Point Of View In In The Help By Kathryn Stockett

The Puzzle of Writing a Book

What is it like to experience racial discrimination from a different point of view? In The Help, written by Kathryn Stockett, one of the three main characters, Skeeter, experiences this first hand. By being a white woman in the early 1960s, Skeeter traces the lives of twelve black house maids by exposing their personal stories of violence, abuse, and horror. With the help of her newly found African American friends, Minny and Aibileen, Skeeter is able to create a best-selling book of stories that shakes the entire state of Mississippi. Moreover, the book was like a puzzle in that it needed parts from multiple points of view to create the beautiful picture. Thus, by writing her book, Skeeter goes on a mental journey

Hilly was on a mission similar to Skeeter; however, it was for the exact opposite goal. To explain, Hilly wanted to remove the possibility of the maids and white women using the same bathroom. This was in part because she was convinced that the maids carried diseases in their feces. Once, when discussing Hilly’s initiative for the local paper, she described it as, “A bill that requires every white home to have a separate bathroom for the colored help.” She went on the say, “I’ve even notified the surgeon general of Mississippi to see if he’ll endorse the idea” (Stockett 9). This quote explains how far Hilly was willing to go to address her needs. The recurring motif of a toilet symbolized the adamant segregation between the blacks and whites. Furthermore, Hilly had a drive identical to Skeeter’s which made it difficult for them to compete against each other. After thinking about Hilly’s idea of separate bathrooms, Skeeter said “But then I realize, like a shell cracking open in my head, there's no difference between those government laws and Hilly building Aibileen a bathroom in the garage, except ten minutes' worth of signatures in the state capitol” (Stockett 173-174). By Skeeter saying this, the reader is convinced that Skeeter is willing to rise above Hilly to ultimately change the lives of the maids. Altogether,

Aibileen added a supportive, encouraging, and important piece to the puzzle of Skeeter’s book-making process. When Skeeter originally brought up the idea of writing her book, she asked if she had ever wanted to change her situation. Aibileen was aggravated by this question and thought, “And Miss Skeeter asking don’t I want to change things, like changing Jackson, Mississippi, gone be like changing a lightbulb” (Stockett 24). This simile about the book proved that Aibileen had a poor attitude to begin with. Then, after a good amount of reflecting on the possibility of helping Skeeter, Aibileen’s attitude altered. At first, she tried to impromptu speak to Skeeter; however, this made her too nervous. If wasn’t until Skeeter received a message from Aibileen that said, “I know how to make the teapot stop rattling” that she learned she needed to write her stories down ahead of time (Stockett 148). Once she was could do this, Skeeter was able to begin her life altering book. Furthermore, Aibileen was a also good role model for Elizabeth’s daughter, Mae Mobley. Mae Mobley said that her most important lesson from Aibileen was, “You is kind, you is smart. You is important” (Stockett 443). This quote not only resembles Aibileen’s intelligence but also her compassion for other people. If it weren’t for Aibileen’s gracious manner, Skeeter never would have been able to begin her