Skeeter's Alienation In The Help

Alienation is an often used literary device that helps authors prove points that otherwise would be overlooked. Excluding characters from their societies, like in real life, demonstrates how they are different from what’s expected and therefore accepted. One of the main characters in the story of The Help, Skeeter, is an excellent example of this. She is alienated from the community of Jackson, Mississippi, because she believes that everyone is the same and that color of the skin does not define a person’s ability or right to live equally. She works with some of the local “help” to write a book about many of their lives. It reflects on good and bad experiences from being a servant to their superiors. When the community finds out that Skeeter believes as she does, they do many things to punish her for believing so. Mainly, other female characters explicitly exclude her from clubs and activities that had she had been a part of for her entire life. However, this does not affect Skeeter very much, which angers Hilly Holbrook and the rest

Then she reminds herself that she would be frustrated that she hadn’t spoken up. The fact that Skeeter does speak up is a part of the character’s personality. She is not afraid to speak up against the popular beliefs unlike the rest of the community of Jackson, Mississippi. In fact, when the book first comes out, Hilly wants to call out that the book is about Jackson. However, when Hilly realizes that it had parts in the book specifically about her, she pleads to everyone how it is “not even about Jackson” (Stockett, 492). This was because they realized the things that they had done and did not want others to think of them that way. This made Skeeter understand that she was playing the long game and was willing to sacrifice some battles to get to her overall goal, realization of the issue and the eventual improvement of