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THE RACIAL DISCRIMINATION REVEALED THROUGH
THE MAJOR CHARACTER AND SETTING IN KATHRYN
STOCKETT’S THE HELP
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By

LYSTIANI KARATIKA SARI
Student Number: 074214037

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGAMME

DEPARTEMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2014

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THE RACIAL DISCRIMINATION REVEALED THROUGH
THE MAJOR CHARACTER AND SETTING IN KATHRYN
STOCKETT’S THE HELP
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By

LYSTIANI KARATIKA SARI
Student Number: 074214037

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGAMME
DEPARTEMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2014
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIK
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama

: Lystiani Karatika Sari

Nomor Mahasiswa

: 074214037

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE RACIAL DISCRIMINATION REVEALED THROUGH THE MAJOR
CHARACTER AND SETTING IN KATHRYN STOCCKETT’S THE HELP
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengolahnya dalam bentuk pangkalan
data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau
media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya
maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencatumkan nama saya

sebagai penulis.
Dengan demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogayakarta
Pada tanggal: 10 Juli 2014
Yang menyatakan

(Lystiani Karatika Sari)

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STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

I honestly declared that this thesis, The Racial Discrimination revealed

through the Character and Setting in Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, which I have
written, does not contain the work or parts of the work of other people, except
those cited in quotations and references as scientific paper should.

Yogyakarta, 10 July 2014,

Lystiani Karatika Sari

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You have to endure caterpillars if you want to see
butterflies
( Anonymous)

Every dark light is followed by a light morning
(Anonymous)
Knowledge and skills are tools, the workman
is character
(Anonymous)

The future starts
today,not tomorrow
(Pope Jhon Paul II)

Live only once, to live with optimism
(anonymous)
do not ever give up in face of life, because
god is always helping people around you
though
(anonymous)

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This thesis is dedicated to
Jesus Christ and Mother Mary
My Beloved and Caring Mother and father,
My sisters,
My family,
My beloved boyfriend
Yohanis Manggau
And Sanata Dharma
University

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ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
First of all, I thank Jesus Christ and Mother Mary for Their great blessings
and everlasting love for me. I also thank Their never leaving me in my good and
bad times. Without Their guidance I would never be able to face my weakness.
I thank my advisor, Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S, M.Hum for the guidance
and help during my thesis writing. I would like to thank her for her willingness to
read, and reread my thesis and then give suggestions to improve it every week.
Then, I thank my co-advisor, Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum., for her suggetions
to enrich my thesis.
Then, my deepest gratitude dedicate to my big family who always stands
behind me to support me every time I needed them. I would like to thank my
beloved father, Drs. Marselis S., and my beloved mother, Yulianik, for
strengthening me in walking through my choice to each pray they send to Jesus
and Mother Mary every time. Then, I also thank my sisters (Marselina Ajeng L. &

Marsela Ayu P.) for loving me and supporting me. I am very lucky to have them
as my family.
I really thank God for giving me a man, Yohanis Manggau, who always
supports me in an extraordinary amazing way and loves me just the way I am. I
also thank my best friends Winda, Sari and Helen who help and support me in
every condition.
Lystiani Karatika Sari

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ............................................................................................................
i

APPROVAL PAGE ..................................................................................................
ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE .............................................................................................
iii
LEMBAR PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ..............................
iv
STATEMENT OF ORINALITY……………………………………………………
v
MOTTO PAGE .........................................................................................................
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... viii
ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................
x
ABSTRAK .................................................................................................................
xi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................
A. Background of Study ....................................................................................
B. Problem Formulation ....................................................................................
C. Objectives of Study ......................................................................................
D. Definition of Terms ......................................................................................

1
1
5
5
6

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEWS .........................................................
A. Review of Related Studies ..........................................................................
B. Review of Related Theories ........................................................................
1. Theory of Character and Characterization .............................................
2. Theory of Setting ....................................................................................
3. Theory of Racial Discrimination ...........................................................
C. Review on History of the Racial Discrimination ......................................
D. Theoretical Framework ..............................................................................

8
8
11
11
14
17
19
24

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................
A. Object of the Study .....................................................................................
B. Approach of the Study ................................................................................
C. Method of the Study ...................................................................................

26
26
27
28

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS .....................................................................................
A. The Description of The Major Characters ..................................................
1. Aibileen Clark .......................................................................................
2. Minny Jackson ......................................................................................
3. Yule May ..............................................................................................
B. Setting of The Novel ...................................................................................
1. Setting of Place .....................................................................................
a. The Neighborhood............................................................................
b. Elizabeth Leefolt’s House ................................................................
c. The Public Facilities ........................................................................
2. Setting of Time .....................................................................................
3. Social Setting ........................................................................................
C. Form of Racial Discrimination to The Black .............................................
1. Segregation ...........................................................................................
2. The Racial Discrimination to the black people .....................................
3. The Racial Discrimination in Econimic Life ...........................................

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48

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ................................................................................

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BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................

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APPENDIX: Summary of Kathryn Stockett’s The Help.......................................

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ABSTRACT
LYSTIANI KARATIKA SARI. Racial Discrimination Revealed through the
Major Character and the Setting in Kathryn Stockett’s The Help. Yogyakarta,
Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University,
2013.
In this thesis, the writer analyzes a novel written by Kathryn Stockett
entitled The Help. The Help is her first novel, which was published in 2009. This
novel describes three black maids’ experiences that get the racial discrimination
from their masters. The racial discrimination that happens to Aibileen Clark,
Minny Jackson and Yule May is their separation from public facilities. They have
to use the colored facilities. For example: bus, barber, etc. They also experienced
verbal abuse from their masters.
In this research, there are three problems that are used to guide the study.
The first problem is to identify the characteristics of the major characters. The
second problem is to describe the setting in The Help and the third problem is to
explore how the racial discrimination revealed through the characters and the
setting of the novel. There are three theories applied in this thesis. There are
theory of character and characterization, theory of setting and theory of
discrimination. The approach that is used to analyze this novel is socio-cultural
historical approach.
The method that is used in the study is the library research method. The
sources applied in this study are primary and secondary sources. The primary
source is the novel, The Help and the secondary sources are books and articles.
The applied theories in the analysis are the theory of character and
characterization which are applied for the first problem. Theory of setting is
applied for the second problem, and theory of racial discrimination is applied for
the third problem.
After completing the analysis, the writer finds out the characteristic of
three black maids from their experiences on the racial discrimination. The racial
discrimination can be seen through the setting. The third is about the racial
discrimination toward the black people. The racial discrimination can be seen
through the separation of public facilities between the white people and the black
people. The perspective of the white people about the racial discrimination can be
the reason of oppression toward the black people.

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ABSTRAK
LYSTIANI KARATIKA SARI. Racial Discrimination Revealed through the
Major Character and the Setting in Kathryn Stockett’s The Help. Yogyakarta,
Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University,
2013.
Dalam skripsi ini penulis menganalisis sebuah novel karangan Kathryn
Stockett yang berjudul The Help. The Help diterbitkan pada tahun 2009. Novel ini
menggambarkan pengalaman hidup tiga pelayan wanita kulit hitam yg
mendapatkan diskriminasi ras dari majikan mereka. Diskriminasi ras yang terjadi
pada Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson dan Yule May adalah pemisahan penggunaan
fasilitas umum. Mereka mempraktekkan pembedaan penggunaan fasilitas umum
bagi kulit berwarna, contohnya: posisi tempat duduk di bis, rumah sakit, dan
lainnya. Mereka juga mendapatkan perlakuan kekerasan secara verbal dari
majikan mereka.
Ada tiga rumusan masalah yang dibahas dalam penelitian ini. Rumusan
pertama berisi tentang bagaimana tokoh tiga pelayan wanita di deskripsikan.
Rumusan kedua menggambarkan bagaimana latar dalam The Help dideskripsikan,
dan rumusan ketiga adalah bagaimana diskriminasi ras dapat terungkap melalui
tiga tokoh utama dan latar.
Metode yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini adalah metode studi pustaka.
Sumber-sumber yang dipakai dalam skripsi ini terdiri dari novel The Help, bukubuku dan artikel. Teori-teori yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini adalah teori tokoh
dan penokohan, yang digunakan untuk menjabarkan rumusan masalah pertama,
teori latar, digunakan untuk menjawab rumusan masalah kedua, teori diskriminasi
ras, digunakan untuk menjelaskan rumusan masalah ketiga.
Setelah melakukan menyelesaikan analisis, penulis menemukan sifat - sifat
dari tiga pelayan wanita kulit hitam yang dapat dilihat melalui pengalaman
diskriminasi ras yang mereka terima dari majikan. Pengalaman tentang
diskriminasi ras itulah yang membentuk sifat- sifat dari tokoh- tokoh utama.
Diskriminasi ras juga dapat dilihat melalui latar dalam novel. Rasial diskriminasi
juga dapat dilihat melalui pemisahan fasilitas publik antara orang kulit putih dan
kulit hitam. Sudut pandang dari orang kulit putih tentang diskiriminasi ras juga
merupakan alasan dalam penindasan terhadap orang kulit hitam.

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study
There are many ways for human beings to express their ideas, thoughts,
and experiences, one of them is in the form of literature. Literary works help the
readers to connect the cultural context, recognize and learn more about human’s
dreams and struggles in different situations and conditions. In Theory of
Literature, Rene Wellek and Austin Warren state that the work of literature
represents life as a reality. Besides, reading a literary work will bring people to an
aesthetic experience and give readers the knowledge or new ideas (1956: 95).
Many people believe that literary works entertain the reader. Literature
also conveys important message to society. Literature is not created to be static
but literature is created to be dynamic. Literature can be a form of ideas related to
the history, culture and society. Literature also records social realities which are
portrayed by many writers and authors through their works. Society exists, then it
is portrayed in literature. Literature and society are a unity. The readers’
knowledge about history and social condition in certain time is enriched by
reading literary works. The readers of literary works can learn about things
happening in the past, what kind of human behavior and values existing in a
certain society. Literary works can play the role as historical document that
records social realities, which are artistically portrayed by the author (Wellek and
Warren, 1956: 102).

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Every human being in the world is created equal, but they were also
created different from one to another, for example in characteristics, races sex
appearances and so on. People have their own perspective to those differences.
The perspective can be positive or negative. If it is a positive perspective, people
can accept the differences but when it is a negative perspective, people cannot
accept it and try to treat each other.
Discrimination is the biggest controversy in the human’s life. The racial
discrimination is caused by the different physical appearance based on their race.
Races are distinguished from this individual’s viewpoint. The only properties that
count are the immediately visible ones: skin color, body hair, facial configuration
(Todorov in Back, 2000: 65).
The black people and the white people have different physical appearance.
The black people have dark skin, dark and kinky hair, wide mouths, and thick lips
while the white people have opposite characteristics from the black people. The
white people have light skin, blonde and straight hair, small mouth, and thin lips.
The different physical characteristics sometimes make some people think that they
are better, or even superior from the other groups. The white people think that
they are better than the black people. The black people are assumed as
uneducated, uncivilized, rude and unintelligent. These differences of the black
people make them receive unequal treatment from the white people.
Discrimination is also the unfair treatment to the black people because the
history of slavery. The black people arrived in the United States of America as

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immigrants. They were bought firstly from Africa as slaves in America colonies
in 1619. They were kidnapped from their origin.
The first black Africans were bought to Virginia in 1619, just 12 years
after the founding of the Jamestown settlement. At first, many were
regarded as indentured servants who could earn their freedom. By the
1660s, however, as the demand for plantation labor in the southern
colonies grew, the institution of slavery began to harden around them
(Hasday, 2007: 4).
They had to work in the plantation and get very low salaries. The black
people have no rights for their life. They were treated like animal. The slave
holders controlled them with savage punishments to keep them obedient to the
master. The master frequently did not treat them as human beings.
The segregation begins in the 1950s. The government makes the
separation of public facilities between the white people and the black people.
Davis in The History of Jim Crow: Creating Jim Crow states that:
In general the Jim Crow era in American history dates from the late 1890s,
when southern states begin systematically to codify in law and state
constitutional provisions the subordinate position of African Americans in
society. Most of these legal steps were aimed at separating the races in
public spaces (public schools, parks, accommodations and transportation)
and preventing adult black males from exercising the right to vote
(Hasday, 2007: 12)
The segregation makes the black people have no right. They cannot get the
equal rights in the society. They gets the unequal treatment from the white people
and the law.
The Help is a novel that reflects the black maid’s experience of racial
discrimination. This novel tells about the Black maids, Aibileen Clark, Minny
Jackson and Yule May who work for the white people in the South. They get
separation in their master’s house. They are living in the segregation. The

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segregation of black people and the white people have been written in Jim Crow
Law. The segregation included in the using of public facilities (school or
education, housing, bathroom, transportation), marriage, etc. The segregation of
the public facilities resulted in the prohibition of black people to use the white
people public facilities. The black people should use the colored public facilities.
If they break the rule, they will get punishment.
Set in Stockett’s native Jackson, MS, in the early 1960s, the first novels
adopts the complicated theme of blacks and whites living in a segregated
South. A century after the Emancipation Proclamation, black maids raised
white children and ran households but were paid poorly, often had to use
separate toilets from the family, and watched the children they cared for
commit bigotry. (Library Journal.com, 2012)
The novel tells about the complicated theme of the black people and the
white people living in segregation in the South. It describes how the black people
live in poverty.
The Help is chosen to be the object of this study because the black people
often suffer the racial discrimination from the white people. The black people also
suffer the separation to use public facilities in the society. They get the unequal
treatment because their race is different. Officially, the black people have been
declared to be free, but in the reality they are not free men yet. The racial
discrimination is experienced by three black maids (Aibileen Clark, Minny
Jackson and Yule May). Racial discrimination is a common issue which still can
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B. Problem Formulation
Related to the background of the research, there are three problems which
have been formulated in this study.
1. How are the major characters described in the novel?
2. How is the setting described in the novel?
3. How is the racial discrimination revealed through the characters and the
setting in Kathryn Stockett’s The Help?
C. Objectives of the Study
The discussion is mainly to answer the three main problems stated in the
problem formulations above. These objectives of the study are represented as
follow.
First is to describe the character and the characterization of the major
characters. They are Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson and Yule May. They are
three black maids who suffer the racial discrimination from their masters. The
racial discrimination is experienced by them.
Second is to describe how the setting reflects the racial discrimination. The
separation of public facilities is the racial discrimination. Setting of place, the
writer describes the difference of environment of life between the white people
and the black people. Setting of time, the writer describes the historical time
(Civil rights movement, the murdered of Medgar Evers, the member of NAACP
and Ku-Klux Klan). Social setting, the writer describes the segregation of
bathroom between the black maid and the master in the white’s house. The

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segregation of bathroom is a kind of discrimination in society of Jackson. The
black maid cannot use the same bathroom with their master.
Third is to describe the racial discrimination revealed through the major
characters and the setting. The racial discrimination can be reflected by the maid’s
experiences, the character and the characterization. The separation of public
facilities, legal discrimination and institutional discrimination can be reflected by
the setting.
D. Definition of Terms
To make clear some terms which are used in the research title, some terms
are defined as follows.
1.

Racial Discrimination
Based on Todorov’s Race and Racism. Theories of Race and Racism A

reader, races are distinguished from this individual’s viewpoint. The only
properties that count are the immediately visible ones: skin color, body hair, facial
configuration (Todorov in Back, 2000: 65).
Based on Feagin’s Racial and Ethnic Relations, discrimination is “actions
carried out by members of dominant groups, which have differential and harmful
impact on members of subordinates groups” (1977: 14-15)
According to Cashmore in Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies,
Racial Discrimination also known racialism, this is the active or behavioral
expression of racism and is aimed at denying members of certain groups equal
access to scarce and value resources. It goes beyond thinking unfavorably about

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groups or holding negative beliefs about them: it involves putting them into action
(2004: 345)
2. Social Setting
Genette in Narrative Discourse defined social setting refers to everything
related to the society’s life in a certain place, which is being described in the
story. It includes the customs, tradition, belief, ideology, the way of thinking and
behaving, and perhaps the social status of the character (1980: 33, 35).

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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW

This chapter consists of three basic points. The first point is the review on
the related studies, including the comment by the people about the novel.The
second point is the review on related theories. It describes the theories which are
used to this study. There are four theories that are used in this study: theory of
character and characterization, theory of setting, and theory of racial
discrimination. The last point is theoretical framework.
A. Review of Related Studies
The publication of literary works has often stimulated people’s interest to
read. They also give comment and responses on the author and the work itself.
Many kinds of readers’ responses toward the literary works are bearing some
criticism. In Theory of Literature, Rene Wellek and Austin Warren mentions that
“the criticism can be in the forms of appreciation, analysis, comment, or
judgment, and either objective or subjective suggestion” (1995: 336).
The writer presents a criticism in the form of appreciation to the study of
literary works, in this case, The Help. This part also consists of some related
studies that support the analysis. The writer took the topic of racial discrimination
to explore about how the black people receive unequal treatment from the white
people.
The Help tells the story about the black people who become the victims of
racial discrimination conducted by the white people. In the story, the main

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characters, Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson and Yule May, experience some bad
treatments from their master, the white, as they work as a maid.
The thesis which is written by Karina Prisdiani entitled the Racial
Discrimination in the 20th Century United States of America, says that
This thesis discusses one of August Wilson’s plays entitled Fences.This
play addresses the issue of racism toward the blacks practiced by the
whites in American society. Fences tells the conflict of African American
man (Troy Maxson) that has to deal with and fights against racism. Troy
Maxson has three conflicts. There are the conflict between Troy and his
employer, the conflict of Troy and major baseball league, and the conflict
between Troy and his son. By the conflict between Troy and his employer,
it can be seen that the blacks usually get lower job than the whites. The
discrimination toward the blacks also can be seen from Troy’s condition in
major baseball league. The last conflict is Troy’s disappointed to baseball
league can be seen through the conflict between Troy and his son. All of
Troy’s conflicts as seen in August Wilson’s Fences may reveal the racial
discrimination toward the blacks in 20th United States of America
(Prisdiani, 2011: x).
From the quotation, Prisdiani mentions that Troy Maxson is treated not
unfairly by the whites represented by his employer and the major baseball league.
Troy’s conflict with his employer shows the racial discrimination that the blacks
usually get lower job from the whites. The next racial discrimination toward the
blacks can also be seen from Troy’s condition in major baseball league.
The other related study is racism towards the Aborigines as reflected in the
setting in Sally Morgan’s My Place by Kartika. She states that
This thesis discusses an autobiographical novel of Sally Morgan. This
study focuses on the racial practices of racism towards the Aborigine
which is reflected in the setting. The practices of racism happening in a
certain time are racist government’s policies and that the practice of racism
is getting milder from time to time. The government made a very strict
racist policy in the early 1900s and in the 1950s the policy began to change
by giving equal rights for the Aborigines. The condition of Aborigines
living in the hard situation classifies them to the lower class while the

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condition of the white which are rich and powerful as they get advantages
by the racist policy grades them as the upper class (Kartika, 2004: x).
From the quotation, Kartika states that the Aborigines receive racial
discrimination because the policies are arranged by the goverment. The
government creates racist policy in the early 1900s to the 1950s. The practice of
racism toward the Aborigines happens in many aspects in the society. The
goverment policy legalizes the treatment of Aborigines as the lower class citizens
while the condition of the white as powerful upper class citizens. This
circumstance makes the whites look down on the Aborigines because they feel
superior and that they have higher status in society.
The other related study is the reaction of the African Americans in the
1960s seen through the main characters in Kathryn Stockett’s The Help by Rintan
Kusumaningtyas. She states that
The thesis discusses the reaction of the African Americans to the unequal
treatment. The Help reflects the black’s life in the 1960s, where the
unequal treatment can also be revealed. The blacks became the inferior
communities in America. The blacks were still treated unequally even
though their freedom was declared. The white still treats the blacks
inferiorly. This study shows their unequal experiences in the law, the
stereotype of the black’s characteristics and the inferiority. This study
focuses to find out how the blacks reacted differently by resisting or
accepting.. Some of blacks reacted bravely toward the treatments and the
rest of them remained silent. (Kusumaningtyas, 2012: x).
From the quotation, Kusumaningtyas states that the African Americans are
the inferior communities in America. The black people are still treated unequally
by the white people although their freedom was declared. The unequal treatments
still pervaded the lives of the black people. The treatments trigger their reactions
on the surface and the black people also have different reaction in responding to

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the unequal treatments. Some of the blacks reacted bravely toward the treatments
and the rest of them remained silent.
Kusumaningtyas’s thesis is different from this thesis where this thesis
discusses: The racial discrimination revealed through the major character and
setting in Kathryn Stockett’s The Help. Kusumaningtyas points out the reaction of
the African American toward the unequal treatment. How the black people shows
their different reaction to resisting or accepting.
This thesis, dealing with the racial discrimination revealed through the
major character and setting in Kathryn Stockett’s The Help is different from those
theses in some way. This thesis focuses on the racial discrimination toward the
black maid revealed through the black maid’s characters and the setting. The
racial discrimination can be seen in the black maid’s experience toward the
separation in their master’s house. The racial discrimination also can be seen in
the setting (setting of time, place and society).
B. Review of Related Theories
Basically, theories are needed as a tool to analyze and support the analysis.
There are some theories which will be used in this study. The theories are theory
of character and characterization, theory of setting, and theory of the racial
discrimination.
1.

Theory of Character and Characterization
One of the important elements in a work of literature is a character.

Characters hold an important role in literature since literature mostly talks about
humanity. Character is significant in literary works. The readers need to know the

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character of literary work. Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms- Seventh
Edition states that:
Character is a person presented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are
interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, dispositional and
emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say the dialogue and by
what they do the action. The ground in a character’s temperament and
moral nature for his speech and his actions constitutes his motivation
(1999: 20).
From the above quotation, the term “character” might refer to the person or
figure in a work of literature. Abrams tries to explain that character is the element
in literary works that gives information about the people involving in that literary
works. For this novel, character is an important element in literary works because
character is the main actors in the story. The position, motivation and struggle can
be analyzed through the character’s dialogues and actions.
According to Baldick in his book The Concise Oxford Dictionary of
Literary Terms, character is different from characterization. “Characterization is
the way in which a character is presented. Therefore, character is the result while
characterization is the process” (1991: 83). Although character is different from
characterization, they are related to each other and cannot be separated.
When talking about character and characterization, the readers know that
they have connection and they cannot be separated. Murphy, in his Understanding
Unseen: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas
Students, shows nine ways of presenting characters in literary works (1972: 161173):

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a. Personal description
The author gives a description on a person’s appearance and clothes. The
readers are given the details about the appearance of the characters. For example
parts of the body, skin color, hair, and the clothes he or she wears.
b. Character as seen by another
The author gives a description about the characters through the opinions,
comments, views, and attitudes of the other characters. The readers can get a
reflected image of the character.
c. Speech
The author can give us information about the character through what the
person says. For example, whenever a person speaks, whenever he is in a
conversation with another, whenever he puts foward an opinion, he is giving us
some clue to his character.
d. Past life
The author can provide a clue to events that help to shape characteristics
by giving the reader the character’s past life. It enables the readers to analyze the
motivation that the characters have when he or she has particular characteristics or
does something special.
e. Conversations of others
Through the conversations of other people and the things they says about
him/her.
f. Reactions

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Person reacts to various situations and events can also give the reader a
clue to a person’s character.
g. Direct comment
The author directly describes and gives comments on the characters. This
is the easiset way for the reader to understand about characteristics of a person
because the reader will know what exactly the author wants to reveal.
h. Thoughts
The author can give the direct knowledge to the readers of what a person is
thinking about. Such thing cannot be seen but can be represented through the
character’s speech and attitudes.
i. Mannerism
The author can describe a person’s mannerism, habits, or idiosyncrasies
which may also tell us something about his character (1972: 161- 173).
That is how the author makes the readers aware of the personalities and the
characteristics of the people that the author writes about in his or her books. The
readers will understand why the characters do a certain thing and by doing that the
emotional feeling of the readers will be also concerned when they read the story.
2.

Theory of Setting
Setting is one of the important parts of a literary work especially novel. As

Gill states in Mastering English Literature, setting can cover the places in the
literary work, the social life, the behavior of the society, or the atmosphere (1995:
148). It means that the setting is not always about the place but it can be about the
social setting of the literary work. It can also show the mood of the characters,

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situation of the character or symbolically it can reflect personality (1995: 149).
There is also a relation between setting and events. Sometimes the atmosphere in
the novel can reflect the feeling of the characters. It also can reflect the situation
that is encountered by the characters in the novel.
These words make clear the relation between setting and events. The
seasons and the landscape are not pleasant, incidental decorations of the
novel; they shape and reflect the feelings of the characters (Gill, 1995:
150).
As stated by Gill, the setting can also reveal the writer’s point of view
about the world or a certain society.
They create the atmosphere, landscape, the condition of houses to convey
the condition of the society and their perspective about the world. There
are some novelists who create settings for the purpose of giving their
views about the world. Such a novelist creates landscape, townscape,
interiors of houses and the weather in order to convey his or her particular
feelings and views about life. A reader can look at these, to put it, what the
author thinks about things (Gill, 1995: 153).
As noted before that the setting can reveal the condition of a certain
society, Langland states in her book entitled Society in the Novel that the society is
a concept and a construct in fiction. In the past, the society itself is considered as
an imitation of an outside world (1984: 4).
From the theory above, it can be seen that the setting is not just a matter of
the place or the time when an event takes place. It also deals with the situation of
a place, the social behavior, etc where an event occurs. The setting also deals with
the society. In addition, the society in the novel itself is known as the
representation of the real world. Then, the setting also has a relation with the
outside world and it is the imitation of the real world.

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Murphy argues that the awareness of the setting of the story will help
towards the understanding of the book (1972: 143). Murphy’s explanation of
setting is as follows:
a. Time
Murphy states that there are four kinds of setting of time. The first is the
Present Time. In the setting of present time, a writer may choose to write a book
about his own time, about the things that are happening around him (1972: 143).
The second is Past Time. In this setting of time a writer may select “to go
backwards in time” to write about the past events, to clarify the past of his reader
(1972: 144). The third is the Future Time. In the Future of time a writer may use
his imagination to take his reader into the future (1972: 144).
b. Place
Murphy states that there are three kinds of setting of place. The first is
Familiar Place. A writer may decide “to set his story in a place which he considers
familiar to many of his readers” (1972: 145). He can choose either from
experiences or by close acquaintance. The second is Unfamiliar Place. The writer
tries “to set his story in a place that is likely to be fairly unfamiliar to many of the
readers of his own nation (1972: 147).
Simms in The Longman Dictionary of Poetic Terms utters that the setting
is the environment including physical place, historical period, and cultural class of
literary work and describe the physical manifestation of the place in which the
action occurs. A general setting creates the entire frame of the work and specific
settings are attached to the various episodes within the work (1989: 2227).

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From the theory above, the writer considers that the setting is not just a
matter of the place or the time when a phenomenon happen. The setting also deals
with the situation of place, the social behavior where an event occurs.
3.

Theory of Racial Discrimination
Based on the International Encyclopedia of Ethics, the definition of

discrimination is different treatment based on physical and social affiliation. It has
a negative impact on the human’s moral behavior (Roth, 1995: 231). The clear
example of discrimination can be seen in the United States. There are several
races that experienced discrimination such as racial, sexual, and religious
discrimination. Besides there is also discrimination against certain cultural groups,
and against the disabled. There are a lot of kinds of discrimination that can be
found in the US. And, the cruelest discrimination is the discrimination against the
African – American (Roth, 1995: 231- 232).
In International Encyclopedia of Ethics, Joan Ferrante’s Sociology: A
Global Perspective (1992), discrimination is “the unequal treatment, whether
intentional or unintentional, of individuals or groups on the basic of group
membership that is unrelated to merit, ability, or past performance” (1995: 232).
Ferrante tries to say that discrimination is also an unequal treatment because it
does not have relation to the marriage status, the people’s ability and their past
experience. It can be said that the discrimination is only a physical appearance.
In Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic, Cashmore says that racial
discrimination also known racialism, this is the active or behavioral expression of
racism and is aimed at denying members of certain groups equal access to scarce

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and value resources. It goes beyond thinking unfavorably about groups or holding
negative beliefs about them: it involves putting them into action (2004: 345).
From the quotation, racial discrimination is known as racialism. Racial
discrimination is the active or behavioral expression or action of racism to
conduct the other. The white people have negative beliefs to the black people.
They thought that the black people are criminal persons.
There are two types of discrimination; those are legal discrimination and
institutional discrimination. Legal discrimination is the treatment of the law
toward the citizens which is unequal, while the institutional discrimination
(racism) is the unequal treatment based on the race in social custom. The
institutional discrimination includes segregation between race, redlining by
financial institutions, and the continuous practice of low- paying job experienced
by the minority group member. The minority itself means any group whose
position is in the disadvantage point (Roth, 1995: 232). We can see whether a
person or a group of people is in the lower position from the reaction or their
behavior toward certain group of people that considers as the majority people.
Therefore, the writer knows that the minority are treated unequally by the majority
in the legal and institutional discrimination.
Racism can develop the segregation. Segregation is a condition when
people from different race and ethnic groups are separated physically and socially
by custom or by law. Segregated societies carefully regulate the types of contact
allowed between the dominant and the minority groups. For example, subordinate

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group members are not allowed to live where the dominant group live (Light,
Keller and Calhoun, 1989: 287: 288).
C. Review on History of the Racial Discrimination
The literary work which is analyzed is The Help. The Help is a novel that
reflects the racial discrimination toward the black people. The writer will review
the history of the racial discrimination toward the black people. The history of the
black people as slave to understand the chronology of the black people life in the
United States. The history begins in the 17th to the 18th century. The life of Black
people in USA begins when they are kidnapped from their origin, Africa, by the
white people. They are forced to work as slaves for the colonist in Europe and
America. In short, they are sold as slaves, in which they are not subject but object
that they had no voice to speak up their rights (William, 1998: 35). They have no
rights for their life.
The slave-masters do not consider them as human beings, so it is hard for
the slaves to get a proper life. The master forbides the slaves to possess property,
to leave the master’s house without permission, to be out of the dark, to
congregate with other slaves except in church, to carry firearms, to strike with
white men even for self-defence, etc. They are forbidden to testify in court
against white people. If a slave master kills a slave during punishment, it is not
considered as a crime. It is terrible for the slaves in America (Current, 1979:340).
The black people are treated rudely by white people. The black people get
injustice in their life.

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The end of the slavery was marked by the civil war. Then three
amendments made to the United States Constitution. It was very important to the
civil rights movement. In the Thirteenth Amendment, the slavery is abolished.
The freedom can be owned by the slave.
The Thirteenth Amendment ratified on December 6, 1865, abolished
slavery. Section 1 states: neither slavery or nor involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction (Hasday, 2007: 8-9).
Then, the Fourteenth Amendment explains about the protection of the
rights of freed slaves and the Fifteenth Amendment explains about the protection
of black’s voting rights. It states:
The fourteenth Amendment, ratified on July 9,1868, protected the rights of
freed slaves: all persons born or naturalized in the United States and the
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of
the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction
the equal protection of the laws. The fifteenth Amendment, ratified on
February 3,1870, protected blacks’ voting right: the right of citizens of the
United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States
or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of
servitude (Hasday, 2007: 9).
The three amendments are law that protect the black people’s life. The
black people can get their freedom.
In 1896, Plessy vs. Ferguson had written about the “separate but equal”.
Although there is constitution that promised ‘all men are created equal’ that does
not work for black. That constitution was made only for the white. This practice
lasts for long, but after Emancipation Declaration, the slavery is abolished.
Although black is now called ‘citizen’ they still had no right. Many white people

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feel that they suddenly become poor after the slavery abolishment. They have to
cope with poverty and they cannot accept that the ex-slaves now should be
citizens and equal to their former master. The whites blame the blacks for their
misery and they tend to hate the black. The white people who mostly hate the
black try to make the black ‘stay in their place’. (studentshelp.de.2003)
As time goes by, there was another form of discrimination toward the
black people in the United States during the 1930s until 1950s called segregation.
The segregation almost covered all aspect of life-form education to the use of
public properties and places (Thernstrom and Thernstrom, 1997: 61) Segregation
covered many aspects in the black people’s life.
Segregation was closely related to Jim Crow Law, a law which separated
the black people and the white people in society especially public facilities. Davis
in The History of Jim Crow: Creating Jim Crow states that:
In general the Jim Crow era in American history dates from the late 1890s,
when southern states begin systematically to codify in law and state
constitutional provisions the subordinate position of African Americans in
society. Most of these legal steps were aimed at separating the races in
public spaces (public schools, parks, accommodations and transportation)
and preventing adult black males from exercising the right to vote
(Hasday, 2007: 12)
From the quotation above, Jim Crow Law