The Help
Understanding of context of the civil rights in 1960 America influenced me to respond the events and character from the novel The Help in a better way than if I didn’t know the context. The Help is set in Jackson Mississippi and explores the growing friendship between the privileged white lady Mrs Skeeter and the two maids Aibileen and Minny. The novel is written by Kathryn Sockett and uses the context of the setting to drives character development and conflict between the whites and blacks in town. Understanding the context let me understand better why the people of the town acted the way they did and how they were moulded by society at the time to act that way. Some of the most notable events in the novel were the attacks on blacks …show more content…
Medgar Evers was a member of the NAACP or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and had served for almost ten years and was shot dead by a member of the KKK this happened in front of his family. The “KKK member jumped from the bushes” and shot Medger Evers this shows the planning of this attack beforehand just to prove a point to the blacks of Jackson Mississippi that they don’t deserve the same rights as whites this theme is continued throughout the novel as after the attack the president of America tells the mayor to create a bi racial committee the mayor responds to this In a disgusting way “I am not going to appoint a biracial committee.” “I believe in the separation of races.” (page 197) the defiance shown by the mayor here can be seen as symbolic of large parts of the south and the absolute refusal to even acknowledge the blacks as equal or on the same standing of them. This refusal caused the deaths of many in the 160 and gave me a deeper understanding of why the characters lived in fear and refused to stand for themselves and prayed that god would help them due to the context of the setting. The response of the mayor can be compared to the reactions of Minny as she fears for her and her children’s lives in her home wishing that even her abusive husband was with her for the little protection it could bring her this symbolize the fear and vulnerability of the blacks at the time of the attack and the mirror reflection of the white who didn’t even have to worry about the attack or its after effects. The disgust I felt when reading this was intensified by the knowledge of the context and understanding that this was not an uncommon
Understanding of context of the civil rights in 1960 America influenced me to respond the events and character from the novel The Help in a better way than if I didn’t know the context. The Help is set in Jackson Mississippi and explores the growing friendship between the privileged white lady Mrs Skeeter and the two maids Aibileen and Minny. The novel is written by Kathryn Sockett and uses the context of the setting to drives character development and conflict between the whites and blacks in town. Understanding the context let me understand better why the people of the town acted the way they did and how they were moulded by society at the time to act that way. Some of the most notable events in the novel were the attacks on blacks …show more content…
Medgar Evers was a member of the NAACP or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and had served for almost ten years and was shot dead by a member of the KKK this happened in front of his family. The “KKK member jumped from the bushes” and shot Medger Evers this shows the planning of this attack beforehand just to prove a point to the blacks of Jackson Mississippi that they don’t deserve the same rights as whites this theme is continued throughout the novel as after the attack the president of America tells the mayor to create a bi racial committee the mayor responds to this In a disgusting way “I am not going to appoint a biracial committee.” “I believe in the separation of races.” (page 197) the defiance shown by the mayor here can be seen as symbolic of large parts of the south and the absolute refusal to even acknowledge the blacks as equal or on the same standing of them. This refusal caused the deaths of many in the 160 and gave me a deeper understanding of why the characters lived in fear and refused to stand for themselves and prayed that god would help them due to the context of the setting. The response of the mayor can be compared to the reactions of Minny as she fears for her and her children’s lives in her home wishing that even her abusive husband was with her for the little protection it could bring her this symbolize the fear and vulnerability of the blacks at the time of the attack and the mirror reflection of the white who didn’t even have to worry about the attack or its after effects. The disgust I felt when reading this was intensified by the knowledge of the context and understanding that this was not an uncommon