‘The Help’ by Kathryn Stockett and ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, both follow the tales of female protagonists combatting prejudice and discrimination in the American South. In Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, Scout Finch challenges feminine expectations in her determination to remain as a tomboy, and similarly in Kathryn Stockett’s ‘The Help’, Skeeter Phelan defies gender stereotypes and her safe social status in her attempt to find sovereignty over her own life. Stockett’s novel also chronicles the stories of two coloured women, Minny and Aibileen, and their difficulties in overcoming the adversities of racial and gender discrimination in a society rife with injustice and segregation. Set nearly thirty years apart, emphasis is
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However, after being fired by Hilly Holbrook and hired by Celia Rae Foote, Minny finds herself in a state of stability. Miss Celia is presented as being rather ignorant of the regular treatment of the help, and so her relationship with Minny transcends the traditional segregation. The abnormality of Miss Celia’s conduct is depicted when Minny says, “the crazy woman goes to hug me, but I step back a little”. Minny’s reaction conveys how unnerving it is for a white woman not to be impertinent towards her and clearly demonstrates society’s boundaries that people are not expected to cross. As their relationship develops however, Minny becomes more lenient with Miss Celia’s unconventional behaviour with Miss Celia later mentioning how she is “lucky to have [her] as a friend”. The partnership portrayed by Stockett is essentially what provides Minny with the confidence to leave her abusive husband and take control over her existence. After being reassured by Aibileen that she “don’t have to get hit by Leroy no more”, Minny is able to escape her main cause of entrapment and is allowed to embark on a greater life without constant …show more content…
As the first of the three narrators introduced to the reader, Aibileen’s story is perhaps given a little more prominence over those of Minny and Skeeter. Throughout the novel, Aibileen serves to act predominately as mediator between Skeeter and the other black maids, symbolising the evident divide between the women at the time. However, as Aibileen and Skeeter work together to undermine the system that separates them, Stockett diminishes the contrasts between the two characters demonstrating the parallels to encourage solidarity. Despite this, Aibileen’s journey to independence is perhaps the least obviously successful. Aibileen, like Minny, is fired by her employer and admits that she won’t “be able to get no other job as a maid.” Although Aibileen is essentially free from service, Stockett clearly demonstrates the control white women still hold over the help as she is dismissed involuntarily after being wrongly accused of stealing, similar to Tom Robinson’s imprisonment after being falsely indicted of raping a white woman in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. However, Aibileen concludes her narrative with positivity expressing how, even though she didn’t choose to quite, she can still consider herself “free, like Minny…Freer than Miss Leefolt…And freer than Miss Hilly.” Stockett finalises her novel with the message that “Maybe [Aibileen is
However, after being fired by Hilly Holbrook and hired by Celia Rae Foote, Minny finds herself in a state of stability. Miss Celia is presented as being rather ignorant of the regular treatment of the help, and so her relationship with Minny transcends the traditional segregation. The abnormality of Miss Celia’s conduct is depicted when Minny says, “the crazy woman goes to hug me, but I step back a little”. Minny’s reaction conveys how unnerving it is for a white woman not to be impertinent towards her and clearly demonstrates society’s boundaries that people are not expected to cross. As their relationship develops however, Minny becomes more lenient with Miss Celia’s unconventional behaviour with Miss Celia later mentioning how she is “lucky to have [her] as a friend”. The partnership portrayed by Stockett is essentially what provides Minny with the confidence to leave her abusive husband and take control over her existence. After being reassured by Aibileen that she “don’t have to get hit by Leroy no more”, Minny is able to escape her main cause of entrapment and is allowed to embark on a greater life without constant …show more content…
As the first of the three narrators introduced to the reader, Aibileen’s story is perhaps given a little more prominence over those of Minny and Skeeter. Throughout the novel, Aibileen serves to act predominately as mediator between Skeeter and the other black maids, symbolising the evident divide between the women at the time. However, as Aibileen and Skeeter work together to undermine the system that separates them, Stockett diminishes the contrasts between the two characters demonstrating the parallels to encourage solidarity. Despite this, Aibileen’s journey to independence is perhaps the least obviously successful. Aibileen, like Minny, is fired by her employer and admits that she won’t “be able to get no other job as a maid.” Although Aibileen is essentially free from service, Stockett clearly demonstrates the control white women still hold over the help as she is dismissed involuntarily after being wrongly accused of stealing, similar to Tom Robinson’s imprisonment after being falsely indicted of raping a white woman in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. However, Aibileen concludes her narrative with positivity expressing how, even though she didn’t choose to quite, she can still consider herself “free, like Minny…Freer than Miss Leefolt…And freer than Miss Hilly.” Stockett finalises her novel with the message that “Maybe [Aibileen is