The Help
Can one person make a difference?
Whether it be in literature or real life one person can always make a difference. The question is very opinionated and the term "make a difference" is very broad so there is not a right or wrong answer. Most would argue that there are countless examples in history of a single man making a difference such as Martin Luther King jr. or Gandhi, however, others could argue that it was the army of people behind that person that made the real difference.
In The Help Aibileen make's a difference in the life of Mae Molby Leefolt. Aibileen goes as far as calling her, "her special baby."Mae Molby is neglected by her own mother and needs a supportive adult figure in her life. Aibileen does everything she can to raise Mae Molby's confidence and to make her a good person. She teaches her about civil rights and racial equality hoping to create change in the bigoted town of Jackson Mississippi. Mae Molby needed Aibileen to make a difference in her life but Aibileen needed Mae Molby as well. Aibileen's own son died tragically in an accident at work only months before she took the job with the Leefolts and Mae Molby does a good job being a physical replacement. These two individuals, undoubtably, make a difference in each other's lives.
Here are three links to pages explaining how one person can, or can not, make a difference:
http://www.aikentdc.org/One_Person_Can_Make_a_Difference.pdf
http://www.success.com/article/the-power-of-one-one-person-one-idea-to-make-a-difference
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2013/opinion/letters/09/27/one-person-can-make-a-difference/
Your blog is really great.I liked the way you began with the explanation of "making the difference" as well as supporting this idea giving examples from the history,Martin Luther King and others.The description of Aibileen and her "special baby" is awesome, especially when you talk how one of them changed another's life.Great job.
ReplyDeleteI thought you did an excellent job on this blog entry. I loved all the examples you gave. I thought it was a good idea to address how one person making a difference could be interpreted in all different ways. Aibileen was a perfect example of someone who made a difference, Miss Leefolt acts like Mae Molby is nothing but a pest in the first few chapters I read. Aibileen was the only one that truely acted like she loved Mae Molby. Aibileen cared for Mae Molby as if she was her own child.
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