The Help
Racial Inequality
"All these houses they're building without maids quarters? Its just plain dangerous. Everybody knows they carry different kinds of diseases than we do" -Miss Hilly( pg.8)
This quote is said in the beginning of the book when Miss Hilly says she wont go to the bathroom because the help, who is black, goes to the same one. When she says this she is saying that they shouldn't deserve to go to the same bathroom because its not safe and they'll give white people disease. This supports my theme because its showing how they treat black people when it comes to a bathroom situation.
"Hilly raises her voice about three octaves when talking to black people. Elizabeth smiles like she's talking to a child, although certainly not her own. I'm starting to notice things. "- (12.57)
One inequality that is shown is the way that white people like Miss Hilly and Miss Leefolt talk to black people. They talk to them like their babies because they don't think they understand or are smart enough to comprehend what they are say. This supports my theme because its showing that they think not all black people are educated and that they shouldn't be talked to like adults.
"I knew she wasn't married to constantines father because that was against the law."- Skeeter (5.121)
The Help was set during the time the Jim Crow laws were around so skeeter said this because her old maid Constantine's dad was white. She knew that Constantine's parents couldn't get married because a white man couldn't marry a black lady then, but this goes to show inequality as the main theme for not being able to marry who you want because of their skin color.
Civil Rights Movement 1919-1960s
who: whites vs. blacks
what: the time when blacks were separate but equal and were not allowed in some places white people were.
when: through out 1919-1960
where: This took place everywhere
why: This was right after the Jim Crow laws were established, so its was a new concept.
how: There would be separate bathroom, Library's, or schools and other places like these. If a black person went into a whites persons bathroom they could be arrested.
This helped me see that in the book it was very dangerous for for them to be sneaking around to write a book. It also showed me how separate their town was and that not many people were against the Jim Crow Laws. It also helped to show me why their punishments were so cruel.
Reading about the Civil rights movement helped me to understand the theme because it helped me see what the Black people in the book really went through. It also showed how the laws came to be and why they had to be followed. Especially why it happened when it did.
what: the time when blacks were separate but equal and were not allowed in some places white people were.
when: through out 1919-1960
where: This took place everywhere
why: This was right after the Jim Crow laws were established, so its was a new concept.
how: There would be separate bathroom, Library's, or schools and other places like these. If a black person went into a whites persons bathroom they could be arrested.
This helped me see that in the book it was very dangerous for for them to be sneaking around to write a book. It also showed me how separate their town was and that not many people were against the Jim Crow Laws. It also helped to show me why their punishments were so cruel.
Reading about the Civil rights movement helped me to understand the theme because it helped me see what the Black people in the book really went through. It also showed how the laws came to be and why they had to be followed. Especially why it happened when it did.
personal experience
I've never really had a personal experience with separations in race. What i have had is when people of different races are stereotyped. This is similar but its not the same thing as having a first hand experience with segregation.