Hilly Holbrook is undoubtedly the main villain of this novel. She presents herself to be a well put together woman on the outside, but throughout the novel, her true colors show and shows how she is manipulative, cruel, and wicked. Despite these characteristics, what makes her such a complex character is the way she treats her children. Hilly is unexpectedly an exceptionally loving mother. This complexity furthers the meaning of the novel by showing the audience that even though you have an excessive dislike for a person, somewhere inside they have some quality which is admirable. The bridge club scene is where Miss Hilly is first made known to and Aibileen, the narrator of the chapter initially describes her as, “not [her] favorite.” Then
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Besides Hilly’s mean side, there is a part of her that genuinely cares about the happiness of someone. Her overwhelming love for her children and lack of it for everyone else can raise the question of how Hilly was treated as a young girl. Her father is never mentioned in the novel, did he have some part of making Hilly this way. Hilly’s relationship with her mother is not healthy which could have made her love her children further so that they do not end up with the same relationship. With the information about Hilly’s motherly love, the audience recognizes that Hilly is not completely evil, there is some kindness in her, deep down. Consequently the reader is forced to change their point of view on this character. Before this information was given, the audience only thought of her as a one dimensional character. Ordinary the reader finds the antagonists and can only point out flaws. Now the audience may be able to even use this information to relate it to their own enemies. One of the things which makes Hilly an easy person to dislike in the novel is the way she feels no remorse for the people she has hurt. The way she treats her maid and her friends compelled the audience feel delighted when she ate those two slices of Minny’s “special” pie. Hilly’s characteristics
Besides Hilly’s mean side, there is a part of her that genuinely cares about the happiness of someone. Her overwhelming love for her children and lack of it for everyone else can raise the question of how Hilly was treated as a young girl. Her father is never mentioned in the novel, did he have some part of making Hilly this way. Hilly’s relationship with her mother is not healthy which could have made her love her children further so that they do not end up with the same relationship. With the information about Hilly’s motherly love, the audience recognizes that Hilly is not completely evil, there is some kindness in her, deep down. Consequently the reader is forced to change their point of view on this character. Before this information was given, the audience only thought of her as a one dimensional character. Ordinary the reader finds the antagonists and can only point out flaws. Now the audience may be able to even use this information to relate it to their own enemies. One of the things which makes Hilly an easy person to dislike in the novel is the way she feels no remorse for the people she has hurt. The way she treats her maid and her friends compelled the audience feel delighted when she ate those two slices of Minny’s “special” pie. Hilly’s characteristics