Discussion Topic
Hilly's background and motivations in The Help
Summary:
Hilly, a character in The Help, is motivated by her desire for social status and power. Coming from a privileged background, she is determined to maintain racial segregation and her dominance over the African American maids. Her actions are driven by a deep-seated belief in racial superiority and a fear of losing her societal position.
What is Hilly's past in The Help?
Hilly is a character in this novel who, from her earliest introduction, is clearly shown to be the vain and prejudiced individual that she is throughout the whole novel. Note the way that Aibileen introduces her when we first see Hilly at Aibileen's employee's house:
Miss Hilly got a round face and dark brown hair in the beehive. Her skin be olive colour, with freckles and no moles. She wear a lot of red plaid. And she getting heavy in the bottom. Today, since it's so hot, she wearing a red sleeveless dress with no waist to it. She one a those grown ladies that stilll dress like a little girl with big bows and maching hats and such. She aint no favourite.
As the novel continues we discover pertinent bits of her past that are relevant to the present of the novel, especially that help us to explain her...
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animosity towards the woman that Minnie comes to work for. Hilly was going to marry Johnny until Celia came on the scene and stole him from her. This of course means that Hilly hates Celia with a passion and will never forgive her.
Hilly Holbrook has been friends with Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan and Elizabeth Leefolt since their elementary school days. Hilly and Skeeter were college roommates at Ole Miss for two years, before Hilly left school to marry William Holbrook. (Skeeter was the only one in the group who stayed on and graduated from college.) Hilly also went steady with Johnny Foote before she dated William. This explains some of her animosity towards Celia Rae Foote, Johnny’s new, flamboyant, and somewhat ditzy wife. The rest of the explanation is that Hilly established herself as the head of the Jackson Junior League and as a leader in white society in the city. She doesn’t tolerate substandard individuals coming into her circle. She also holds some definite opinions about keeping white and black people separate, especially when it comes to using bathrooms.