What Does Miss Hilly Holbrook Mean In The Help

The constitution states that “All men are created equal”, but in the 1960s, that phrase was overlooked. “The Help”’s setting was placed in Jackson, Mississippi, 1960s. The norms at the time was that every white “rich” families will have their own black maid. Black people were treated like objects and were “inferior” to white people, but there were people who thought differently and wants to treat African Americans like friends. In the novel, it was put in three different point of views, Aibileen, MInny and Miss Skeeter. These three wanted to make a change to the racial world called Jackson and would break this so called cycle. But there is this one person who does not want this cycle to be broken, and her name is Miss Hilly Holbrook. Miss Hilly

During the time, Hilly took the “Jim Crow Laws” from Miss Skeeter’s bag when Miss Skeeter left it at her house. Hilly could not believe Miss Skeeter would have it at all! Hilly believed Miss Skeeter wants to change the laws so she told Miss Leefolt about it too. Miss Leefolt was feeling questionable about the toilet and that it was all a mistake, but Hilly could not help but reply, “‘I’m not talking about pots. I am talking about the laws of this great state. Now, I want you to ask yourself, do you want Mae Mobley sitting next to a colored boy in English class?’ Miss Hilly glance back at me doing my ironing”(Stockett 342). According to what Miss Hilly is saying, she states that this is for the safety of Mae Mobley and that the black kids are dangerous. Hilly wants Miss Leefolt to know that African Americans, because of their skin, can not associate with white people. This demonstrates that Hilly pushes the cycle because one, she took away Miss Skeeter’s “Jim Crow Laws” book, and two, she tries to influence Miss Leefolt that white and black people do not mix. She even went as far as mentioning Mae Mobley, which hits Miss Leefolt in the heart string. The league was hosted at Miss Leefolt house and guess who is the president, Miss Hilly. During the meeting, Hilly refused to go in the guest bathroom because Aibileen also uses the guest bathroom. Hilly

Miss Leefolt was highly convinced from Miss Hilly’s statement about having another toilet designated for the maids. She tried to convince Mister Leefolt, but he disagreed and yelled, “‘We can’t afford it! And we do not take orders from the Holbrooks!’”(Stockett 17). Mister Leefolt gave up on disagreeing with Miss Leefolt. Mae Mobley walks into the commotion and then, “Mister Leefolt already kneeling down to her. He’s wearing a smile look like it’s made out a rubber. ‘Guess what, honey?’ She smile back. She waiting for a good surprise. ‘You’re not going to college so your mama’s friends don’t have to use the same bathroom as the maid’”(Stockett 17-18). Hilly has a huge impact on many families, negative or positive. For the Leefolt family, it was more towards the negative. Mister Leefolt knows that building another bathroom would cost a lot of money, but he could not win against Miss Leefolt. He stated that because of the bathroom situation, Mae Mobley could not go to college. Miss Hilly made the Leefolt family’s life worse and she was not even remotely sorry. Miss Hilly read the “Help”, which was written by Miss Skeeter, but Hilly did not know that. Hilly made an assumption that the maids in the book were in Jackson, Mississippi. Without a second thought, Hilly took action and word spread