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Social Classes In Flannery O Connor's The Help

600 Words3 Pages

The Help is an intriguing novel about racial issues, as well as social classes. In this novel the character Hilly Holbrook serves the role of a villain. Her villainous actions throughout The Help show the themes of the book, such as race, social classes, as well as justice. From the beginning of the book it is shown that Hilly feels that the black population is inferior to the white population. An example of this is when Hilly enacted her Bathroom Initiative, stating that the help, black maids “carry different kinds of diseases than we do.” (Stockett 8). This shows that Hilly believes a skin color can result in different diseases. This shows Hilly’s ignorance and prejudice toward the black community. Hilly’s attitude toward the black population is also present when she finds Skeeter’s "Compilation of Jim Crow Laws of the South." Once Hilly found this, not only did she take it, but her friendship with Skeeter changed simply because Skeeter had a book of laws that separated blacks and whites. Hilly’s ignorance and …show more content…

Social class played a gargantuan role in this book, accordingly Hilly valued her social status greatly. For a majority of the woman in Jackson the greatest social achievement is to be a part of the Junior League, a club for the nomenclature white woman of Jackson. Hilly is the leader of this club, ultimately the most prominent figure in the community, and most, if not all the women thrive for her approval. When Skeeter was enervated of Hilly’s horrendous actions in the book she placed an ad in the Junior League newspaper stating to place used lavatories on Hilly’s lawn, consequently once Hilly found out she caused every woman in the town to isolate Skeeter. This shows how Skeeter’s social life affected her, once she was isolated, she focused solely on her book because Hilly’s authoritative social status caused everyone to fear being seen with

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The United States Constitution states that the country values liberty, life, and happiness for all of its citizens. These three values shape the ideal American experience. Most view it as living freely, where all men, women, and races are created equal, and where oppression of genders and races does not exist. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, however, Zora Neale Hurston challenges the traditional view of this experience by illustrating how gender roles and racism change it, manifesting that it is not close to what the average citizen goes through, especially if he or she is black.

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The Help, a novel by Kathryn Stockett, tells the story of a young woman named Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan. She persuades African American maids to help write a book of interviews that will ultimately change the way Southerners see their maids forever. One of the main characters, a black maid named Aibileen, trusts Skeeter first and tells her amazing but dark story. On the other hand, Celia, a white upper middle-class woman, has a mysterious past that shaped her life. This book weaves a beautiful tale with many literary skills, but identity, which defines a person, prevails above all.

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