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  • Essay / Summary of The Help by Kathryn Stockett

    The novel The Help, written by Kathryn Stockett, is one of the most influential novels on racism. The story begins in 1962 in Jackson, Mississippi, with the birth of a little girl named Mae Mobley, her mother is Miss Leefolt. At this time, white families have The Help, who are black servants. The community treats The Help unfairly, citing the presence of racism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The Leefolt family had a maid, whose name was Aibileen Clark. She is a mother figure to Mae Mobley as Miss Leefolt has not shown any affection, as she is caught up with her work and social life. At the beginning of the novel, Miss Leefolt organizes a luncheon with several of her friends. Hilly Holbrook, one of Miss Leefolt's guests, explains how The Help should have its bathroom outside the house. Eugenia, better known as Skeeter, is upset by Hilly's plan. When the guests leave and Miss Leefolt is outside, Skeeter asks Aibileen if she ever wants to change anything; but she doesn't answer. Skeeter also asks Aibileen if she ever knew Constantine, she was the help in Skeeter's house when she was young. She forms a friendship with her, when she goes to school, she writes her letters, but one day she never gets them back. When she arrived home, her longtime friend left. Aibileen's good friend, Minny Jackson, is the housekeeper at Hilly Holbrook's mother's house. Hilly fires her mother's maid and begins spreading rumors that Minny is stealing. Aibileen asks Minny about her job loss, but she only says it was an incident involving pie. Minny is now looking for a job but it's difficult, due to a new reputation as a thief. One day Celia Foote questions Miss Leefolt, Aibileen responds and answers Celia's question regarding a recommendation for a maid. Aibileen creates a story to suggest her friend Minny, who is looking for a job. During Minny's interview, she meets Celia and discovers that she is very kind and does not discriminate against her because she is black. Celia hires her and wants to keep Minny a secret from her husband. Celia wants to learn how to please her husband and asks Minny to teach her how to cook and clean. In the meantime, Skeeter's passion for writing landed him a job at the Jackson Journal; but it's to write about housekeeping, Skeeter needs help in this area, so she goes to see Aibileen. Skeeter learns that Aibileen's son is dead and begins a book about the racism in her life. Skeeter is passionate about this subject and wants to use the same motif in her book. Skeeter wants to question The Help about his own life, to retrieve information about black workers in the South. Aibileen and Minny don't want to tell their stories, but they decide to speak, but all the other handmaids decide not to. Skeeter takes a book from Hilly, and Hilly finds out, then tells the other housewives to disown Skeeter. Yule May, who is Hilly's maid, asks for money so she can support her family, but Hilly refuses. Yule decides to steal one of his rings, this decision causes Yule to go to prison. After this incident, other handmaidens from The Help decide to help Skeeter with his story. Skeeter isn't sure the book will be enough to end racism in Jackson, Mississippi. Minny shares with Skeeter the story of the pie that led to her losing her job. She says she put her human waste in a pie. Additionally, Minny shares that.