Analysis of Social and Inner Conflicts in Kathryn Stockett’s the Help.

ABSTRACT

Di dalam skripsi ini, saya menganalisis konflik yang dialami tokoh utama
dalam novel berjudul The Help karya Kathryn Stockett. Ada 2 jenis konflik yang
ditemukan dalam novel ini, yaitu konflik sosial dan konflik internal. Penyebab dari
konflik keseluruhan adalah diskriminasi ras.
Konflik pertama dan kedua terjadi antara Skeeter, seorang wanita berkulit
putih yang ingin membuat buku mengenai perlakuan kulit putih terhadap asisten
rumah tangga, dengan Aibileen dan Minny. Mereka awalnya keberatan untuk
diwawancarai, namun pada akhirnya mereka menyetujuinya. Tiga konflik sosial
lain terjadi antara Skeeter dan Hilly, yaitu wanita berkulit putih yang diskriminatif.
Dua konflik internal terjadi karena rasa cemas pada tokoh dalam menghadapi
konsekuensi tindakan mereka.
Melalui konflik-konflik yang terjadi, pengarang dengan jelas memaparkan
keadaan Amerika Serikat pada tahun 1960an dimana terjadi diskriminasi ras
terhadap kulit hitam.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................

i

TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................ ii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study...................................................................................
Statement of the Problem ..................................................................................
Purpose of the Study .........................................................................................
Method of Research ..........................................................................................
Organization of the Thesis ................................................................................

1
3
3
3
4

CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL AND INNER CONFLICTS IN
KATHRYN STOCKETT’S THE HELP ......................................................

5

CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 17
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................... 20
APPENDICES
Synopsis of The Help ...................................................................................... 21
Biography of Kathryn Stockett ....................................................................... 22

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study
In 1960s, racial discrimination was a great issue in the United States of
America. Racial discrimination is discrimination, unfair treatment or bias against
someone or a group of people on the basis of their race. (“Racial Discrimination”).
Due to the racial discrimination, the whites made a separation of AfricanAmericans in the United States of America in the form of segregation.
Segregation is a system that keeps different groups separate from each other,
either through physical dividers or social pressures and laws. “Separate but equal”
was the phrase used to describe the racial segregation of the blacks and the whites.
There were separated bathroom, schools, churches, library, restaurants and so on.
The whites were very discriminative towards the colored people, which made the
blacks feel intimidated by the whites. (“Segregation”)
One of the white American writers who wrote novel about racial
discrimination is Kathryn Stockett. Stockett is a white woman who is willing to
understand the life of African-American maids. Being raised by her old black
maid, she is curious about their life because she has a stronger bound with her old
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black maid rather than her own mother. Moreover, the blacks has been raising the
white children, but the whites underestimate the blacks. She wants to understand

how they feel when being underestimated and unfairly treated (in 1960s). She has
the ability to show the relationship between the black maids and the whites
masters. She wrote her masterpiece, The Help, based on her childhood experience.
She was inspired by her grandparent’s black maid who had been working with her
family since she was a child. The novel was published in 2009, and was made film
in 2011. The novel turned out to be The New York Times best seller in August
2011 and has sold five million copies. Her other works are Made in Hollywood
(2005) and Old South, New South. (2014) (“Kathryn Stockett”).
Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, which I have chosen to analyse in this thesis,
is a novel about racial discrimination that happened in the United States of
America. Set in 1960s, the story is about some black women who work in the
white homes of the South, and a white woman who wants to know the point of
view of the blacks. From this novel, we can see how the whites treat the blacks,
and we can also understand the situation of how the blacks feel when
underestimated by the whites.
As the novel deals with the relationship between the white and black
people, the most outstanding literary element is conflict. There are three types of
conflicts, which are: physical conflict, social conflict, and inner conflict. Physical
conflict is a struggle between man and the physical world. Social conflict is a
struggle between man and man. Inner conflict is a struggle between desires within

a person. (Shaw 14). The conflicts that I will analyse are social conflicts and inner

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conflicts. The social and the inner conflicts of the major characters in the novel
help to convey the social issues.

Statement of the Problem
The problems I am going to discuss are:
1. What kinds of conflict happen in the novel?
2. What is the cause of each conflict?
3. What is the resolution of each conflict?

Purpose of the Study
Based on the above problems, the purposes of this study are:
1. To show the kinds of conflict happen in the novel.
2. To show the cause of each conflict.
3. To show the resolution of each conflict.

Method of Research
The method of research that I use is library research. I begin the research
by reading Stockett’s The Help. In order to analyze the primary text, I read some
information and materials from the Internet that can support my analysis and help
me writing the thesis. And then, I draw some conclusions of the analysis which
has been discussed.

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Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of three chapters, preceded by the Acknowledgements,
the Table of Contents and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which
consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the
Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis.
In Chapter Two, I analyze the social and inner conflicts of the major characters in
Kathryn Stockett’s The Help. This thesis ends with the Bibliography and the
Appendices, consisting of the Synopsis of the Novel and the Biography of the
Author.

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

After analyzing the social and inner conflicts of Kathryn Stockett’s The
Help, I would like to draw some conclusions.
In the novel, there are five social conflicts and three inner conflicts, all of
which are solved. The first two social conflicts are between Skeeter and Aibileen,
and Skeeter and Minny. Skeeter, a white woman who wants to help the black
maids by writing a book, wants to interview Aibileen and Minny, but at the
beginning they refuse to help. The cause of these conflicts is that Aibileen, Minny
and the other black maids are afraid of being caught if they tell the truth about the
whites treating them, and about what they feel towards their unfair treatment. The
conflicts show that at that time, the blacks do not have freedom; they are not
allowed to express their feelings.
The other three social conflicts are between Skeeter and Hilly. Hilly
represents a white woman who is very discriminative towards the blacks, whereas

Skeeter represents a white woman who is not discriminative and wants to help the
blacks. Skeeter feels threatened because Hilly wants to tell people that Skeeter is

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helping the blacks’ civil right movements by writing a book about the perspective
of the black maids. Skeeter also does not agree with the idea about separated
bathroom that Hilly likes so much. From these three conflicts between Skeeter and
Hilly, it can be seen that the whites who want to help the blacks are also facing a
problem. The whites who wants to help the blacks’ civil right movements are said
to be traitors at that time. Her only friends are her parents and the black maids.
From all the social conflicts, it is obvious that the cause of the conflicts is racial
discrimination.
The inner conflicts in this novel are experienced by Aibileen, the black
maid, and Skeeter, the white woman. The first inner conflict happens within
Aibileen herself. She wants to help Skeeter to write the book about the perspective
of her towards the whites, but she is afraid if she will be caught for telling the
truth. She is afraid of losing her kids and being sent to jail. From this conflict, the
reader can notice how fearful she is of the consequences she might get if people

find out. The other two inner conflicts happen within Skeeter herself. Skeeter, the
white woman who wants to help the black maids through her book is in a
dilemma. Helping the black maids is not an easy thing to do. It is very dangerous
for her if people find out that she is helping the black maids. She does not want to
put herself and Aibileen into troubles. It is even riskier if the whites are found
supporting the blacks’ civil right movements. At that time, there is a law which
forbids the whites to do anything related to supporting the blacks. Obviously, the
inner conflicts have a close relationship with the social conflicts. It can be said
that the inner conflicts have caused the social conflicts to happen.

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From analysing the conflicts, I am of the opinion that the cause of all the
conflicts in this novel is racial discrimination. The racial discrimination in 1960s
is a very serious issue. The whites feel that they have the power. They feel they
are superior compared to the blacks, so that they can do anything to the blacks.
They even treat the blacks in such unfair ways. The blacks become the victims
and thus suffer a lot from the whites’ discriminative actions, but they can do
nothing to help themselves. It is obvious that racial discrimination brings about no

benefits but suffering to the people being discriminated. The phrase “Separate but
Equal” is not a good solution because it still discriminates the blacks. Thus, I
agree to the idea that all kinds of discrimination should be terminated.
The conflicts in the novel give me an understanding about the racial
discrimination that happened in the 1960s, and make me understand the situation
about how the black people were treated by the whites. Through Skeeter, Stockett
also shows us that not all the white people in the United States of America are
discriminative. According to Stockett, the blacks should speak up their mind no
matter how dangerous the risks are, with the help of people like Skeeter. I think
Kathryn Stockett has succeeded in describing the racial discrimination in the
1960s through the conflicts of the characters in her novel The Help.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Text:
Stockett, Kathryn. The Help. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2009. Print.

References :
“Kathryn Stockett.” famousauthors.org. 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
“Kathryn Stockett.” goodreads.com. 2015. 17 Sep. 2015.
“Racial Discrimination.” collinsdictionary.com. 2015. Web. 15 Sep. 2015.
“Segregation.” investopedia.com. 2015. Web. 17 Sep. 2015.
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill
Book Company, 1976. Print.
Stockett, Kathryn. Too Little Too Late. In Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, pp.
448-451. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2009. Print.

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