Ready Reference Treatise: The Help

By Raja Sharma

“The Help” by Kathryn Stockett was first published in 2009. The story is set in the early 1960s. The story revolves around the African-American maids who work in the houses of the white people in Jackson, Mississippi.

It is the author’s first novel. After the publication of the book, there was appreciation from the critics and reviewers from around the world. Atlanta Journal Constitution admired the book by mentioning that “This heartbreaking story is a stunning debut from a gifted talent.”

Ready Reference Treatise: The Help
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Major Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Sep 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311009630

Raja Sharma

Raja Sharma is a retired college lecturer.He has taught English Literature to University students for more than two decades.His students are scattered all over the world, and it is noticeable that he is in contact with more than ninety thousand of his students.

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Ready Reference Treatise: The Help

Copyright

Ready Reference Treatise: The Help

Raja Sharma

Copyright@2015 Raja Sharma

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Chapter One: Introduction

The Help by Kathryn Stockett was first published in 2009. The story is set in the early 1960s. The story revolves around the African-American maids who work in the houses of the white people in Jackson, Mississippi.

It is the author’s first novel. After the publication of the book, there was appreciation from the critics and reviewers from around the world. Atlanta Journal Constitution admired the book by mentioning that This heartbreaking story is a stunning debut from a gifted talent.

According to the author, it took her five years to write this book. The initial attempts to have it published were very harshly rebuffed. Her book was rejected by sixty literary agents. Eventually, Susan Ramer agreed to be her agent.

Since its first publication, The Help has been published in thirty five countries in three different languages.

More than six million copies had been sold by the end of the year 2014. It remained as the bestseller on the New York Times Best Seller List for more than 100 weeks. It is obviously a great achievement for the author.

It has also been produced in its audio version. It has also been adapted into a movie.

The author is reported to have said that she was inspired to write this book by her close relationship with her childhood maid Demetrie. Since the maid used to be quite busy taking care of the children, Stockett did not know much about the maid’s personal life, but she decided to fill the gaps by narrating in Demetries’s voice.

The Help is often described as a ‘sleeper hit.’ The book’s economic and critical success made the author a celebrity overnight. Her characters and the portrayal of complex social relationships were highly acclaimed.

The book was not immune to criticism by some African-American groups who argued that the book, in fact, helped increase racism because the book presents the black characters as servants of the white main character, Skeeter.

It is said that Ablene Cooper was a maid who used to work for Stockett’s brother. When she came to know about the publication of the book, she sued the author because she had not taken her permission before publishing the book. The case is tried in Hinds County but he judge dismisses the case.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

The novel is set in the early 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi. The story is primarily narrated from the first person perspectives of three women. They are Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter.

Aibileen is a maid responsible for taking care of children and cleaning. He twenty-four year old son happens to have died in an accident on his job. It is her first job since his death. She works for the Leefolt household. She takes care of Mae Mobley, a toddler.

Minny is the maid’s friend. Minny is never able to stick to one job. She has the habit of telling her employers what she thinks of her employers. She has already been fired from nineteen jobs. Mrs. Walters, the mother of Hilly Holbrook, was her recent employer.

Eugenia Skeeter Phelan happens to be the daughter of a white family. They own a cotton farm. Several African Americans work in their fields. The blacks also work in their household.

Having finished her college, Skeeter happens to have just come back home. She now intends to be a writer. Her mother desires that Skeeter should get married. Her mother thinks that her daughter’s degree is only a pretty piece of paper. She does not very much value her daughter’s education.

It transpires that a maid named Constantine had disappeared. Skeeter is now curious to know about her whereabouts. Actually, Constantine had written to Skeeter while Skeeter was in her college.

When Skeeter asks her mother about Constantine, her mother tells her that Constantine quit the job and went to live with her relatives in Chicago. Skeeter does not believe her mother and thinks that Constantine just could not have left like that. She concludes that there is something wrong. She is sure that she will eventually get the information. She begins to ask people about Constantine’s disappearance. No one gives her