Reading Response #9 - The Help by Kathryn Stockett

July 26, 2011

Pages 280 -323

Chapters 19 - 21

After Yule May, Hilly's maid, has been arrested for stealing and punished for longer than necessary, more maids have decided to speak up. This seems to happen like a domino effect in my mind. But why does Yule May's arrest not scare the other maids into indefinite silence? The reaction from the maids is unexpected, and I think this is because Stockett wanted to convey the closeness of the black community. They are like a family, and they defend their own. By risking their lives to try to help Yule May, it shows just how far they will go. I think this also shows why it's so important that they are opening up to Skeeter. If they are so tight knit, to open up to a white lady is clearly something not done. This shows how important it must be to them to tell their story. I wonder if this will lead to a future acceptance for Skeeter and a newfound trust the black community has for some members of the white community?

While interviewing maids, Miss Skeeter hears about some families who love their maids, and some who treat them bad. Some maids are treated with great care and some families can't care less about what happens to their help. Miss Skeeter is finally getting more diverse stories for her book. But I wonder what differs between the good families and the bad ones? Is it just that some people are nice and some people aren't? Or is it my theory on class and social standing in society affecting  the way help is treated?

We also get a look into Skeeter's dad. While at a dinner with Skeeter's boyfriend's family, her dad expresses his deep care for his negro workers. He doesn't believe black people in society are being treated fairly. Maybe this is where Skeeter gets her compassionate side from. Skeeter's dad came from nothing and built his own cotton fortune, she that would fit my theory. He is kind toward blacks because he was raised in poorer conditions, where her mother was always raised in a home with family. This goes along with the relevance of class to racism.

I also found it ironic that Skeeter's boyfriend's house seems like "a shrine to the War Between the States," meaning the Civil War. What the war is greatly known for in the issue of slavery. So is this house a symbol of the part of society stuck in the past and unwilling to let go of slavery? Or is it's juxtaposition to point out the irony of Skeeter encouraging the rights of maids in a society determined to oppress them? Either way it's relevance in the novel seems to point out how difficult it will be for Skeeter to find people who will actually accept the novel as something positive. The house highlights how Jackson seems to be stuck in the past, and is resistant to change for the future, which is most likely an obstacle the maids and Skeeter will face.