The help-racism

Introduction Martin Luther King once said “ I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality…. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. ” This particular quote is a great way to describe what Kathryn Stockett is trying to portray in her book titled “ The Help. ” In Stockett’s novel, the author demonstrates that racism divides with negative consequences through the setting, conflicts and characters. BODY 1 Stockett’s novel is set in 1962 in a town called Jackson, Mississippi. In 1962, Mississippi was not a state where white and coloured people were equal. In Jackson there was a distinct line of where people lived, on one side in grand, luxurious homes live the white people and on the other side are smaller, rougher homes where the coloured people lived. Everything in Jackson, Mississippi was divided libraries, schools even hospitals. These places were divided because some of the white people believed “ they carry different kinds of diseases than we do. ” (Stockett 8) This statement clearly shows how divided Jackson, Mississippi must have been in 1962 the fact the white people thought that coloured people carried different diseases then they do would have been a prime way they we would have been separated. Miss. Skeeter is a white woman from Jackson, Mississippi, friends with all the white ladies and Abilieen is a coloured woman, and a maid for Miss. Skeeter’s best friend. When Miss. Skeeter decides to interview Abilieen on a book she is writing from the point of view of the help Miss. Skeeter decides that they will meet up at Abilieen’s in the coloured part of town. Miss. Skeeter parks 2 blocks from Abilieen’s house and when Miss. Skeeter is over at her house Abilieen realizes she has never had a white woman in her house. Having a white woman in a coloured woman’s house would cause all kinds of conflict if anyone were to find out. 2nd Body In Stockett’s novel the biggest conflict is the division between coloured and white people, this conflict causes many little conflicts for example: separate washrooms for white people and the help, which are coloured. Mrs. Hilly is a leading example of conflicts; she is the ultimate top white woman in Jackson. Mrs. Hilly is the person who started the “ Home Help Sanitation Initiative” (Stockett 60) which is a fancy way of saying an extra washroom for the coloured help.