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

Symbols & Motifs

Jackson’s Black Community Contrasted with Its White Community

Stockett contrasts the Black and white social circles within the novel to create irony, showing that the white community, which seemingly has all the necessary ingredients for happiness and friendship, offers nothing but false kindness. In contrast, the Black community, which is oppressed and lives in fear, offers genuine friendship. Stockett first establishes this motif through Aibileen’s observations that the white side of town constantly grows as new white neighborhoods are built. Oppositely, the Black part of town grows in population, but not in size, since none of the land surrounding the neighborhood is available for purchase. Through this example, Stockett establishes the marked lines of separation that exist between the white and Black communities in Jackson. She also shows the unlimited resources available to the white community, versus the restrictions placed on the Black community because of skin color.

In addition, Stockett’s descriptions of the Jackson Ladies League and its president Hilly Holbrook show the manipulative and hierarchical structure that characterize the white community. The white ladies in the League are constantly worried about falling out of Hilly’s good graces, and Elizabeth serves as a prime example of the need to put up a false front to be accepted. In contrast, Stockett describes the Black community as familial and supportive. Aibileen’s church community rallies around Yule May after her arrest, and everyone contributes funds to send her twin boys to college. Furthermore, Minny and Aibileen’s friendship showcases the genuine love and support the women share. Minny comforts Aibileen on the anniversary of Treelore’s death, and Aibileen is there for Minny when Leroy abuses her. Neither of them has to pretend to have a perfect life to be accepted by each other or the community. Despite the discrimination they face daily, the Black community is shown to share genuine and unconditional kindness. Ironically, despite the comparative ease of life in the white community, the League ladies offer only empty kindness with strings attached.

The Mimosa Tree

Stockett uses the mimosa tree in Celia’s yard to symbolize Celia’s ideal life, complete with children and good standing among the League ladies of Jackson. She remarks to Minny that the flowers on the tree remind her of little baby hairs, and Minny notices her staring out the window at the tree more than once. When the cold weather hits, the tree appears to be dead, yet Minny notices a few green signs of life on the tree. This coincides with Celia’s continuing hope for children despite her miscarriages, as well as her ongoing efforts to make friends with the Jackson ladies, no matter how much they ignore her. When Minny shares the Terrible Awful with Celia, Celia finally realizes she doesn’t need Hilly’s friendship or approval. Celia’s first act after getting out of bed is to cut down the mimosa tree. Just as she has stopped trying to please Hilly, she is ready to let go of her desire to win the approval of the white ladies of Jackson. Later, Celia finds out that she won’t ever be able to have children. Although she is heartbroken that the life she envisioned is out of reach, Celia regains a sense of strength by facing the truth and releasing the things she thought would bring happiness.

The Bathroom Initiative

Stockett uses Hilly’s Home Help Sanitation Initiative as a motif in the novel that serves as a catalyst for Aibileen and Skeeter to start working on the book of interviews together. It plants a seed of frustration in Skeeter and gives Aibileen the decisiveness she needs to bravely share her stories.

The bathroom initiative also acts as a microcosm of the Jim Crow laws that dictate separation not only between Black and white bathrooms, but across every area of life. When Skeeter reads the Jim Crow booklet, she realizes that Hilly’s bathroom initiative is no different from the government laws. Hilly constantly brings up her initiative in conversation, seemingly to remind the maids of her power to humiliate them. Other mentions of separate bathrooms for white and Black people are mentioned in the novel, such as when Louvenia’s grandson, Robert, is beaten with a tire iron for using a white bathroom. Stockett uses the bathroom initiative to represent the many government-sanctioned separations between white and Black citizens, contributing to the novel’s message that racism is a means to assert power over others.