The Help
The book The Help talks about how white ladies treat their hired help, who, during that time period, were black women. Skeeter Phelan is a white woman who wants to be a writer, so starts off at a publishing company writing a weekly housekeeping column. Skeeter doesn’t know much about cleaning, so she asks her friend Hilly if she can interview the maid. Aibileen, Hilly’s maid, agrees to help Skeeter, and as the two get to know each other more, Aibileen accidentally mentions how her deceased son planned to write a book about how his white boss treats him. This gave Skeeter the idea to write a book about how maids feel about the white ladies they work for and how they are treated. While writing the book, Skeeter learns more about the colored side of the story. She learns which of her white friends are mean to their maids, as well as which ones are nice. She also learns some of the horrible things some black women must endure in order to keep a job. Skeeter’s friend Hilly is the most racist of them all. Whenever she talks to black people, her voice raises three octaves, associating the color of their skin with unintelligence and slowness. Hilly is also a firm supporter of the bill that requires each house have a separate bathroom for the colored help. Skeeter discovers more secrets about the white women in Mississippi, and how horrible her friends truly are by the time her book is finished.
This book relates to my thesis because it’s the 1950s and blacks aren’t slaves anymore, yet they are still servants to white people. Racism is very present in the book as well. Maids have to deal with racist comments from their employers, being talked down to, expected to keep their mouths shut, can be accused of thievery, and are expected to do everything their white boss tells them to. My thesis states that people have rights without the freedom to use them. In The Help, the maids have their rights, yet they are still treated as if they were slaves. Forcing people of color to use separate bathrooms is just one example of how the rights of African Americans are being restricted and limited by powerful white people.
This book relates to my thesis because it’s the 1950s and blacks aren’t slaves anymore, yet they are still servants to white people. Racism is very present in the book as well. Maids have to deal with racist comments from their employers, being talked down to, expected to keep their mouths shut, can be accused of thievery, and are expected to do everything their white boss tells them to. My thesis states that people have rights without the freedom to use them. In The Help, the maids have their rights, yet they are still treated as if they were slaves. Forcing people of color to use separate bathrooms is just one example of how the rights of African Americans are being restricted and limited by powerful white people.