The three main characters in the novel, The Help, are the white journalist Miss Skeeter and the two black servants Aibileen and Minny. Miss Skeeter wants to write a book about the relationship between black maids and their employers from a helping perspective, something no one has ever done before. Aibileen and Minny help by telling Skeeter their own personal stories, knowing how dangerous it was in the 1960s. Throughout the novel, we get to know the women, both in their own words and from the perspective of view of the others, since each chapter is told by one of the three. In The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, the author uses narration through the three main characters to shape the reader's interpretation of the novel. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Skeeter is one of the most influential characters in the novel. She persuades Aibileen, Minny, and many other handmaids to share their stories so she can put them in her book. The novel itself deals with the theme of racism, a complex subject for a long time. Skeeter, being a white writer from 1960s Mississippi, for example, may have difficulty writing about racism because she not only grew up in a racist environment, but more importantly because she is trying to shine a light on the situation black people. Miss Skeeter is described as kind and innocent. Early in the book, she says, “at sixteen, not only was I not pretty, I was terribly tall. The kind of height that puts a girl at the back of class photos with the boys. The kind of size where your mother spends her nights dismantling hems, pulling sweater sleeves, flattening your hair for dances you weren't asked to do. Because Skeeter describes herself as neither pretty nor tall, this could give the reader an innocent view of her. However, it could also indicate that she is weak and/or needs saving. Which is ironic because later in the novel she appears as the hero. Now his behavior, for example, towards his friends, exaggerates his feeling of weakness. For example, when Miss Skeeter and her friends Hilly and Elizabeth talk to Aibileen while she serves them savory, she begins to notice things she never did before. “Hilly raises her voice about three octaves higher when speaking to people of color. Elizabeth smiled as if she were talking to a child. However, when Skeeter realizes how differently her friends treat black people, she never says anything about their bad behavior. Skeeter is well aware that her friends are bothering Aibileen and chooses not to take care of her at that time. Without confronting Hill and Elizabeth, she lets them continue with their "belief in the natural superiority of white people." Additionally, Stockett also describes Miss Skeeter as naive. When she asks Aibileen if she wants to help her write the book, Aibileen responds, "'Miss Skeeter,' and I say it slowly, try to make it count, I'm doing this with you, I might as well burn my own house down." '“. Skeeter doesn't seem to realize how dangerous and scary it can be for people of color to give their views on white-black relations. However, Stockett still portrays Skeeter throughout the novel as a good, educated, white person and, to some extent, portrayed as the hero of black people. Although Minny is one of the main characters and narrators, we as readers see her primarily as the other character in the play. For example, the reader learns his “terriblehorrible” already before the first chapter of Minny. However, the meaning of the term "terrible and dreadful" is not revealed until later. Yet what the reader might gather is that she did something with the pie of her former employer, Miss Hilly's. A few pages of the novel Minny calls Aibileen and says, “I won’t tell. I won't tell anyone about this pie. But I'll give her what she deserves!' …It's not a game to cross Miss Hilly. 'I never went looking for work again, Leroy went and killed me'". This is probably also why she is so nervous about becoming Cecilia's maid, because she is afraid to never find a job again. Additionally, the last sentence of this quote indicates that Minny is presented as a victim. Through Minny's actions, she obeys and resists the hegemonic white culture. against the white system and its values, but she also tries to conform to the white norm by telling herself to “fit it in”. Therefore, it is not surprising to the reader that she does not trust white people. There is one example in particular that shows this and that is when Miss Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny are discussing the book "'What makes you think colored people need your help?' Minny stands up and scrapes her chair. “Why do you care?” Minny is hesitant to trust Skeeter, and the reader understands this completely. Stockett uses Minny's past experiences with white people to help the reader understand how scary it was for black people to think outside the box, even if it was for a good cause, like sharing their stories with Sheeter. The use of narration through Minny's narration gives the reader a small taste of the hardships and struggles that people of color went through in the 1960s. Aibileen is portrayed as a stereotypical maid throughout the novel and, in some cases, the Southern white construction of blackness is also shown several times in the book. She is very attached to Mae Mobley, the white child she takes care of. It even goes so far that when Mae Mobley and Aibileen discuss how many children Aibileen has, Mae Mobley says, "I know, I'm your real baby." Aibileen is not only portrayed as the stereotypical handmaid however, the Southern white construct of blackness is shown several times in the book. One example is when Mae Mobley goes to Aibileen's bathroom and her mother yells at her, "It's dirty in here, Mae Mobley." You will catch diseases! No no no! ". In the novel, whites and blacks were supposed to have separate toilets since according to whites, blacks were dirty. This in itself speaks to one of the many contradictions that arise in the novel. On the one hand, colored people are not allowed to use white people's bathrooms because they are sick and dirty. On the other hand, white people want them to clean their house, cook their food, and take care of their children. Additionally, Aibileen compares herself to a cockroach: 21 That evening, after dinner, me and this cockroach looked at each other across the kitchen floor. He's tall, inch, inch and a half. He is black. Blacker than me. This could indicate that not only do white people have a condescending attitude towards black people, but that Aibileen also looks down on herself. Comparing yourself to an insect, a pest, is to recognize yourself as dirty and potentially harmful. The interpretation the reader gets from the way Aibileen's story is told is that people of color are just like everyone else and because of the cruelty of white people, Aibileen begins to despise herself. Keep in mind: this is just one.