Object of the study Approach of the Study

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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter is divided into three sections. They are the object of the study, the approach of the study, and the method of this study. The object of the study explains the physical description of this novel. Moreover, in this section, the information along with the summary of the novel are also presented. The approach of the study explains the approach that is employed in the study. The method of the study explains the steps used in conducting the study.

A. Object of the study

The object of this study is a 2009 novel entitled The Help. This novel is the debut novel of an American author, Kathryn Stockett. This novel spent two years on the New York Times Best Sellers list. Published by Penguin Books, the novel consists of 464 pages, including the extra pages of acknowledgement, the essay of Kathryn Stockett, and the guiding questions for readers’ club. This novel is narrated by three characters; they are Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson, and Skeeter Phelan. Aibileen and Minny are African American women while Skeeter is a white woman. Being set in the segregated Jackson, Mississippi, the novel recalls the discrimination against African American community in the early 1960s. However, the discrimination in this novel is depicted through the complicated relationships between African American maids and the white female employers . The author’s experience of being raised by a black maid named 23 Demetrie has made this novel very interesting and honest in revealing the relationships between African American maids and the white female employers. Besides spending two years on the New York Times’ Best Sellers list, this novel was also awarded for many of prestigious awards, namely Amazon’s Book of the Year in 2009 and Townsend Prize for Fiction in 2009 Claire, 2009. This novel was adapted into screenplay in 2011 by an American director, Tate Taylor. The movie itself was awarded for many prestigious movie awards, namely Best Supporting Actress at the 84 th Academy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Best movie at BET Awards Finkie, 2012, and Best Film at Black Film Critics Circle in 2011 Moralles, 2011.

B. Approach of the Study

In this thesis, I employed socio-cultural-historical approach. This approach believes that literary works represent culture and the way of life of a particular civilization. Thus, this approach is aimed at examining and analyzing literary works based on the culture and the life of a particular civilization that produce literary works. The socio-cultural and historical approach is suitable in this study because the social conditions in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s and 1970s, in which discriminations against African American community become current practices, are similar to the life experiences of each character in the novel. Thus, the 24 approach helps to reveal the clear depiction of the life events of African American community especially those people who work as maids in Jackson, Mississippi at that time. To gain deeper understanding on the discrimination against African American community in Jackson, Mississippi, this approach would be the most suitable one.

C. Method of the Study