Honors English I
Summer Reading Assessment
July 22, 2013
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The theme found in the book, The Help, is about the racism and segregation between black and white people in the early 60s in Jackson, Mississippi. Three quotes that support my theme are: 1. “All these houses they’re building without maid’s quarters? It’s just plain dangerous. Everybody knows they carry different kinds of diseases than we do.” (Page 8.) 2. “I want to yell so loud that Baby Girl can hear me that dirty ain't a color, disease ain't the negro side of town. I want to stop that moment from coming – and it come in every white child's life – when they start to think that colored folks are not as good as whites.” (Page 96.) 3. “Books shall not be interchangeable between the white and colored schools, but shall continue to be used by the race first using them.” (Page 173.)
My first reaction to this story was, shocked. The reason I was shocked was because of how bad the racism and segregation really was. I know I have learned about slavery and segregation in elementary and middle school, but after reading this book it left me surprised because I never really thought about how much trouble colored people really went through. What I really liked about reading this book was that it put you in the perspective of two colored women who were working as maids in these different households, and what struggles they were going through while working for their