Conclusions CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

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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 44 theories of types of racial discrimination, it can be revealed that the racial discrimination depicted in The Help involve the acts of denial, insult, antilocution, and segregation. All of the acts are practically institutionalized, which means that the discriminatory acts are practiced by the white households against the African American women on a daily basis. In other words, the discriminatory acts have been considered as common norms in white households. In terms of denial and insult, the actions most likely occur in form of denying the access of African American women to receive equal treatments and facilities with their white employers. Denial and insults occur as the white employers are reluctant to allow their African American maids to use the same facilities at their houses. It can be seen through the story of Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson, and Pascagoula. Aibileen is coerced to endure racial discrimination by her white employer, Elizabeth Leefot, as she is not allowed to use the same bathroom as Elizabeth ’s. Minny and Pascagoula also experience the same thing when they firstly start their job as domestic servants. The denials and insults occur as their white employers take the measure of physical and social contacts with the African American women. The Help also depicts racial discriminatory acts which refer to antilocution . Antilocution is the act of slurring a person or a society in order to create a bad image of that person or society. The act of antilocution can be seen in the story of Minny Jackson. Minny is the object of antilocution practiced by Hilly Holbrook, her former employer. Minny has been slandered as a thief by Hilly. Thus, it damages Minny’s reputation in Jackson, Mississippi. She cannot find a 45 job as every family in Jackson considers her as a thief. Also, Minny and her fellow African American maids are called as nigra, a condescending and offensive label to African American people. Nigra is often said to African American maids when the white employers are annoyed with them. Another type of racial discrimination endured by the African American women seen in The Help is segregation. The segregation seen in The Help occurs in terms of segregated housing system. African American domestic servants reside in the different neighborhood from their employers. The condition requires them to take miles away in order to work. In addition, the condition forces them to live in the undesirable neighborhood, which is small and over populated. However, they cannot move to other neighborhood as the action is considered as against the law. The racial discriminatory acts have surely left African American women worse off. However, they do not have the courage to prevent those acts from happening to them. They can only withdraw themselves and seethe inside silently. The Help also depicts the time when African American women are discriminated on grounds of gender. In order to reveal the depiction, the study applies the theory of gender discrimination and the theory of domestic violence. Based on the theories, the analysis reveals that African American women have to receive violence shown by their husbands regarding their ability to fulfill the role as the breadwinner for the family. This is depicted in the story of Minny Jackson. Being able to earn moneyonly leaves Minny depressed as her husband, Leroy, feels that he is emasculated. Thus, he attempts to control Minny by abusing her. In addition, Minny’s role as a breadwinner is denied by Leroy since he assumes that 46 admitting Minny as the breadwinner will only make her become disrespectful of him. Leroy’s attempt to control Minny is successful as Minny cannot defend herself. She only succumbs and seethes towards with violence done by Leroy. From the conclusion of the analysis in chapter four, the readers are more convinced by the fact that there is no benefit can be reaped from discrimination. Every type of discrimination existing in the world only leaves people in misery. Both of the discriminators and the victims will always leave in a hateful and revengeful situation. Thus, I personally hope that the readers will be more convinced that being able to love others is the essential thing to create a better and more peaceful world.

B. Suggestions