The Help

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-13

Chapters 14-18

Chapters 19-22

Chapters 23-26

Chapters 27-29

Chapters 30-34

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Background

Socio-Historical Context

Stockett places the novel in a specific location and point in American history: Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 1960s. Although the novel’s plot events are fictional, she incorporates true historical events and social attitudes to provide a portrait of real life at this time in Jackson, and in the United States at large.

For example, the shooting of NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers functions within the novel as a means of building tension and fear as Aibileen and Minny wonder what could happen to them if they get caught for working on the book. Additionally, Medgar Evers’s death is a true historical event. Evers worked to end segregation in Mississippi during the Civil Rights movement and was fatally shot by a member of Jackson’s White Citizens’ Council in front of his house in June 1963. Stockett’s choice to incorporate this event into the novel’s rising action gives the reader a deeper understanding of the racism that characterized Jackson in the 60s. She also provides insight into how both the Black and white communities of Jackson may have reacted to this tragedy. She shows readers the deeply human and emotional side of history by placing Evers’s assassination in the context of the story.

Other mentions of historical events further the novel’s real-life setting, such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington D.C. in August of 1963, where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Stockett’s mention of this particular event from Aibileen’s point of view shows that although the nation was changing in many ways at this time, exemplified by the great amount of white and Black people marching together, changes in Jackson were exceptionally slow to come.

These and other mentions of historical events lend particular significance to the novel. The story is fictional, but the racism is not. Stockett provides a sobering reminder of a point in American history that was not so long ago. By focusing on the lives of Black maids at such a tumultuous time in America’s past, Stockett takes what was, back then, an unexamined, everyday relationship between Black maid and white employer, and shows its complexities.

Cultural Context

In additional to the historical events that contribute to the novel’s setting, Stockett provides details about Southern culture that contribute to the novel’s sense of place and give the reader insight into life in the southern United States. For instance, remnants of the Civil War abound in the homes of wealthy white people. Ironically, Minny is responsible for keeping a Confederate flag and pistol clean in Celia and Johnny’s house. Hilly’s house unsurprisingly features a portrait of a Confederate general, and the Whitworth’s home is, in Skeeter’s words, “a shrine to the War Between the States” (265). These details contribute to showing the racism that abounds in Jackson, as well as a part of Southern history that is shameful, yet at the novel’s point in time is celebrated by white southerners.

Food acts as another example of Stockett’s depiction of Southern culture. When Minny teaches Celia to cook, lesson number one is how to use Crisco. In this way, Stockett highlights the fried foods that characterize Southern cuisine. Furthermore, Minny’s cooking is a point of pride for her, and makes her desirable as a maid despite her sass. This corresponds with the traditionally high value placed on home-cooking and good food in the South.

Stockett’s descriptions of extreme heat and humidity during the summer months add to her characterization of the South while also showing the passing of time and changing of seasons throughout the novel. Air conditioning is a somewhat new commodity, so some characters’ homes have it, while others’ don’t. These details contribute to the novel’s sense of time and place, juxtaposing technological developments alongside the lack of modern thinking in Jackson’s white community.

One example of not only local but also national culture, is smoking cigarettes. Aibileen, Skeeter, and all of Skeeter’s society friends smoke, showing how during the 1960s, smoking was widely accepted socially. On TV, Skeeter sees a warning from the Surgeon General about the dangers of smoking, but nobody seems to believe or heed it. However, Stockett makes a point to mention that Skeeter quits smoking. This is just one more thing that separates her from her friends. Instead of conforming to the culture, Skeeter makes her own decisions.

All in all, Stockett depicts southern and national culture through her use of details. She creates a rich backdrop for the novel’s events that contributes to the novel’s realism and the reader’s understanding of what life was like in Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1960s for both white and Black people.

Authorial Context

Stockett grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, although she was born in 1969, after the events of the novel take place. However, her firsthand knowledge of the town and southern culture certainly contribute to her depiction of the novel’s setting. In an added section at the novel’s end, Stockett explains that her family had a maid name Demetrie, to whom she was close, much like Skeeter was close to Constantine. She remembers Demetrie’s excellent cooking, the stories she would tell about picking cotton as a young girl, and the abusive husband of whom Demetrie rarely spoke. Similar to Constantine’s role in Skeeter’s life in the novel, Demetrie became a place of safety and belonging for Stockett. Stockett remembers running to Demetrie when she felt left out by her older siblings, and she reflects on Demetrie’s kind and affirming words to her. Much like Skeeter, Stockett regrets that she never asked Demetrie for her side of the story—what it was like to be a Black person in Mississippi, working for a white family. This regret, Stockett explains, compelled her to write The Help, and similarly, Skeeter’s desire to find the truth of what happened to Constantine led her to write Help, the book of maid interviews.