The Help Book Summary

The Help – A Tale of Race and Prejudice

Brief Summary:

“The Help” is a spectacular presentation of African American women working as helpers in white households. The story is penned marvelously by Kathryn Stockett, who highlights poignant differences in race, class, and disparity. The house helpers are not considered a part of the society and they do not enjoy rights equal to their white counterparts. 

Summary of Important Aspects:

Essential Characters:

The spectacular story revolves around three women named Minny Jackson, Aibileen Clark, and Eugenia Phelan. Aibileen Clark is an African-American maid working in the white “Leefolt” household. She takes care of their toddler and has friends in the society. Then, Eugenia Phelan is introduced, who has returned after finishing her studies. To her amazement, their old maid Constantine is missing. She tries to find out about her through neighbors but gets no support from them. This triggers her journey to find out that there has been a big discrimination between white and black helpers. They are not treated the same and this has been raising eyebrows all over. In her journey to find Constantine, she comes across Aibileen and Minny (black maids) who help Eugenia pen down her observations.

Effect of Missing Constantine:

Phelan seemed to be shocked to notice that Constantine was missing and could not be found anywhere. She experiences a mixed bag of emotions as Constantine took care of her since childhood. This made her investigate Constantine, which led to her meeting with other African-American maids in white households. As she gradually learns about the maids’ plight, Phelan starts developing a sense of companionship and sympathy for their condition. Phelan analyzed that racism is strongly prevalent in Mississippi and has affected household help a lot.

In her zest to find Constantine, Phelan meets Aibileen and Minny who share their feelings about racism. Phelan was so moved by the disappearance of Constantine that she developed a deeper understanding of the problems faced by the African-American maids in the city. After meeting a few maids and listening to their problems in detail, Pheland decides to highlight the issue through her book. But, she had to face adversities because the “Whites” would not let such matters get into the limelight. Moreover, the help of maids could pose a threat to their earning possibilities. 

Highlights of Racial Discrimination:

The African-American maids were ill-treated in the White Households. They were never considered equal to other white maids or servants. The discrimination was such that the blacks were not paid properly. In fact, they were given much lower salaries as compared to other white maids or servants. This resulted in smaller thefts by African-American maids like Yule May to meet their expenses. The problem persisted so much that the African maids felt distressed. But, they could not do anything owing to the fear of losing their jobs and salaries. All these situations gave courage to Eugenia Phelan to write a book on them, highlighting their deplorable condition. 

Phelan’s Struggle to Gain Trust of African Maids:

Gaining the trust of the African maids was not easy for Eugenia Phelan as she was a white woman. She had to convince them about her innate zest for helping those women. Undoubtedly, Phelan had to talk about her maid Constantine and felt a sense of relativeness to their problems. At first, she gained the trust of Aibileen who introduced Phelan to other African maids. They shared their problems and stories with her which helped Eugenia to bring a change to society through her novel.