Confrontation Versus Accommodation Desmond Tutu says “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chose the side of the oppressor.” Scout, main character of the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Skeeter, main character of the movie The Help by Tate Taylor, both demonstrate their agreement to this statement in different ways. To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in the 1930s during the Great Depression and Jim Crow laws. Discrimination and prejudice thrives in the small, Southern town in which Scout lives. This exposes her to these things, and her reactions show her moral beliefs. On the other hand, The Help takes place in the 1960s in Mississippi where racism and segregation are the building blocks of society. Skeeter
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Skeeter has never had a date, and she is in her twenties as an attractive girl. Her mother begins to rationalize that her lack of boyfriends or dates is due to her sexuality being homosexual. Her mother asks if she is a lesbian because this would explain her disinterest in the men she has seen. Skeeter is very confused and angry about this (Taylor). Skeeters anger toward her mother shows that she does not believe that she needs to be in a relationship to feel happy, successful, or complete. Also, her rage towards these questionings demonstrates that she believes that women are capable of providing for themselves. In addition, Skeeter discovers that her mother had fired Constantine, one of the help for the Phelan’s for over twenty years, for no good reason. When Skeeter learns this, she is devastated, enraged, and heartbroken (Taylor). Skeeter’s heartbrokenness shows her beliefs that the colored help is not just the help-- they are part of the family. This mutual love shows her belief in racial equality. Additionally, the anger that she has demonstrates that she does not think that the staff should be thrown out after a small incident just because Skeeter’s mother had to defend her own reputation. Skeeter’s moral beliefs are shown in the way she reacts angrily to the discrimination she …show more content…
With Scout, she is about eight years old, and she lives in a discriminatory community. Meanwhile, Skeeter is in her twenties and is fully aware of the racial situation as well as the many other prejudice-filled beliefs in her community. Scout is too young to understand the entire situation in depth, so her reactions show that she feels upset about the discrimination, but does not understand the discrimination in itself. Her disappearing ignorance is what compels her to react aggressively. Skeeter understands the prejudices of the times and reacts with anger because she has had enough of the inequality. She realizes that someone in the white community (where most power was held at this time) needs to step away from the herd and speak out against prejudices. Both Skeeter and Scout were born and raised in the South, so their experiences were very similar. After looking at these stories, the depth in which prejudicial beliefs were ingrained in the minds of Americans was far deeper and less like today than I had thought previously. When looking at society today, it is obvious that some groups of people are more represented, whether it be by race, religion, sexuality, etc., and there should be equal representation of the different groups of people in our society to normalize egalitarian
Skeeter has never had a date, and she is in her twenties as an attractive girl. Her mother begins to rationalize that her lack of boyfriends or dates is due to her sexuality being homosexual. Her mother asks if she is a lesbian because this would explain her disinterest in the men she has seen. Skeeter is very confused and angry about this (Taylor). Skeeters anger toward her mother shows that she does not believe that she needs to be in a relationship to feel happy, successful, or complete. Also, her rage towards these questionings demonstrates that she believes that women are capable of providing for themselves. In addition, Skeeter discovers that her mother had fired Constantine, one of the help for the Phelan’s for over twenty years, for no good reason. When Skeeter learns this, she is devastated, enraged, and heartbroken (Taylor). Skeeter’s heartbrokenness shows her beliefs that the colored help is not just the help-- they are part of the family. This mutual love shows her belief in racial equality. Additionally, the anger that she has demonstrates that she does not think that the staff should be thrown out after a small incident just because Skeeter’s mother had to defend her own reputation. Skeeter’s moral beliefs are shown in the way she reacts angrily to the discrimination she …show more content…
With Scout, she is about eight years old, and she lives in a discriminatory community. Meanwhile, Skeeter is in her twenties and is fully aware of the racial situation as well as the many other prejudice-filled beliefs in her community. Scout is too young to understand the entire situation in depth, so her reactions show that she feels upset about the discrimination, but does not understand the discrimination in itself. Her disappearing ignorance is what compels her to react aggressively. Skeeter understands the prejudices of the times and reacts with anger because she has had enough of the inequality. She realizes that someone in the white community (where most power was held at this time) needs to step away from the herd and speak out against prejudices. Both Skeeter and Scout were born and raised in the South, so their experiences were very similar. After looking at these stories, the depth in which prejudicial beliefs were ingrained in the minds of Americans was far deeper and less like today than I had thought previously. When looking at society today, it is obvious that some groups of people are more represented, whether it be by race, religion, sexuality, etc., and there should be equal representation of the different groups of people in our society to normalize egalitarian