40 being so weak How can I love a man who beats me raw? Why do I love a
fool drunker?” p. 420
Minny is well-known for her tough and fearless personality among her friends. However, when it comes to her to face Leroy, she suddenly turns to be a
vulnerable and weak person. She is aware of the fact that she cannot stand Leroy anymore but she does not have the courage to stop him from abusing her. She still
loves and respects him as a husband and a father to her five children. Being unable to stop Leroy from abusing her, in fact, only makes her more devastated
and confused to live her life with the situation.
2. Being Denied as the Breadwinners by their Husbands.
African American men still hold on to the idea that they have the power to control their families. The idea has left African American women to live under the
domination of their husbands. Hine and Thompson 1999 support the statement by stating that African American women have to live entire
ly under the “power of men” p. 17. Furthermore, they mention that the women cannot save money or
buy a house for them as their husbands will consider the money as theirs, they have the right to use the money for anything they want p. 17.
The statements by Hine and Thompson imply that African American women are coerced to live under the domination by receiving denial from their husbands
regarding their role to support the family financially. African American women are allowed to earn money however they are not allowed to consider the money as
41 theirs. The husbands take their pride in the money by considering the money as
theirs. In The Help, the situation is also represented through the story of Minny
and Leroy. In addition to his abusive behavior, Leroy is also selfish. He easily takes his pride in something which clearly he does not earn. He allows Minny to
work as long as it does not disadvantage him. The following lines describe Leroy as a selfish man.
“You ain’t taking my car every day, woman, what if I get the day shift and need to-
“She paying me seventy dollars cash every Friday, Leroy.” “Maybe I take Sugar’s bike.” p. 41
Minny asks permission to Leroy to take his car to work at Miss Celia’s house. As she asks permission, Leroy refuses to lend her the car. He thinks that by
lending Minny his car, he cannot use the car. He refuses to receive any disadvantage due to Minny’s job at Miss Celia’s house. However, when Minny
tells about the big amount of money she will earn by working there, Leroy suddenly agrees to lend Minny his car. It seems that he allows Minny to use his
car as long as he can receive the money from Minny’s salary. Leroy’s act may depict that he attempts to control his wife by refusing her to take his car to work.
On the contrary, his act turns out showing him as a selfish man who does not want to suffer any loss as he suddenly agrees to lend the car due to the money he will
get from Minny’s salary. The situation above is not solely the experience which Minny has to
endure. When she gets a new job at Miss Celia’s house, she informs Leroy and
42 gets the response which annoys her. The following lines depict the response from
Leroy which annoys Minny. “What Leroy say when you told him you got the job?” Aibileen asks.
“Shoot. He strut around the kitchen like a plumed rooster cause he in front a the kids,” I say. “Act like he the only one supporting the family and
I’m just doing my poor self entertained. Later on though, we in bed and I thought my
big old bull for a husband gone cry.” p. 46
Minny is annoyed about the fact that Leroy gives the response showing that Minny has to thank him for her new job. It seems like Leroy has considered
himself as the one who contributes for Minny’s success to get a job. Furthermore, Leroy seems to deny the fact that Minny is also in charge of supporting his family
financially. It seems like Leroy wants to be considered as the main breadwinner in the family. The response surely annoys Minny as she believes that she has been
indirectly subordinated by her husband’s attitude. She needs to be respected as the one who also contributes for the family. Even though Minny is annoyed with
Leroy, Minny surely has to accept the fact that Leroy is her husband and the father to her five children. She has to respect him no matter how he is rude and selfish to
her.
43
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This chapter is divided into two sections. The first section is the conclusions which deal with the summary of the analysis in the chapter four. The
second section is suggestions of the study for English teachers and future researchers.
A. Conclusions
There are several conclusions which can be drawn from the analysis in chapter four. The analysis was conducted based on the problem formulation which
attempted to reveal the depiction of discrimination against African American women in the early of 1960s d
epicted in Kathryn Stockett’s The Help. The analysis reveals that the African American women are coerced to endure double
discrimination as they are discriminated against for being African American people and for being women.
Regarding racial discrimination, The Help depicts bitter experiences of African American women when working as domestic servants for white
households. The bitter experiences involve several discriminatory acts practiced against the African American women. In order to reveal the racial discrimination
theories proposed by Rose and Schaefer are applied in the study. Based on the
