Detailed plot synopsis reviews of The Help |
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Meanwhile, Minny is getting beat up by her husband Leroy, and Miss Celia notices the bruises. But Minny refuses to talk about it. Suddenly she sees a naked white man outside who is pulling on his p_nis and staring at Miss Celia. Minny goes out to fight the naked masturbating man and wacks him with a broom. The naked masturbating man throws Minny to the ground but then Miss Celia beats the crap out of him with a metal poker. He flees with his p_nis intact.
This episode seems to have nothing to do with anything else in this story. I'm guessing it's an event meant to help Miss Celia and Minny bond together. It's never referenced again in the story.
Minny tells the story of how Miss Hilly wanted Minny to come and work for her. When Minny refuses, Miss Hilly spread a lie that Minny was a thief so no one else would hire her. Minny got a revenge by making Miss Hilly a special chocolate pie. After Miss Hilly ate two pieces, Minny told Miss Hilly that she was actually eating Minny's shit. Miss Hilly was enraged to have eaten Minny's shit.
Click here to see the rest of this reviewMinny worried that Celia would hear this story and fire Minny. But Celia and her husband Johnny tell Minny that they are so grateful to her that she has a job with them for life. They actually cry together, all three of them! Racial harmony, especially from Minny who hates white people on general principle, is very unexpected.
Stuart returns and tells Skeeter that after visiting his old girlfriend he has decided he wants to come back to Skeeter. Skeeter refuses to take him back and then takes him back. Heh heh heh. She knows she's ugly and isn't going to get anything better.
Skeeter learns why her beloved maid Constantine left. Constantine gave birth to a white child named Lulabelle many years ago even though both parents were black. Lulabelle didn't fit in because whites didn't accept her and her whiteness repelled black people. So Constantine many years ago put her up for adoption. Fast forward 25 years and Lulabelle comes to town to visit her long lost mother Constantine. She comes in while Skeeter's mom is having a white woman's meeting and Lulabelle tells the group she wishes to join. But when Skeeter's mom finds out Lulabelle is actually black, she gets angry with Lulabelle and tells her she needs to leave immediately. Lulabelle spits in the face of Skeeter's Mom. Skeeter's Mom refuses to let Lulabelle stay in her home which upsets Constantine (apparently Constantine was living in the Skeeter home). So Lulabelle left and Constantine moved away to be with Lulabelle.
This is why Skeeter's mom was a great villain. But was she really a villain? She treated Lulabelle poorly because she was black, and that was wrong. On the other hand, Lulabelle shows up out of nowhere, comes into Mrs. Skeeter's home, makes demands and spits in her face. I don't think any normal person would want Lulabelle in their home.
From the way Constantine's departure was talked about so mysteriously I thought something terrible had happened. Maybe Constantine had been arrested. Maybe Constantine had been killed. Maybe Lulabelle was really the child of Skeeter's father. Nope. Mrs. Skeeter simply kicked her out of her house. It was a real let down to a story we were teased with for several hundred pages.
So that's why Constantine left, to be with her daughter, and Constantine died shortly thereafter. Mystery solved. Skeeter treated her mother like she was Hitler. It seemed to be an overreaction.
Skeeter tells Stuart that she has written a book about the plight of black maids in towns.
