The problem of racism in Kathryn Stockett’s novel The Help

Abstract

This article analyzes Kathryn Stockett’s The Help (2009) with the main focus on the presentation of the ubiquitous problem of racism experienced by African Americans in the United States. Specifically, it demonstrates shameful, humiliating and unbearable living conditions of black maids in the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi. It discusses different types of racism, such as overt, institutional, and structural, which occur in this community. Additionally, this paper provides an overview of the history of racism in the USA. The purpose of this article is to examine the history of interracial relationships in the USA, which sheds light on the problem of white supremacy, as well as demonstrates the damaging consequences of racial prejudice. However, the main objective of the paper is to analyse the relationships between white and black characters inhabiting Jackson, Mississippi as depicted in Kathryn Stockett’s The Help.