example, the author includes mention of Rosa Parks, a famous civil rights activist who fought against segregation. Later in the book, the author describes how characters watch Martin Luther King Jr give his famous “I have a dream” speech in Washington in 1963. These events highlight the theme of civil rights, which is the main topic of the book.
Focuses on a fictionalized character and his/her life and conversations: In the book Aibileen Clark is one of the main fictionalized characters. She’s a black maid who interacts with other people and has conversations that might not have gone exactly like that but generally had the same point. For example when another maid named Minne is talking to Abibleen about how she is worried about getting in trouble for talking to Miss. Skeeter. This is the one in many conversations that she talks to others about her life. This may not be a real conversation but definitely sounds like it could…show more content… The main theme of the book is the complicated relationship between white employers and their black maids. For example, Miss Leefolt, who is Mae Mobley’s mom, must know that her daughter is more attached to Aibileen, the black maid, than to her. This must be disturbing to Miss Leefolt, putting a strain on her relationship with her maid. On the other hand, Miss Leefolt can’t really get along without a maid. This one relationship is typical of southern culture and race relations in that time.
Includes historical figures, but not as main characters: In The Help they mention President Kennedy a few times. He is a historical figure because he was the president of the U.S. from 1960-1963 but at the same time he is not the main character. For example they mention him on page 445: “There is excitement in the air, the feeling that things are almost back to normal since President Kennedy died...”. While he does not add significantly to the book because he is not a main character, his presence reminds the reader of when the story is taking place, which was during a time of civil
