SKEETER

Question 1

characterised

Answer 1

voice of change
subverts the SB archetype

Question 2

character of FLUIDITY, accepts her WHITE PRIVILEGE, utilises it as a catalyst for her SOCIAL CRITIQUE of the SOUTH

Question 3

BILDUNGSROMAN

Answer 3

STOCKETT instils a RACIAL NIAVETY in SKEETER at the beginning of the novel

‘I had very little idea how dangerous things were’

Question 4

Whilst gathering different perspectives on the experience as a mammy figure, Skeeter experiences an epiphany of her own entitled, mindset and consequently reprimands herself for ‘thinking (she could) walk in and demand answers’.

Answer 4

Stockett’s meticulous placement of the verb ‘demand’ reaffirms the elevated status of Skeeter as a white woman with power, yet the use of the noun ‘thinking’ alludes to her lack of knowledge pertaining to recognising her own privilege.

Question 5

Stockett further compounds the progression of Skeeter’s changing attitude through the blossoming friendship between her and Aibileen, who recalls the relationship adapting from one full of ‘awkward’ tension to a fond partnership that embodies strong gratitude for one another.

Answer 5

Skeeter’s overt mannerisms of appreciation such as giving a ‘good hug’ to Aibileen, foregrounds her intentions of forming unity between black and white communities; therefore, expelling pathological stereotypes like the assumption that black people ‘carry different diseases’.

Question 6

Her strong-will and devoted attitude into subverting the social conventions of white hegemony reaffirms her growth from being a passive conduit to a figure who actively challenges racist ideologies.

Question 7

‘do you ever wish you could …change things’

Question 8

misfit

Answer 8

‘never felt petite…feminine or girly’

Question 9

‘i want kick myself. For thinking i could waltz in and demand answers’
‘for thinking she’d stop feeling like a maid…because she wasn’t wearing uniform’