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Did it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart’s faults?

Created: 10/15/10

Replies: 6

Posted Mar. 18, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Did it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart’s faults?

Did it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart’s faults so that she can get married, and that it’s not until he literally gets up and walks away that the engagement falls apart?


Posted Mar. 23, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
SarahD451

Join Date: 10/16/10

Posts: 14

RE: Did it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart’s faults?

YES! But I understand why she does. She wants to fit in with her mother and friends' notion of a proper Southern marriage/life, and Stuart fits the bill. Skeeter is a fascinating character because though she sees wrong and strives to correct it in her way, she is not a revolutionary. There is clearly still a part of her that wants to fit into a life her mother and her friends, like Hilly, would approve of. Also, she clearly wants a relationship and, though she doesn't want to quite believe it, she has become convinced that she will never marry because of how she looks. All reason goes out the window when Stuart turns up because she sees this as her chance to both be married but also to be accepted by her mother and friends.

What some would read as inconsistency in Skeeter's character is, in my mind, merely an example of her multi-dimensional character. If Stockett had made Skeeter a fervent civil rights activist, she would have destroyed the subtlety of the novel. None of the woman like Hilly would have allowed for someone so obvious in their beliefs to stay among them, so Skeeter's partial willingness to play along allows her to stay in this society, which is helpful to us as readers. We are able to see how things operate behind the scenes, and how day-to-day people, not just activists, agitate for change.


Posted Mar. 23, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
guntak

Join Date: 10/20/10

Posts: 23

RE: Did it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart’s faults?

The poor woman, Skeeter, had no feelings of self worth. Combined with being expected to marry within her social strata made her a caricature of a woman.


Posted Apr. 13, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Laura

Join Date: 04/13/11

Posts: 20

RE: Did it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart’s faults?

I hated that Skeeter felt she was inadequate as marriage material and was thus put up with faults of Stuarts that if she had self-confindence would not have. I definitely understand her though. Who knows what we would have or do put up with ourselves when we view ourselves as unlikely to ever do any better.


Posted Apr. 14, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
susanr

Join Date: 04/14/11

Posts: 201

RE: Did it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart’s faults?

The norm in this time was for women to marry and have babies. For all of Skeeter's questions about the life that she saw around her - she still felt the push from her society to get married. I think that she felt it was better to marry someone with faults than to not marry at all.


Posted Apr. 14, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joannev

Join Date: 04/14/11

Posts: 68

RE: Did it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart’s faults?

I agree with susanr's assessment - exactly what I thought. And don't we still do this to some extent?


Posted May. 19, 2011 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
princessa

Join Date: 05/15/11

Posts: 10

RE: Did it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart’s faults?

At first I wanted to say yes, it did bother me, but I had to step back and think of my first dating experience at her age and I want to cringe. I am guilty of acting stupidly for the sake of finding love. She was young and she acted true to her age and experience. Skeeter wasn't considered a beauty and then all of a sudden, a "catch" comes her way, sure she would overlook his faults. It was hard enough that she had this pressure coming from her mother, but to have no history to rely on in dealing with the opposite sex, she was going to make mistakes.


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