Life in the 1960s, in Jackson, Mississippi was difficult for most people. Being a black maid, raising children not your own, was made even more difficult by the times.
In The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, we follow the coming of age of a young white woman, one raised and well-loved by her own family’s black maid, Constantine. When Miss Skeeter goes away to school to learn a trade in writing, she maintains a long distance relationship via letters. When the letters suddenly stop, she is hurt by the silence, but knows she will get an explanation from Constantine when she gets home. Little does she know at that time, she will never see her loving maid again.
Elizabeth Leefolt and Hilly Holbrook are Skeeter’s best friends. Having grown up together, they maintain that relationship. They belong to the same groups and attend the same parties. When Elizabeth has a daughter, her maid Aibileen takes on the task of caring for her. For Aibileen it is a labor of love — Mae Mobley is a sweet child, and Aibileen dotes on her. But Skeeter begins to see a different world than the one she remembers.
Fresh out of school, Skeeter decides to apply for a job as editor, for the publishers Harper and Roe. When she receives a letter back from Elaine Stein, the senior editor, she is in heaven. However, the letter is to inform her she is not being hired. Miss Stein is willing to look at her writing though, but informs her that is must be both interesting and dear to her heart. Skeeter offers up her thoughts but is turned down.
When she continues to interact within her circle, she begins to pay attention to the interaction of the maids and the families they work for. Remembering her own upbringing, she decides to get the maids to tell their stories; this is what she will submit. Little does she know just how dangerous and difficult of a task this is. This is a turbulent time, a time of race riots, murders, and hate. How will she move forward, and who will tell their story?
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