Social Class In Flannery O Connor's The Help

The black women, who make their less than adequate livings as domestic house maids, are forced to accept living and working circumstances that take advantage of them. Coloured maids are of such low class in society that they are often viewed as the possessions of wealthy white families, as the ability to afford domestic help is considered a luxury. The Help offers a comprehensive reflection on the complex effects that class has on people’s social interactions, particularly in regards to race as the novel portrays class as the ultimate factor providing the basis for Jackson’s society. The wealthy and white are respectively positioned in the upper echelons of this tiered hierarchical system holding the most authority, therefore setting social conventions and attitudes for the lower classes to …show more content…
This is evident by the fact that “they raise a white child and then twenty years later the child becomes the employer. It's that irony, that [the white families] love them and they love [the families in return], yet... [families] don't even allow [the help] to use the toilet in the house.'" (Stockett 123). The neglect of bestowing human attributions to her maid allows Elisabeth to live without reason to care for the wellbeing and humane treatment for her maid, who work hours of hard labour receiving insufficient pay in return, allowing this lower class citizen to be seen simply a tool with the purpose of being exploited and demoralized for personal gain. Similarly to the majority of high/middle class while female characters portrayed in the novel, she leads a seemingly purposeless existence; her husband takes little interest in her and she has no ambition to work in any means. Instead her life is consumed by obsession with trivial pursuits and the valuing of material things, not for their usefulness, but rather for their ability to impress