July 19, 2011
Page 73
"Ugly live up on the inside. Ugly be a hurtful, mean person. Is you one a them peoples?"
-Constantine to a young Miss Skeeter
Constantine said this to Eugenia, Miss Skeeter's REAL name, after she was upset by someone who called her ugly. Constantine said them as words of comfort, but she really described how people would be in the future. People such as Miss Hilly. When I read this, she is who I immediately thought of. Even though she dresses nice, and has a nice home, on the inside Miss Hilly is cruel. I haven't decided yet if she can blame it on her upbringing, but her mother Miss Walters seemed kinder than she was since she gave Minny a good job reference, even after Minny did something bad to Miss Hilly in front of her. So most likely Miss Hilly is just a mean person.
I think this quote also shows why Miss Skeeter feels as if she no longer fits in with her friends. Because she's not one of them. She cares about other people, regardless of their skin color or ranking in society. I see this as probably one of the reasons why, despite her upbringing, Miss Skeeter is not like most women in society. Constantine put the thought in her head at a young age to make a conscience effort not to be "ugly", and now as an adult, that's just the type of person she is. So my earlier theory of Constantine being the reason why Miss Skeeter is more open minded about change, and kind toward the help, is right.
But if this in the kind of things white children were told by their maids when younger and their maids raised them, why did they grow up to be hateful? I think that is because of society. The constant desire to fit into what society says is acceptable drives people to change themselves to fit into that mold. Miss Skeeter never fit in so she never changed. But people like Hilly was always seen as "Queen Bee" of society which I guess who can say the more important societal status you have, the meaner you become. Which applies to more literary and media work than just this. Regina George in "Mean Girls," Sue Slyvester in "Glee," Blair Waldorf in "Gossip Girl", in movies and t.v. comes to mind. The thing they all have in common is that they are seen as being of top of the society's charts, therefore feel as if they are entitled to having things their way. I see this as a reason why Hilly acts the way she does. Now back to the quote, perhaps the ugly grows on the inside of people the more prestige they get in their society.
Hmm you may want to wonder over to one of "The Bluest Eyes" blogs and see what they say about beauty...it would be interesting to see what great minds think when combined. So ugly lives on the inside and in our actions. What does Eugenia's mother think of the matter? Or is this that constant issue of white women are suppose to stay at home and "raise children" but in reality the black nanny is the one doing the raising?
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