Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan Deeper Meaning
97 by seventeen years. Aibileen is 53 years old, while Minny is 36 years old. They
always wear white uniform and a pair of black shoes when they are working. Their physical appearance is called as pyknic type. People with pyknic type tend
to be extroverts who like being in the center of attention. Both of them possess extrovert attitude. However, Aibileen is apt to be an introvert after losing her son.
The other character, Skeeter, is described as 23-year-old white woman whom body type is considered as the asthenic type. She is thin and too tall for a woman.
She always wears decent clothes that her mother picked for her. A person with asthenic type tend to have shy and introverted personality. As an asthenic, Skeeter
is an introvert and tends to drawn away from social contacts. According to Myers-Briggs type indicator theory, personalities are
classified into sixteen types. Those types are formed by combining four areas of preferences. Aibileen possesses an introverted sensing feeling judging personality,
as well known as ISFJ personality. As an introvert, she is shy and always feel insecure. Aibileen has many thoughts, but she likes to keep them for herself.
However, she is willing to work hard for a long time. She also relates well with Mae Mobley and Minny who need her help. She is a mature and generous
character in the novel. Minny Jackson possesses an extroverted intuitive thinking judging
personality, as well known as ENTJ personality. As an extrovert, she likes to become the center of attention. She tends to express her feelings and thoughts
easily and be able to hate passionately. It is proven by her revenge towards Hilly Holbrook. She is also a bold and caring character in the novel.
98 Skeeter possesses an introverted intuitive feeling perceiving personality, as
well known as INFP personality. She tends to feel insecure when she meets unfamiliar situations. She tends to keep her thoughts for herself. As an intuitive
person, Skeeter is able to sense something that will happen in the future, and knows that some bad things happen in her society. She is also a passionate and
open-minded person, that is proven by her struggles to write the controversial book.
The second point is to find out the meanings of racism that leads to the crucial issues happened in the three main characters’s life. Theory of motivation
and needs are applied to answer the second problem formulation. The three main characters’ motivation in writing a book which tells about the life of colored
maids in Jackson, Mississippi is triggered by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. All of them have different problems in their lives which are considered as crucial. Those
problems come into one big issue called racism. The three main characters are motivated to solve that racism issue because
they want to fulfill the hierarcy of needs and reach self-actualization. After they have met the self-actualization needs, they can understand about what the
meanings of racism are. They find that racism is only a paradigm which is created by people. Racism is not inherited by gene. It is inherited by social custom lies
within the society. They know that each person is able to be a racist person or not, depends on how they are educated.
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