Controversially, “The Help” is a drama packed novel based on the 1960’s civil rights movement in the south, told through the view of three main characters Aibleen, Skeeter, and Minny about how colored maids are treated by their white employers. Along the way there are many themes continuously displayed in the novel; although, the most ostensible themes in Stockett’s novel are racism, feminism, and civil/social disobedience.
First, race is where the primary emphasis of this book is positioned where the African Americans are the primary hired help for rich Caucasian families that are most of the time not treated adequately. Kathrynn Stockett captures this essence of struggle that Blacks had back in the 1960’s. This was a matter that affected…show more content… With that being said being raised in Jackson Mississippi Stockett knew first-hand the unequal rights that was taken for granted in other locations around the country. For instance, “Before the decision of the United States Supreme Court in 1954 outlawing the social inequality inherent in racially segregated public schools, segregation in Jackson was taken for granted in rest rooms, on buses (but not in elevators); in theaters, restaurants, and churches (but not in every shop); and at some public drinking fountains” (Hall). Certainly this was apparent in Stockett’s novel, at various points she displays how much of a hardship it was on all African Americans. For instance, even for popular African American civil right activists like Medgar Evers, the hardship of racism in the south was a war “The radio man come into tune, hollering, “-almost ten years serving as the Field Secretary for the N-double-A-C-P. Still no word from the hospital but wounds are said to be-“ (Stockett 228). At this point in the novel Aibleen hears on the radio that Medgar Evers was shot in front of his house by what was rumored to be the KKK. Scenes like this was no surprise to the native colored Mississippians and kept fear of the white man in their minds. In contrast, there are a few parts of the book that sheds light on how some the of the…show more content… Each character who is telling their side of the story has rebelled against concept of what is socially acceptable and expected. One of the best scenes to give an examples of disobedience is “a chocolate pie that Minny baked with excrements. At one stage of the manuscript, there was a subtlety-that is, the reader was not supposed to know if Minny actually did or did not make such a pie. The truth was unnecessary” (McMhaney). What makes this such a prime example of civil disobedience is that “it is the powerful idea of it-the metaphor of reversing the positions of the Other, a means for Minny to be in the dominant role (McMhaney). This is a huge ordeal because in the social class White women are supposed to be far more superior to Black women and Minny puts this social standing in a completely different category. Not only does Minny dominate over Hilly in this moment, but Hilly’s mother, Miss Walter, “say ‘Well, Hilly, that’s what you get I guess. And I wouldn’t go tattling on Minny either, or you’ll be known all over town as the lady who ate two slices of Minny’s shit” (Stockett 399). The fact that Hilly’s mother goes as far to laugh hysterically at her daughter for eating two slices of the pie, instead of defending her is in itself a social and civil disobedience. Lastly, Aibleen gradually through the novel begins to voice her
