July 22, 2011
Page 195
"Look to me like you just writing life."
-Minny telling Miss Skeeter what she's really writing about.
Miss Skeeter desires to write about something life changing. She wants to make society aware of how the maids really are treated. But Minny points out something here. Miss Skeeter isn't writing about rights the help do or don't have, but she's really writing about the life they live. This is what they've always known they would be when they grew up. I can see Minny wonders why is her life stories so important? What about being a lowly house maid, makes her significant? Why would anybody want to know about the life of a black woman in Mississippi? These are the questions that make Minny so suspicious of Miss Skeeter's intentions.
To me this quote helps to clear up my confusion as to why other maids would be so resistant about opening up to Miss Skeeter. She wants to know about life. Their life. Their life which would very well be taken if they are found out. For Aibileen and Minny, this is a life and death situation. There is no light punishment for revealing what they know. Which I think really says a lot about how important it to them for the world to really know the truth about the life they have. The well known quote "knowledge is power," by Sir Francis Bacon really comes into play here. Maybe if by the world having the knowledge of what really goes on, the help can gain more power, meaning more rights. Maybe this isn't the driving force behind Aibileen and Minny, but I think that thought lays subconsciously in their minds, which makes it worth the risk.
But why are their lives so important? I believe that everyone has a purpose in life. Some people's purpose is to do something extraordinary like cure cancer, or invent electricity, and other's purpose is to just affect the life of one other person. Maybe the maid's aren't destined to have a world shattering affect of people, but they can on one person. Most likely the children they raise and future children. We see in the book that Constantine's teachings have taught Miss Skeeter to be a better person, and Aibileen's trying to do the same with Mae Mobley. Their importance maybe is just to make one person be a better morally and treat all others with more respect.
Hm furthermore, don't you think sharing some of the hardship and humiliation they have endured might be embarrassing--or worse yet--what if their words are turned against them as a reason to not trust black people?
ReplyDeleteWhat makes the day to day life of a maid so important to the world? By that same token, why does the life of a student or teacher or bus boy matter in the grand scheme of things?