How Does Skeeter s Mother Plan to Continue Controlling Skeeter Even After Her Death
Created: 10/16/10
Replies: 8
Posted Mar. 19, 2011 
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Join Date: 10/11/10
Posts: 359
Do you think Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character?
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 ultimatum she gives to Constantine is untenable; and most of her interaction with Skeeter is critical. Do you think Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character? Why?
Posted Mar. 19, 2011 | | |
judyk
Join Date: 10/16/10
Posts: 13
RE: Do you think Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character?
I found her mostly unsympathetic. She clearly had issues which caused her to act and react the way she did, but I could not get past her victimhood, her weaknesses, etc. That may be harsh but if she had been my mother I would have had trouble with her.
Posted Mar. 23, 2011 | | |
Join Date: 10/16/10
Posts: 14
RE: Do you think Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character?
I found her mostly unsympathetic for the all the ways JudyK mentioned, but I also think that the fact that she is such a product of her closed-minded times gives her some sympathy. Yes, she could have been kinder to Skeeter and not treated Constantine the she does, but you could argue that she was acting the way she believed a well-brought-up Southern woman acts. In this way, and in her mind, she has some justification. She doesn't have the gumption Skeeter has and though her self-victimization IS nauseating, you can see where it comes from. Also, and I may not be remembering this correctly, but isn't it intimated that she has a rather cold marriage? Couldn't that be a contributing factor to her coldness to Skeeter and her treatment of Constantine?
Posted Apr. 13, 2011 | | |
Join Date: 04/13/11
Posts: 20
RE: Do you think Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character?
I found her to be rather "unsympathetic". I know that she was a product of her times and the way she was raised but I still felt her to be somewhat uncaring for her daughter.
Posted Apr. 14, 2011 | | |
Join Date: 04/14/11
Posts: 2
RE: Do you think Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character?
I found her to be quite "unsympathetic" but it's not surprising for women of that era to have the reactions the way she did. Growing up in the era, you didn't think for yourself, you reiterated what you were taught by your parents and grandparents and that was to be accepted at the 100% truth. I actually felt sorry for her that she was so unsympathetic because I think it affected her life in very negative ways and she missed out on a lot by being the way she was.
Posted Apr. 21, 2011 | | |
Join Date: 04/21/11
Posts: 31
RE: Do you think Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character?
I read this book quite a while ago, but agree with the others who felt she did not treat Skeeter well. I think she really was a product of her times and although this does not excuse her, it helps to understand her.
Posted May. 19, 2011 | | |
Join Date: 05/15/11
Posts: 10
RE: Do you think Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character?
I want to say she was a rather unsympathetic character, only when her illness was getting the best of her did she ease up on Skeeter. I don't buy for a second that she cared for Constantine when she drove Constantine's daughter away. She has a daughter too and she should have felt some empathy with what Constantine and her estranged daughter was going through. She cared about Skeeter, but she could not tolerate the scandal that might come about with having Constantine's daughter around. To me, that is not a sympathetic person.
Posted Jun. 21, 2011 | | |
Join Date: 06/20/11
Posts: 4
RE: Do you think Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character?
I thought that she was a sympathetic character.
I think that Skeeter's mother is someone who would never express in public her true feelings on the subject of racism, since appearance in everything to her. I believe that she did not agree with the general airs of her group of friends, and I considered that her real problem with Constantine, was that Constantine should have known how important this was to her. She was horrified at the prospect of her friends finding out, so she fired Constantine in order to prevent anyone from knowing. It must have taken all that Skeeter's mother had left to let her finally know. When you think about it, it must have occurred to Skeeter, as well as her mother that her friends treated her as if she were a black maid once she had cancer.
Posted Jul. 18, 2011 | | |
Join Date: 04/28/11
Posts: 71
RE: Do you think Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character?
I find Skeeter's mom to be an unsympathetic character who was spineless. She inherently knew it was wrong, but yet did nothing to overcome this. Perhaps if she had, others in her clique would have followed her lead. No backbone = no sympathy.
Source: https://www.bookbrowse.com/booktalk/messages.cfm?threadid=B6C5F0F3-FFAC-581F-C885791224BFD162
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