Like Hilly, Skeeter's mother is a prime example of someone deeply flawed yet somewhat sympathetic. She seems to care for Skeeter-and she also seems to have very real feelings for Constantine. Yet the ultamatim she gives to Constantine is untenable; and most of her interaction with Skeeter is critical. In my personal opinion, I think that Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic person. She may be critical towards Skeeter but I believe when a mother is critical to her daughter, she cares. I think she only wants the best for her daughter and tries to look out for her. When she is critical, I don't think she is trying to hurt her feelings I think she is trying to help her like every mother would do. I can understand Skeeter's frustration with her mother sometimes because she feels that no matter what she does is never good enough. I don't think her mother means to make her feel like that. Personally, I feel that if a mother is not critical towards her daughter, the mother doesn't care about what her daughter does, or wears, etc. Therefore, I believe that Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic person.
I think that Skeeter's mother really liked Constantine. Constantine was a great maid and did so much for their family. She raised Skeeter and Skeeter looked up to her as someone she could talk to about anything. Constantine always gave her the best advice on whatever problem Skeeter had. They had a close relationship. When Skeeter's mother fired Constantine I think it killed her inside. She probably felt like she had no choice because she was surrounded by a business group of woman who were bossing Constantine around. It seemed like she was pressured into doing it so that she could show the other woman she was in control. And later on in life, she sent her son to go find Constantine and hire her back but Constantine died. That to me shows that she missed Constantine and felt sorry for the ultimatum she gave her. That's another way I feel that she is a sympathetic person.
I agree with you that Skeeter's mom is not as unsympathetic as she appears. Her mother does want the best for her daughter and for the time period, being a successful young woman meant getting married and having children. That's why Skeeter's mother is trying to be so involved in Skeeter's dating life and trying to make her more appealing to potential husbands. I understand Skeeter's frustration in just wanting to live her life how she wants and it is difficult for her mother to connect with that. Skeeter is a young woman in a time period of change and for most parents, they couldn't connect with that. Her mother's way of showing that she does care about her daughter is by trying to help her.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that 'if a mother isn't critical of her daughter she doesn't care'. It's true that mother won't agree with everything her daughter does but she's supposed to be accepting of her daughters choices. If her daughter wanted to dress a certain way or do her hair a certain way then her mother should be okay with it and not comment because this is what her daughter wants even if its not considered 'acceptable or normal'. I suppose that this isn't really an easy or realistic thing to do at this time period. It would take a very special person to accept that their child was gay or anything along those lines at this time and that shows with Skeeter and her mother when they have their talk about 'unnatural thoughts and curing tea'. So yes, Skeeter's mother is more sympathetic then she appears and more understanding then she appears to be but her mother still doesn't really understand but it's true that she really does care about her daughter.
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