Skip to main content

How is the injustice that Garrett faces in Boot Camp by Todd Strasser similar to the injustice faced by Aibileen and Minny in The Help by Kathryn...

In Boot Campby Todd Strasser, the main character, Garrett, is treated with paternalism that is cruel in its intent. As he is being taken to a militaristic boot camp called Lake Harmony in upstate New York, the man transporting him tells him, "Your parents sent you to Lake Harmony because they love you" (page 2). His captors, or "transporters," tell him that they are bringing him to the boot camp for his own good,...

In Boot Camp by Todd Strasser, the main character, Garrett, is treated with paternalism that is cruel in its intent. As he is being taken to a militaristic boot camp called Lake Harmony in upstate New York, the man transporting him tells him, "Your parents sent you to Lake Harmony because they love you" (page 2). His captors, or "transporters," tell him that they are bringing him to the boot camp for his own good, but his detention in the boot camp is a form of cruelty and imprisonment.


In a similar way, Aibileen and Minny, black maids in The Help, are robbed of their own free will and controlled by whites who state that they have Aibileen's and Minny's best interests in mind. As Aibileen says, "Sides stealing, worse thing you'n do for your career as a maid is to have a smart mouth" (page 17). Like Garrett, whose parents dislike his choosing his own relationships and charting his own course, Aibileen and Minny are supposed to do what their employers want and are supposed to keep their true thoughts to themselves. The white women who employ Aibileen and Minny decide on a Home Help Sanitation Initiative, which involves building outhouses for their black domestic help to use, because, as they state, "99% of all colored diseases are carried in the urine" (page 158). This is another form of paternalism. The white employers are treating their maids with disrespect but tell them it is for everyone's best interest. In this way, the white employers are similar to Garrett's parents in Boot Camp. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are some external and internal conflicts that Montag has in Fahrenheit 451?

 Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, faces both external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Some examples of these conflicts are: External Conflicts: Conflict with the society: Montag lives in a society that prohibits books and critical thinking. He faces opposition from the government and the people who enforce this law. Montag struggles to come to terms with the fact that his society is based on censorship and control. Conflict with his wife: Montag's wife, Mildred, is completely absorbed in the shallow and meaningless entertainment provided by the government. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with his marriage adds to his external conflict. Conflict with the fire captain: Montag's superior, Captain Beatty, is the personification of the oppressive regime that Montag is fighting against. Montag's struggle against Beatty represents his external conflict with the government. Internal Conflicts: Conflict with his own beliefs: Montag, at the beginning of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

In A People's History of the United States, why does Howard Zinn feel that Wilson made a flimsy argument for entering World War I?

"War is the health of the state," the radical writer Randolph Bourne said, in the midst of the First World War. Indeed, as the nations of Europe went to war in 1914, the governments flourished, patriotism bloomed, class struggle was stilled, and young men died in frightful numbers on the battlefields-often for a hundred yards of land, a line of trenches. -- Chapter 14, Page 350, A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn outlines his arguments for why World War I was fought in the opening paragraph of Chapter 14 (referenced above). The nationalism that was created by the Great War benefited the elite political and financial leadership of the various countries involved. Socialism, which was gaining momentum in Europe, as was class struggle, took a backseat to mobilizing for war. Zinn believes that World War I was fought for the gain of the industrial capitalists of Europe in a competition for capital and resources. He states that humanity itself was punished by t...
Post a Comment
Read more