Breaking Society’s Standards in The Help and The House on Mango Street
Gender roles and racist expectations have always been a problem for humankind. Since the beginning of time, these problems have occurred constantly and it has always created tension between people and their thoughts on the issue. Fortunately, there are writers such as Sandra Cisneros and Kathryn Stockett, who tell people the sides that not everyone agrees with or notices to remind them that there are human beings underneath what society wants people to believe. In The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros discusses how many of her female characters overcame what others thought of them, and they followed their dreams. In The Help, Kathryn Stockett discusses how many of her female characters fell under the pressure of society, and the ones that fought back and did what they wanted to do. …show more content…
Skeeter and Mae Mobley rejected segregation and racism. Both Skeeter and Mae Mobley had a very good relationship with the African American maids that raised them, because their mothers were very hard on them and their appearances. Skeeter’s biggest role model was Constantine. Constantine raised Skeeter and made Skeeter feel important. Mae Mobley’s role model was Aibileen. Whenever Elizabeth, Mae Mobley’s mother, made Mae Mobley feel inferior and not important, Aibileen would say, “ ‘You is kind. You is smart. You is important,’” (Stockett 443). Constantine and Aibileen also taught the two girls to not follow racism and the segregation that society taught. Constantine showed this through compassion and love towards Skeeter. Aibileen taught against racism by the stories she would teach Mae Mobley about the current civil rights movement. Constantine's teachings lasted with Skeeter years after she left. The reader can infer this because Skeeter wrote the book The Help, which told others of what it was really like to work for a white