The Help (2009) by Kathryn Stockett (Edexcel A-Level History): Revision Notes
The Help (2009) by Kathryn Stockett
Introduction
The Help is a novel written by white American author Kathryn Stockett, published in 2009—the same year Barack Obama was inaugurated as the first black American president. This novel explores race relations in the American South during a crucial period of the civil rights movement. The story is set in Jackson, Mississippi between 1962 and 1964, a time of intense racial tensions in the state.
The timing of the novel's publication is significant: it appeared during a watershed moment in American race relations, when the country elected its first black president. This contemporary context adds an important layer to understanding how the novel addresses historical racial divisions.
Historical background
Publication context
The publication of The Help coincided with a significant milestone in American race relations. Barack Obama becoming president represented a major advancement for black Americans in US society and symbolised progress in bridging the divide between black and white communities. The novel's central theme—the coming together of black and white communities in Jackson, Mississippi—resonated with this contemporary achievement.
Mississippi in the 1960s
During the period when the novel is set (1962-64), Mississippi was at the heart of civil rights struggles:
1962: The James Meredith case
- James Meredith, a black American, attempted to enrol at the all-white University of Mississippi (where the novel's protagonist, Skeeter, attended)
- His attempted enrolment sparked major white resistance
- President Kennedy deployed large numbers of federal police to assist Meredith
- Armed resistance led to a firefight before Meredith was eventually enrolled on a law course
The James Meredith Case: A Turning Point
James Meredith's enrolment at the University of Mississippi required federal intervention and resulted in violent resistance. This event demonstrates the extreme tensions present in Mississippi during the novel's setting, making the relationships portrayed in The Help all the more remarkable—and controversial.
Voter registration campaigns
- Mississippi became the centre of efforts to register black American voters
- Civil rights volunteers faced violence and murder
- These events later became the subject of the Hollywood film Mississippi Burning
Freedom Summer (1964)
- The summer of 1964 was known as Freedom Summer
- Major organised efforts were made to enrol black voters
- The black community of Mississippi sent its own delegation to the Democratic Party National Convention in August 1964
- This delegation, known as the Mississippi Free Democratic Party, challenged the all-white representation for the state
What the novel excludes
Interestingly, whilst Mississippi experienced massive political turmoil during 1964, this is largely absent from The Help. Instead, the novel focuses on a different but equally important aspect of race relations: the separate communities of black and white residents who lived in different areas and worked in different jobs, yet whose lives intersected through domestic service.
A Deliberate Choice?
The absence of major political events like Freedom Summer from the novel is striking. Stockett chose to focus on the private, domestic sphere rather than public political activism. This decision shapes how readers understand race relations in the period—through intimate personal relationships rather than large-scale political movements.
Synopsis of the novel
Setting and main character
The novel is set in Jackson, Mississippi from 1962 to 1964. It tells the story of black American maids (referred to as the help) who work in the homes of Jackson's wealthy white community.
The main character is Eugenia Phelan, nicknamed Skeeter. She is a 22-year-old graduate of the University of Mississippi who returns home to find that Constantine, her beloved black maid and nanny, has left. Skeeter's main ambition is to become a writer.
Skeeter's journey
Initial steps
- Skeeter gets a job at the Jackson Journal writing articles on housekeeping
- Since she knows virtually nothing about housekeeping, she turns to black American maid Aibileen for advice
- To strengthen their relationship, Skeeter researches Jim Crow Laws that enforced legal racial segregation in Mississippi
Building Cross-Racial Relationships
Skeeter's research into Jim Crow Laws represents an important step: she's not just seeking information from Aibileen, but actively trying to understand the legal and social barriers that shape black Americans' lives. This effort to educate herself helps establish trust between the two women.
The project
- Skeeter decides to write stories for a New York publisher about the lives of black American maids in Mississippi
- Eventually, Aibileen introduces Skeeter to 12 maids who agree to tell their stories of domestic service to wealthy white families
- An important character is Minny, a black maid who has lost many jobs for speaking her mind
- Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny become close friends
Key revelations and outcomes
The stories uncovered
- The stories reveal that Constantine, Skeeter's former nanny, had an illegitimate child whom she gave up for adoption
- The book contains revealing information about the lives of black maids and the white families for whom they work
- The book is set in a fictional town called Niceville and becomes a national best-seller
Consequences
- The white women of Jackson soon realise the book is about them
- Hilly Holbrook, one of the white women, becomes so annoyed she seeks vengeance against Skeeter
- A secret about Hilly, revealed by Minny in the book, ultimately silences her
- The book becomes a powerful force in giving black maids in Jackson a voice within their racially separated community
- It leads to a re-evaluation of the relationship between black and white inhabitants of Jackson
The Power of Published Voices
The transformation of private stories into a published book represents a shift in power dynamics. What was once hidden knowledge possessed only by black maids becomes public information, forcing white employers to confront how they've been perceived by those who knew them most intimately.
The portrayal of race relations in The Help
Racial segregation in Jackson
The novel reflects the reality of race relations in a southern American city during the 1960s. Although Jackson comprised both black and white residents, they lived in different areas. The two communities only came together when black Americans performed menial, subservient jobs for white people.
The novel concentrates specifically on the female white and black communities, where black women worked as maids for wealthy white residents. This employment relationship was one of the few points of contact between the segregated communities.
The power of intimate knowledge
The novel's main plot revolves around a crucial tension: the white residents gradually realise how much their black maids know about their lives. These maids are willing to discuss these private details in Skeeter's book about Nicetown (a thinly veiled description of Jackson). This revelation is dramatic and devastating to the white middle-class readers who employed maids, as it exposed the intimacy that existed behind closed doors.
The Paradox of Segregation
While Jackson's black and white communities lived completely separate lives, black maids possessed intimate knowledge of white families' private moments—their arguments, secrets, parenting failures, and personal vulnerabilities. This created a profound power imbalance: white families knew little about their maids' lives, whilst maids knew everything about theirs.
Stockett's perspective as author
Kathryn Stockett, as a white woman who had not lived in Jackson, portrayed a life she did not personally experience. In researching the novel, she spoke with only:
- One white employer
- One black maid
This limited research base has raised questions about the authenticity of her portrayal. Stockett grew up in the 1970s, not the 1960s setting of her novel.
Questions of Authenticity
Stockett's minimal research—speaking to just one white employer and one black maid—has been criticized. As a white author writing about black experiences in the Jim Crow South, she faces questions about whether she can authentically represent voices so different from her own. This is an important consideration when evaluating the novel's portrayal of race relations.
Connection to Gone with the Wind
Stockett refers directly to the role characterised by Mammy in Gone with the Wind: a black American maid acting as nanny to white children. In many cases, white children had more knowledge and experience of their black maid than of their own white mother.
This intimacy between the two communities stood in marked contrast to the rest of their lives, which remained totally separate. This separation made the revelations in Skeeter's book so shocking to Jackson's white middle class.
Continuity and change
The Help reinforces several important points about race relations:
Continuity
- Black and white communities lived separate existences in the same city
- Black women, in the form of domestic servants like maids, were seen as inferior to the white middle class who employed them
- The servile life of black women portrayed in Gone with the Wind during the Civil War period had remained largely unchanged in Mississippi by the 1960s
The power of voice
- By giving black maids a voice through published stories, the novel shows how sharing perspectives can begin to challenge established racial hierarchies
- The book becomes a catalyst for re-evaluating relationships between black and white communities
Historical Continuity from Civil War to Civil Rights
One of the novel's most striking messages is that the subservient position of black domestic workers remained essentially unchanged from the 1860s (depicted in Gone with the Wind) to the 1960s. Despite a century passing and the abolition of slavery, the fundamental power dynamics of domestic service had barely evolved.
Understanding a key scene from the novel
The source extract shows Skeeter meeting with Aibileen to record her experiences as a black American maid. This scene is important because it demonstrates the power of personal testimony in exposing the realities of segregation and discrimination.
Worked Example: Analysing the Hospital Scene
The extract reveals multiple layers of racial discrimination through Aibileen's testimony:
Aibileen's early experiences of shame: At age thirteen, she worked at the governor's mansion cleaning silver. She made a mistake on an inventory chart and was fired. She describes the shame of being dismissed:
"Shame ain't black, like dirt, like I always thought it was. Shame be the colour of a new white uniform your mother ironed all night to pay for, white without a smudge or a speck a work-dirt on it"
Analysis of this imagery:
- The pristine white uniform symbolises both the racial divide and economic exploitation
- Aibileen's mother worked through the night to afford the uniform
- The "whiteness" represents purity and respectability that black workers were expected to maintain
- Yet this whiteness becomes associated with shame when the job is lost
The hospital segregation incident: Aibileen recounts rushing a white child with severed fingers to a hospital. At the coloured hospital, a man asked if the boy was white. He explained that the coloured doctor wouldn't operate on a white boy in a Negro hospital.
What this reveals:
- Racial segregation created absurd and dangerous situations where medical care depended on race
- Even in emergencies, the racial divide was maintained
- Black medical professionals were not permitted to treat white patients, even to save their lives
- This illustrates how segregation harmed both communities
Skeeter's transformation:
- Skeeter had expected the stories to be "sweet and glossy"
- She realises she might be getting more than she bargained for—these are stories of real hardship, discrimination and trauma
- By the end of the excerpt, both women recognise: "I think this might actually work"
Significance: This scene illustrates the power of storytelling to bridge racial divides and expose the harsh realities of segregation. It also shows how white people like Skeeter, even those sympathetic to civil rights, often had no real understanding of what black Americans experienced daily.
Exam guidance
When preparing to write about The Help in exams, it's essential to approach the novel critically, considering both its literary merits and its limitations as a historical and cultural document.
Critical Approach to Exam Questions
Always contextualise the novel:
- Place The Help within the civil rights era (1962-64)
- Reference key historical events: James Meredith case, Freedom Summer, voter registration campaigns
- Consider Stockett's position as a white author writing about black experiences—how might this affect the portrayal?
Make meaningful comparisons:
- Link the novel's themes to broader patterns in race relations: segregation, domestic service, intimate knowledge across racial lines
- Compare the portrayal of race relations in The Help with other texts like To Kill a Mockingbird, Beloved, or Gone with the Wind
- Consider what each text includes and excludes about the racial dynamics of its period
Evaluate critically:
- Consider whether the novel reflects or shapes perceptions of race relations
- Evaluate the significance of publication timing (2009, year of Obama's inauguration) versus the setting (1962-64)
- Assess limitations of the portrayal (e.g. white author, limited research)
For 20-mark questions:
- Provide balanced analysis with evidence from multiple texts
- Assess both reflection and shaping of race perceptions
- Use specific examples from the novel to support your argument
- Consider limitations of the portrayal (e.g. white author, limited research)
- Link to historical context throughout your answer
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Don't assume the novel is an accurate historical document—it's fiction written decades after the events by someone who didn't experience them firsthand
- Don't ignore Stockett's perspective as a white Southern woman writing in the 2000s rather than the 1960s
- Don't forget to link the novel's portrayal to actual historical events in Mississippi
- Don't overlook the significance of what the novel excludes (political turmoil of 1964, major civil rights protests)
- Don't treat all the characters' voices as equally authentic—consider whose perspectives dominate the narrative
Key Points to Remember:
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The Help was published in 2009 by white American author Kathryn Stockett, coinciding with Barack Obama becoming the first black American president
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The novel is set in Jackson, Mississippi from 1962-64, during intense racial tensions including the James Meredith case and Freedom Summer
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The story follows Skeeter, a young white graduate who writes about the experiences of black maids (Aibileen, Minny and others) working for white families
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The novel portrays racial segregation where black and white communities lived separate lives, only intersecting through domestic service relationships
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The Help emphasises the intimate knowledge black maids had of white families' private lives, contrasting sharply with the otherwise separate existences of the two communities
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The novel reinforces that the servile position of black domestic workers, similar to the Mammy character in Gone with the Wind, persisted from the Civil War era into the 1960s
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Critical considerations: Stockett's limited research (one white employer, one black maid) and perspective as a white author raise important questions about authenticity and representation
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The novel excludes major political events of 1964, focusing instead on personal relationships in the domestic sphere
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The power of voice—giving black maids the opportunity to tell their stories—becomes the catalyst for challenging racial hierarchies in the novel