Duality in "The Help"

The Face the Nation special that featured Rice also showed a well-known author of the bestselling novel The Help, Kathryn Stockett was born and raised in Jackson, MS and wrote about the odd relationship that white Southern children have with their black housekeepers. Stockett mentions the bonds that are created between the children and their nanny, but how in time they are slowly weakened due to the kids eventually developing the same belief system as their parents and the rest of Southern society. When we read Diane Nash’s essay “Inside the Sit-Ins”, one part in particular stuck out due to the connection I immediately drew with Nash’s words and the story line of The Help. Nash describes her first encounters with the Jim Crow laws and how complying with these guidelines and restrictions she felt a tremendous psychological impact being placed upon her. She continues by adding that it is the restrictions that extend into all aspects of southern African-American’s life that causes the biggest impact; when they fail to comply to these restrictions, violent actions are threatened to their family. In my opinion, Nash inadvertently critiques black Southerners when saying that each time that they use one of these segregated facilities that they are in fact testifying to their own inferiority and they are only creating a dueling self-concept within themselves. The idea of double identity is clearly portrayed within Stockett’s novel; you see Minny and Abilene, the two main black figures within the novel, depicted as one person at the home where they work at and at their own home with their own children.

The relationships depicted in The Help are not uncommon from true stories, I know that at one point in the book my mom had to stop because she felt that it hit too close to home. My mom was born in Mississippi and when her family moved to Texas my grandmother and father started working every day. This left my mom being raised by her housekeeper; she helped her with her homework, made her meals, and taught her everything that most moms would teach their daughters. In the book, Stockett portrays this relationship in the most accurate light. These nannies taught the children of the families they worked for everything thing they taught their own children, in hopes that this would delay some of the beliefs and habits assumed by Southern white society. These maids saw the truest aspect to these white families of privilege; they validated their previous beliefs that these families are no different than the families within the black communities. However, the one major difference pointed out was the role of the parents, these nannies were the only support or attention some of these children were receiving. It was the words that Abilene spoke to Mae Mobley, the girl she took care of, every morning and every night: “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”. It was these words that were repeated to her family, friends, and even to herself in times of vulnerability when apart of the white community. In my opinion, when the maids wrote a novel compiling all their stories, whether good or bad, it was a variation of a non-violent protest. Depicting the actions and behaviors of these white families that trust them enough to take care of their children, but they do not even treat them as human beings. You saw the struggle of these women who had to be a mother to two families, nurturing both equally and everyday facing the adversities that the Jim Crow south brought upon them. They had to have dual self-identities in order to survive and they developed a tough skin through their self-appreciation which allowed them to function within white society without faltering.

The stories of these women being told within today’s generation allows for younger American’s to get a glimpse into a society that they did not experience or could not quite understand. Stockett’s characters allowed for the public to identify with the story line; whether someone was from the South or not they received the message that we are all people and there is not a whole lot that actually separates us. What I found most interesting was the dual identities within white society as well. The ability for these families to completely trust these women with everything and at the same time not even allowing them to use the inside bathroom was shocking. Many of these adults were one person inside their home and another person when in society and they felt the need to portray an image that went with Southern society. The reaction that this movie and book has gotten within our society today makes me think that as a whole our society thought we have came a long way; but after reading and hearing these stories they did not realize to the extent of the problem. In my opinion, many people regardless of race use the dual-self concept mechanism to help them survive adverse conditions they face within society. While they are submitting to inferiority according to the society, to themselves they show no insecurities of who they are or where they come from.