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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