The Help is set in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960's, a place and time that was notoriously racist. In the 1960's Jim Crow laws were present everywhere, limiting the rights of black Americans. Lynching was a common practice that was enjoyed by some whites. The best job that a black woman could get was working in the home of a white family, polishing silver and cleaning bathrooms, as shown in The Help. This time period was an extremely dangerous time to be a black person living in America. Making the smallest mistake could leave you without a job or even six feet in the ground.
When comparing the racism that was rampant in 1960's Mississippi to what we see in Kathryn Stockett's The Help, I can't help but say that Stockett's interpretation of the time period is extremely watered-down. In a decade where black boys were lynched for just looking at a white woman, there is no way that Minny, a black maid, would be alive after admitting to putting feces in a pie that she served to her employer. It is historically inaccurate to write that a black maid would be alive after doing that in the 60's. Stockett's novel fails to show the entirety of the horrific and racist conditions in Jackson, Mississippi by not including realistic situations. Her dilution of the civil rights movement makes the injustice blacks faced seem less significant, and exploits the real life prejudice that African Americans still face today.
Another questionable aspect of The Help includes a quote from page 277 of the novel:
"...Afraid they'll be beaten like Louvenia's grandson, or hell, bludgeoned in their front yard like Medgar Evers."
Stockett mentions Medgar Evers, a black civil rights activist who was assassinated in front of his home in 1963. This quote from The Help displays a blatant historical inaccuracy; Evers was not "bludgeoned" in his front yard by his killer, like Stockett says, but was shot. Just by searching the words "Medgar Evers" on Google, you can accurately and easily find out the way that Evers died. The fact that such an error could be made over such an important event in civil rights history makes other parts of the novel seem less credible. The mistake, to me, also shows that the author was not as interested in making her novel accurate and reflective of the time period as she was interested in making a profit.
In my opinion, if Kathyrn Stockett's purpose of writing The Help was to accurately depict what life was like for blacks during the 1960's, she failed to do so, because of these historical inaccuracies.
When comparing the racism that was rampant in 1960's Mississippi to what we see in Kathryn Stockett's The Help, I can't help but say that Stockett's interpretation of the time period is extremely watered-down. In a decade where black boys were lynched for just looking at a white woman, there is no way that Minny, a black maid, would be alive after admitting to putting feces in a pie that she served to her employer. It is historically inaccurate to write that a black maid would be alive after doing that in the 60's. Stockett's novel fails to show the entirety of the horrific and racist conditions in Jackson, Mississippi by not including realistic situations. Her dilution of the civil rights movement makes the injustice blacks faced seem less significant, and exploits the real life prejudice that African Americans still face today.
Another questionable aspect of The Help includes a quote from page 277 of the novel:
"...Afraid they'll be beaten like Louvenia's grandson, or hell, bludgeoned in their front yard like Medgar Evers."
Stockett mentions Medgar Evers, a black civil rights activist who was assassinated in front of his home in 1963. This quote from The Help displays a blatant historical inaccuracy; Evers was not "bludgeoned" in his front yard by his killer, like Stockett says, but was shot. Just by searching the words "Medgar Evers" on Google, you can accurately and easily find out the way that Evers died. The fact that such an error could be made over such an important event in civil rights history makes other parts of the novel seem less credible. The mistake, to me, also shows that the author was not as interested in making her novel accurate and reflective of the time period as she was interested in making a profit.
In my opinion, if Kathyrn Stockett's purpose of writing The Help was to accurately depict what life was like for blacks during the 1960's, she failed to do so, because of these historical inaccuracies.