The Help: Journal Entries

“The Help” ~ Journal Entries:

# 1:

                Aibileen is the first help mentioned in this novel. She is a colored help and she is the house maid for the Leefolt’s, a white family, in Jackson, Mississippi. Aibileen cooks, cleans, and take care of Mae Mobley Leefolt. Mae Mobley is a two years old and Aibileen is a motherly figure to her since her parents do not want anything to do with her. Aibileen works from eight to four Sunday through Friday. She catches a bus every morning to get from her house to work and vice versa in the afternoons. On the bus there are many other “helps” that Aibileen associates with, Minny being one in particular.

#2:

                Minny is good friends with Aibileen and is also help in Jackson, Mississippi. She worked for Miss Hilly until she grew old and had to be moved to a nursing home; now Minny was jobless and did not know how she was going to be able to support her family of seven. Everywhere she tried to get a job she had been turned down because Miss Walters, a friend of Miss Hilly’s, had made up lies about her stealing from her boss and their family. Eventually, after looking everywhere she finally gets a job for a lady named Miss Celia, in Madison County.

#3:

                Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan is a young woman who was raised by a maid who was recently fired while she was off at college. Constantine, the maid that raised Skeeter, had now been replaced by a new maid, Pascagoula. Skeeter was less than thrilled when she found out that Constantine had been fired because of her personal life. Skeeter continuously asked her mother and Aibileen for details about the firing of Constantine, but they would not inform her. After many days of quizzing Aibileen, Skeeter was finally told that Constantine was fired because she had a daughter who looked white, even though her parents were black. I personally think that Constantine’s personal life should not matter to the family for which she worked for, but obviously it did. Skeeter was not very happy that Pascagoula was now the new maid in place of Constantine, but she eventually got used to her.

 #4:

                In college, Skeeter studied English and writing. After she had been back home for a while she decided she want to try and get a job. She contacted many newspaper companies trying to get a journalist job, but none of them worked in her favor. Eventually, she got a job with the local newspaper company writing an advice column about house cleaning, titled “Miss Myrna”.

#5:

Although Skeeter had no clue on how to clean a house, get stains out of linens, or other housekeeping tasks she always found a way to have her column written by the due date. She always went and talked to Aibileen and other maids to get the answers to the cleaning questions so that she had accurate information to include in her response for the column. Even though Skeeter did not know the answers to majority of the questions, I think as long as her responses were in her words that she was fulfilling the task given to her by the newspaper company.

#6:

                Although Skeeter had a decent job with the local newspaper she often communicated with a publisher in New York about writing for them and possibly publishing a book. Skeeter was often in contact with Miss Elaine Stein at the publishing office in New York about writing for them and having something published. Every time she would send Miss Stein one of her stories she always had something negative or criticizing to say about her work, but Skeeter used this as motivation to keep trying harder. I think it is awesome that even though the responses were not always what Skeeter had hoped for, she still tried and used them as an opportunity to do even better.

#7:

                In the mist of Skeeter trying to stay in touch with Miss Stein about having something published, Miss Hilly sets her up on a blind date. Skeeter had never dated a guy before although her mom has tried extremely hard to get her with a guy. Her mother was beginning to think that she didn’t like guys until she found out she had been on a date with a guy named Stuart. One day Stuart showed up on the front porch of Skeeter’s house wanting to apologize about the disastrous blind date.  Later that night, Skeeter and Stuart go out on a dinner date together and then begin “seeing” each other. This made Skeeter’s mother extremely happy and left the rest of the town in shock.

#8:

                Despite the random evening distraction by Stuart, Skeeter continues to write for Miss Stein. Skeeter had previously interviewed Aibileen about being a colored working for a white family. Skeeter wrote about this and sent it off the Miss Stein. Miss Stein liked what Skeeter had sent her, but she said if anything like that would end up published interviews for about a dozen maids would be needed; so that is Skeeter’s goal. Skeeter has been working with Aibileen trying to find more maids that are willing to share their experiences, so I am assuming in the next couple chapters we will see if this comes through!

#9:

                Now that I am about half way through the novel “The Help” I am beginning to understand the plot and characters a little bit more. In the beginning I was kind of unsure about how it was all going to unfold because Kathryn Stockett, the author, uses stories inside this one large story to get the point across. The way this novel is written is unique to me, but I am thoroughly enjoying it and I cannot wait to read and see what happens in the end.

#10:

                Skeeter and Aibileen continue to search for maids that are willing to be interviewed for Skeeter’s book. When Skeeter and Aibileen are together when other people are around you would never know what they were up to. They did an excellent job hiding the situation until it was time for others  to know about it. Everywhere Aibileen went she was looking for maids to interview. This shows me that Aibileen and Skeeter had become very close and that they were willing to do anything to help each other out.

#11:

                Skeeter was finally able to publish a book! After communicating with Miss Stein many times Skeeter eventually wrote something that thoroughly pleased her. The setting of Skeeter’s novel was a fictional town called Niceville. The novel was published anonymously; therefore none of the ladies in town knew who wrote it. This book was powerful and gave colored maids in Jackson, Mississippi a voice that they had not previously had; it also caused the city to redraw the line between white and black families.

#12:      

                Aibileen never stole anything from anybody. After Skeeter’s book was published and Miss Hilly and Miss Leefolt had read it they accused Aibileen of stealing and fired her. Although she never actually stole from anything people in town thought she did because they believed Miss Hilly and Miss Leefolt before they even thought about believing Aibileen. After this incident with these women Aibileen was never able to get a job as a maid again. I think this is very unfortunate because the book is what made them think Aibilen stole and without Aibileen the book would not have even been published.

#13:

               At the beginning of the novel it is thought to be that Aibileen and Mae Mobley are the main characters; this is not the case. I would consider Aibileen the second major character behind Skeeter. Skeeter set her mind to publish a book towards the beginning of the book and with Aibileen there by her side throughout the entire journey she was able to accomplish the goal of writing a book. There were many other people that played major roles in this story, but to me Aibileen and Skeeter were the top two.

#14:

                My favorite phrase in “The Help” is “You kind, you smart, you important.” (Page 234, Kathryn Stockett) During this part of the novel Aibileen is rocking Mae Mobley in the rocking chair getting her ready for her afternoon nap. She is reassuring her that even though her parents pay her no mind that she is important in someone’s eyes. Mae Mobley grew up getting spanked and fussed at for no apparent reason and Aibileen was always there to support her and calm her down when she needed it the most.

#15:

                “The Help” is an excellent novel. To me, I feel as if it teaches our generation what is was like to be a child or even a parent in that day and time. They faced many different challenges and lived life very different than modern families do today. Many people in our generation cannot say that they were raised by a maid with parents that really didn’t want anything to do with you. We should be grateful that we have been raised by loving parents and other family and not by a random, but caring and loving lady your parents hired; I could not imagine having to be raised like Mae Mobley was.

Websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Help

http://kathrynstockett.com/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5844739/The-maids-tale-Kathryn-Stockett-examines-slavery-and-racism-in-Americas-Deep-South.html

 

 

Huckleberry Finn Newspaper Assignment

Huck Finn Daily

By: Caroline Jennings

Arguing Over Tobacco, Can You Really Borrow It?: Article One

In chapter twenty-one, on page 128 many men are arguing over tobacco; why do you think this is significant to this part of the novel? What do you think this shows about the town? The streets were nothing but mud, and pigs were found everywhere. People sat around by the store fronts smoking, whittling with their Barlow knives, or doing what ever else they pleased, but why do you think Mark Twain added the part about the men arguing over the tobacco? "Maybe Bill gives him a chaw; maybe he lies and says he ain't got none. Some of them kinds of loafers never has a cent in the world, nor a chaw of tobacco of their own. They get all their chawing by borrowing..." (Twain, 128) This shows that this town is very laid back and that they probably have nothing better to do then to sit around and argue over stupid things like tobacco. This is obviously a small town, and it can be assumed that some people that reside in the town do not have much money and rely on everyone else for their needs and wants, unlike other places this is not a very nonchalant occassion. This seems to be a very country sort of town, since horses are tied to the awnings and all some men do is sit around and fuss about not having anything to smoke.


Shooting in Town, One Man Killed: Article Two

"Bang! goes the first shot, and he staggers back clawing at the air-- bang! goes the second one, and he stumbles backwards onto the ground, heavy and solid, with his arms spread out." (Twain, 131) Why do you think Colonel Sherburn decided to shoot Boggs? Do you think Colonel Sherburn had an advantage over Boggs because he was drunk? If you were Colonel Sherburn would you have shot Boggs right in front of his daughter? Do you think Boggs's daughter could have helped prevented him from being shot and killed? Well, I have interviewed a young lad, who was a witness, who will remain anonymous, who has some answers to these questions. "Yes, I do think the Colonel had an advantage over Boggs since he was drunk but that does not give him the right to take advantage. I do not think Colonel Sherburn's mind would have changed even if Boggs' daughter tried to persuade him otherwise, he had made up his mind to shoot him and that is what he did; but it should not have occurred in front of his daughter. Boggs should have realized it was coming since the Colonel was standing there in the clear daylight with his pistol, but since he was drunk he probably didn't even notice. I believe that Colonel Sherbern is just a malefactor." Although some of these questions will remain unanswered it is good to know that we had innocent bystanders to relay the correct information and express their opinion to us.


What I Think: Article Three

Many people query the way Mark Twain wrote this novel, do you think the slang helps explain this novel? Yes, I personally think that the words and type of language Mark Twain uses helps tell this story. Even though it makes it harder to read, it helps me feel more like I am there with them in their time. Without the slang and choice words used in this book it would not be the same; the novel would not be as interesting. Although some of the words included in the novel are not the best or could be taken the wrong way, it just explains to us that this is how they talked back then.


Advice Column: Aricle Four

Dear Sally: My father was recently shot and killed right in front of my own two eyes. It has been very difficult to cope with his death and I am not sure how to handle this. I need your help!
Sincerely,
A Very Sad Daughter
Dear A Very Sad Daughter: First, I am very sorry about your father's death. I can only imagine what you are going through. Although I have never lost a parent I have lost someone extremely close to me, so I can kind of relate to your situation. I know you may feel some disdain for the individual that killed your dad but, the best advice I have for you is to remember the good times you spent with him. Although I know it is hard, happy thoughts are the best thoughts in this time of grief. Surround yourself with people who care and allow yourself to cry and express your feelings when you need to, but most importantly, stay postivie and know it happened for a reason!