The Help (Spoiler)

Character Sketch

Shelby Conine

English 8-6

March 11, 2010

My first impression of Ms. Skeeter was that she was nice, non-judgmental, person. Aibileen first describes her behavior as "the kind that speak to the help" (4), which was unusual for that time. She reminds me of myself, I know that sounds conceited, but I truly believe that I try to be nice to everyone I meet. Sometimes, I get really shy around new people, I have a feeling that Skeeter might be the same way. I got the image that Skeeter was a socially awkward person. She is apparently unusually tall and thin with short, blonde hair. She apparently has to keep it short because she "has the frizz year round" (4). In the beginning, she is quite and keeps her opinions to herself. But, as we near the middle and the end, she starts to become more of an advocate for the black help in Jackson, Mississippi. Though she doesn't openly advocate, she starts writing a book with stories from black help and their white mistresses. Some stories are good, some stories are bad, but either way she wants the world to know and this is the perfect time. Martin Luther King Jr. is at his prime right now and when she contacts a publisher in New York with the idea, the publisher likes the idea, but has a short deadline. Many times during the short period she had to write it, Minny, Aibileen, and Skeeter thought of quitting, but they prevailed. In the end, after heartbreak, the almost death of a close relative, and threats from the white community, Skeeter gets her book published and a brand-new life in New York. Her attitude throughout the book was "stopping ain't gone save us now" (191).