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Constantine's Redemption In The Help By Kathryn Stockett

421 Words2 Pages

Skeeter is initially disappointed when she returns home from college and finds out that Constantine, the African American maid who was like a mother to her, is no longer working for her family. Skeeter is shocked and saddened by this news, as she was very close to Constantine and had always considered her a part of her family. In Kathryn Stockett's novel "The Help," Skeeter is deeply disappointed when she returns home from college to find that Constantine, the African American maid who raised her, is no longer working for her family. This event marks a turning point in Skeeter's life and sets the stage for much of the story's exploration of race, class, and identity in 1960s Mississippi. Constantine was more than just a maid to Skeeter; she was …show more content…

She learns that Constantine was fired by her mother, Charlotte, for reasons that are initially unclear. Skeeter is shocked and hurt by this news, feeling betrayed by her mother and confused about why Constantine would leave without saying goodbye. Skeeter's disappointment stems not only from the loss of Constantine but also from the realization that her childhood was built on a foundation of lies and secrets. She begins to question the values and beliefs she was raised with, particularly the racial prejudices that were prevalent in her community. Skeeter starts to see the world through a new lens, one that challenges the status quo and forces her to confront uncomfortable truths about herself and those around her. This disappointment fuels Skeeter's desire to tell the stories of the black maids in her community, who are often mistreated and marginalized. She embarks on a project to interview these women and write a book that exposes the injustices they face. Through this process, Skeeter learns about the power of empathy and understanding, and she begins to forge genuine connections with people who are different from

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Skeeter becomes alienated due to her choices of not being married, and because of how her perspective on the division between white Southern households and black maids has changed due to being in the city and going to college. She also crosses social boundaries in the movie to write a book about the lives of black maids in the South, which is a highly controversial and could have gotten the maids who helped fired and shunned. These characteristics are what help her further her transformation from the women she was raised to be to the independent, brave woman who chooses her own

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In the book The Help, Stockett uses pathos to show people’s emotions and their different feelings throughout the book. Skeeter’s interviews cause meekness and fear in the maids because if they get caught, their punishment will end up much worse because of the color of their skin. As shown in the book fear shows pathos as well as anger, sadness, and love. In the book, the maids give interviews for Skeeter because Skeeter believes that she can put together these stories from the maids and help change some of the segregation laws. Gretchen, a maid who shows ruthlessness towards Skeeter, also chooses to show confrontation when she confronts and berates Skeeter and Aibileen.

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In the Help, Skeeter has to sacrifice her relationship with all of her friends in order to stand up for what she actually believed in. She wanted to make a major change in the way things worked in Jackson because she kept a relationship with her maid, Constantine. Sacrifice is key with all of the maids and Skeeter because it is the obstacle of actually writing the book. Every writer has to make sacrifices when writing a novel. Skeeter is a great representation as she loses her friendships, her relationship with Stuart Whitworth, and spending time with her sick mother in order to make a bigger change.

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Skeeter Phelan is an aspiring writer who wants to tell the stories of underpaid, overworked, and underestimated black maids while sacrificing her own “friendships” to bring a big change to the world of writing and an even bigger change to the lives of her subjects. Skeeter brings light and hope into the dark story of The Help and gives the reader a new perspective of how common stereotypes were in Mississippi during the 1960s. Born to Carlton and Charlotte Phelan and raised by a black maid named Constantine, Skeeter grew up on her family’s cotton plantation as the oddball of the family. Constantine was the closest thing Skeeter had to a loving mother. What was most memorable about their relationship was when Skeeter recalls, “All my life I’d been told what to believe about politics, colored, being a girl.

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Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, attests to the hateful and cruel reality that is the life of African Americans in Jackson, Mississippi circa the 1960’s. Stockett writes many anecdotes surrounding the relationship between Constantine, an African American maid, and the child she cares for, Skeeter. Skeeter reflects upon a memory of Constantine and

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By an anonymous writer later revealed as Skeeter also known as Eugenia Phelan. Skeeter, a white woman, returns to her hometown (Mississippi) to discover that her motherly nanny Constantine has left but no one tells what happened. Soon Skeeter realizes the injustice her society practices and decides to write a book where voices of black will be raised. She approaches Aibileen for sharing her narrative to which Aibileen responds positively and also let’s Minny in their secret. Minny, Aibileen’s friend, another black help, reveals a secret about Miss Hilly that ensures Miss Hilly’s silence after the publication of their writing project.

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She battles to free herself from the power that white Americans hold over her and her community during this time. With the help of a few fellow maids and Miss Skeeter, the white women who sparked the question of change, Aibileen hopes to change people’s opinions about how they perceive blacks

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Although the black maids endure such indignity, none will share their experiences with Skeeter in fear of being discovered by the town’s whites.  Aibileen is among those who refuse, but one day at church the preacher exhorts the congregation to have courage and speak the truth. He states that, "Courage isn't just about being brave. Courage is daring to do what is right in spite of the weakness of our flesh. And God tells us, commands us, compels us, to love."

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