Differing Interpretations--Final Exam

My Artifact:

“Aibileen,” Hilly continued, “how do you like your new bathroom out there? It’s nice to have a place of your own, isn’t it?”

Aibileen stared at the crack in the dining table. “Yes ma’am.”
“You know, Mister Holbrook arranged for that bathroom, Aibileen. Sent the boys over and the equipment, too.”
“Yes ma’am.” Aibileen opened a drawer and reached inside, but Hilly kept looking at her. It was so obvious what she wanted.
Another second passed with no one moving. Hilly cleared her throat and finally Aibileen lowered her head. “Thank you, ma’am,” she whispered. She walked back into the kitchen.

--The Help by Kathryn Stockett, page 129


This is a passage from Kathryn Stockett’s novel The Help. The employers of Aibileen, a black maid, had a separate bathroom built outside the house for her, because it was considered “unsanitary” to share a bathroom with a colored maid. In the passage, Hilly, another white woman, is trying to get Aibileen to thank her for convincing her employers to build the bathroom. The situation is humiliating for Aibileen, who seems to be avoiding saying “thank you ma’am” and instead keeping responding with “yes ma’am.” Hilly eventually forces Aibileen to surrender her pride, as seen when she lowers her head and whispers “thank you ma’am.” Although Hilly saw this conversation as a way to show her control over Aibileen and the other maids, Aibileen saw it as utterly humiliating. This passage is an important contemporary artifact because it illustrates how events surrounding African American civil rights have been interpreted differently by various people.

During the era of American slavery, the character Sambo, or “Sammy Boy” was created to convince the public that slavery was not so bad. Sambo was the happy, ignorant slave who was grateful to have his master. In reality, this was just a way to defend the institution of slavery. Real slaves’ attitudes were nothing like Sambo’s. Just like slave owners wanted to believe their slaves were happily obedient to them, Hilly wanted the satisfaction of Aibileen thanking her. That way, she could justify her treatment to her maids by saying how grateful they were. On the other hand, Aibileen’s hesitation to thank Hilly showed that she was not truly grateful for the colored bathroom.



We talked in class about who was responsible for the emancipation of the slaves. Looking at the picture from Mr. O’Connor’s blog post (shown below), the monument depicts Lincoln showing the slave the way to freedom. I think that the maker of this monument interprets the Emancipation Proclamation as Lincoln bestowing freedom on the slaves, as shown by how he seems to be pointing to the “freedom” in the distance. Similarly, in this passage from The Help¸ it is prevalent that Hilly thinks she is bestowing Aibileen with the seemingly great bathroom. However, it is obvious that Aibileen wants nothing to do with this situation.


Another important detail is that The Help was written in 2009, not the 1960s during the civil rights era. Stockett seems to give the story a redemptive arc that seems to be prevalent in American Stories. The classic storyline, as said by Kurt Vonnegut, is: “Somebody gets into trouble, gets out of it again. It’s not accidental that the line ends up higher than where it began” (Here is a Lesson in Creative Writing). This passage in The Help occurs as a part of the conflict (see diagram below). Aibileen’s humiliation is what causes her to want to assist Skeeter in writing her novel about black maids in Mississippi, which gives Aibileen a voice. In the end, the novel becomes a bestseller; Aibileen leaves her job as a maid, and considers becoming a writer. While this is an empowering story, Kathryn Stockett’s interpretation does not seem realistic. This arc additionally tends to occur in the American story of the Civil rights movement. In the beginning, African Americans were completely segregated. Martin Luther King Jr. comes along, giving his “I Have a Dream” speech, and people march in protest to end segregation. While my telling of this story is extremely simplified, it is similar to how we first learned it in elementary school. Similar to the story of The Help, this Civil Rights story is inspiring. However, is this how the Civil Rights Movement actually occurred? Looking at the facts, Chicago is known as the most segregated city in America. Just because we tend to give our stories this narrative arc does not necessarily mean they are realistic. Although not as bad as it once was, racism still occurs in America, regardless of the fact that people interpret the Civil Rights Movement to have the redemptive arc.

Sambo:

Picture From "Proclaiming Emancipation" by Mr. O'Connor

Redemptive Arc from Vonnegut's "Here is a Lesson in Creative Writing"