Nature v. Nurture: the Help - blog 1

            Over the past two weeks, I have started to read the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Stockett captured me from the first page, and it was hard to limit myself to reading only chapters one through six for this first blog. Slavery is an issue that we have learned about for years, probably starting in sixth grade. However, this is the first time I have been able to look at it from a different perspective than the history books that fed us only facts. The struggles that blacks (I was told that the correct term is no longer African Americans, and is now blacks) faced make me cringe, but it they have also has given me insight to how brave and strong these women were. One of the parts in the book that has stuck me most is the topic of having a separate bathroom for the help. In my opinion, that is outrageous. It is saying directly to someone who cooks your meals, keeps your house in one piece and practically raises your child themselves cannot use the same bathroom as you. It is ridiculous and completely tears away at the dignity that the help possesses far more of than the white people for which they are ‘employed.’

            Miss Celia is who Minny, a black woman who works as help, is employed by. What seems strange to me about Miss Celia is that she is so unsure of herself and everything in her life. I cannot figure out if she is simply ignorant, or actually cares for the help unlike the other white women in the book. She does not mind what Minny does, and even gets cooking lessons from her; showing that she looks up to and finds respect in Minny. I greatly question her character. I cannot figure out how Miss Celia would act towards Minny had she been living around the other white women we get to know in the book. Would she act in the same caring manner towards Minny as she does now? Or would she be just as rude and demeaning to her as the other women do to their help? In other words, would her nature or her nurture prevail? It is such a difficult question to answer, but I believe it is the outcome of both being imposed upon us.

Our natural reaction to people is to accept them, but to also protect ourselves. We want to see the best in people and encourage that part of them, but we always make sure we are not harmed in the process. Nurture can completely change who we are because of how we are raised. We definitely see this happening throughout Miss Skeeter’s life. She was brought up by a white mother who had help, but Miss Skeeter had a different relationship with Constantine than her mother did. Miss Skeeter saw the good in Constantine that the other women looked past. She was brought up from when she was born by Constantine, and so she learned from her. Her nurture was by her own mother, who taught her that help was necessary and that the help were lesser than the white people. But, she was also brought up by Constantine who told her with just one look that she was perfect the way she was; she encouraged her in every way that her mother did not. She grew up to respect the help, and find trouble in accepting the idea of a separate bathroom for the help. This was simply because the good side that Constantine brought out of Miss Skeeter was stronger than the side her mother tried to build for her.

So far, only eighty-nine pages have told me so much. This book has already shown me the strength the help possesses, and the weakness the white women have. It has also taught me the effects of nurture and how one way someone was raised can completely overpower another based on their natural persona.