The Help
Journal #1
"This could be one of the most important pieces of fiction since To Kill a Mockingbird" This novel is enlightening, thought-provoking and touching. In the first half of the story we meet, Elizabeth, Aibileen, Minny, Miss Hilly, Celia Rae Foote, Skeeter and her mother, Charlotte. After reading the first few chapter of The Help there were a few themes that stood out, a few of them being, love, society and class and most specifically oppression.
The main character in this novel is Aibileen Clark, a 53 year old black woman who has spent almost her entire life caring for “white babies” and “cooking and cleaning” (1.1) for white families. Aibileen has taken care of and raised quite a few babies over the course of her life but the last and most recent, Mae Mobley Leefolt, is Aibileen 's "special baby”. Aibileen 's own son, Treelore, was killed in an accident over two years before the novel begins.
Aibileen uses her strong relationship with Mae Mobley as an advantage. Aibileen teaches Mae all about racial equality and civil rights. Aibileen is not supposed to be teaching Mae and If she was caught trying to teach her about the equality and civil rights of different races she could face serious consequences, including losing her job. Aibileen is aspired to "stop that moment from coming – and it come in every child 's life – when they
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I, having previously read the entire book, I know that it does following in the theme of oppression. Oppression being “prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control” is what was taking place throughout this entire novel. This can be specifically proven true when a bill comes out stating that white and blacks can no longer share the same restrooms, therefore Miss Hilly had a separate bathroom constructed for Aibileen. When Mae Mobley attempts to use Aibileen’s bathroom she is shamed by Elizabeth. After this is when Aibileen takes matters into her own hands to teach Mae the true meaning of racial equality and civil