The Help: Chapters 22–26

by Kathryn Stockett
In 1960s racially segregated Jackson, Mississippi, aspiring writer Eugenia (Skeeter) Phelan interviews housemaids for a dangerous exposé on their working conditions and treatment.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–13, Chapters 14–21, Chapters 22–26, Chapters 27–34
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. garnish
    decorate, as with parsley or other ornamental foods
    In the kitchen, I fix some grits without no seasoning, and put them baby marshmallows on top. I toast the whole thing to make it a little crunchy. Then I garnish it with a cut-up strawberry.
  2. salve
    a preparation applied externally as a soothing remedy
    Instead, I just sat in the kitchen, waiting to put the salve on them hose-pipe welts.
  3. welt
    a raised mark on the skin
    Instead, I just sat in the kitchen, waiting to put the salve on them hose-pipe welts.
  4. desegregation
    incorporation of a formerly excluded group into a community
    I just wish it was in color so you could compare all them shades a pink and blue and white. Desegregation of the toilet bowls is what they should a call it.
  5. earful
    an outpouring of gossip
    At Miss Leefolt’s, they’s lots a extra talking on the telephone that week, lot a head-nodding like Miss Leefolt getting a earful from Miss Hilly.
  6. inclination
    an attitude of mind that favors one alternative over others
    “But they’re not steady anymore.”
    “Well, he still needs to know. In case he has any inclination of patching things up with her. For the sake of Senator Whitworth’s career.”
  7. clientele
    customers collectively
    “Got to keep up good references, moving around to different clientele like you do.”
  8. implicate
    bring into intimate and incriminating connection
    Miss Skeeter nod, say, “I can handle Hilly. This doesn’t implicate you, or the other maids, or the book at all.”
  9. skittish
    unpredictably excitable, especially of horses
    Ever time I see Miss Skeeter, she look thinner, a little more skittish in the eyes. She try to smile like it ain’t that hard on her that she ain’t got no friends left.
  10. knack
    a special way of doing something
    “I got a real knack for arranging flowers, I mean, everybody back in Sugar Ditch said so, even my maid said so, right after she said I’m the worst cook she’s ever laid eyes on.”
  11. kudzu
    a type of fast-growing vine
    She’s shooing me out so she can keep up her charade, so twisted it’s like kudzu.
  12. dregs
    a small part that remains after the main part is gone
    I listen, but I don’t hear anything else. I tell myself it’s just the old dregs of waiting for Mister Johnny.
  13. hobble
    walk unevenly due to pain, injury, or weakness
    And then he starts to walk away, a pathetic wobbly thing. He doesn’t even look back at us. We just stand there and watch him hobble through the prickly boxwood bushes and disappear in the trees.
  14. philosophize
    reason or theorize about important and difficult issues
    “What you so quiet for? I know you got a opinion bout all this.”
    “You gone accuse me a philosophizing.”
  15. bland
    lacking taste or flavor or tang
    “That old bland thing again? Why them white folks like the lady-fingers so much? I can make a dozen cakes taste better ’n that.”
  16. festive
    offering fun and gaiety
    I think this Butterbatch is a little more festive, for the holidays and all.
  17. rouge
    redden by applying makeup to
    She bats her fake-lashed eyes. She is rouged, painted, and plastered with makeup.
  18. helm
    a position of leadership
    With Miss Hilly at the helm, it is too late for Miss Celia, and Lord knows, it is too late for me.
  19. proceeds
    the income or profit arising from a transaction
    The goods have been donated by members and local shops, and the auction is expected to generate more than six thousand dollars this year, five hundred more dollars than last year. The proceeds will go to the Poor Starving Children of Africa.
  20. swathe
    an enveloping cloth or bandage
    Ruffles clutch at her throat, swathes of material hide her body.
  21. saucy
    improperly forward or bold
    Some women wear slightly saucier evening gowns, with bare shoulders here and there, but long kid-leather gloves ensure they don’t have more than a few inches of epidermis exposed.
  22. remorse
    a feeling of deep regret, usually for some misdeed
    Their eyes hint remorse, as marriages are scorned (she never lets me do anything fun), youth is remembered (why didn’t I go to California that summer?), first loves are recalled (Roxanne...).
  23. gentility
    elegance by virtue of fineness of manner and expression
    There is light applause, some cold smiles and nods between members and nonmembers. Such a pity, the members seem to be thinking. Such a shame you girls haven’t the gentility to join our club.
  24. rapt
    feeling great delight and interest
    Coffee is served and the husbands drink theirs, but most of the women keep rapt attention on Hilly.
  25. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    Skeeter keeps her eyes on the podium, her face stoic and unyielding.
  26. amicable
    characterized by friendship and good will
    She smiles down at her husband, adds in a lower tone, “And don’t forget, voters. Holbrook for State Senate.”
    The guests offer an amicable laugh at Hilly’s plug.
  27. auburn
    (of hair) colored a moderate reddish-brown
    Hilly gives him an auburn-lipsticked smile. The color matches her dress so perfectly, it must have been searched out for days.
  28. seminary
    a school for training ministers or priests or rabbis
    “Like living in Antarctica all my life and one day moving to Hawaii.”
    Richard laughs. “Like going to bed in seminary and waking up at Ole Miss,” Richard says, and they both laugh.
  29. elicit
    call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
    "...and the winner of Minny Jackson’s world-famous chocolate custard pie is...Hilly Holbrook!”
    There is a little more applause for this one, not just because Minny’s known for her treats, but because the name Hilly elicits applause on any occasion.
  30. convulse
    contract involuntarily, as in a spasm
    Then she groans and convulses. Vomit splatters onto the carpet.
  31. clavicle
    bone linking the scapula and sternum
    She wears a floor-length gown, sky blue and beaded, from 1943. A white orchid wilts at her clavicle.
  32. gingham
    a woven cotton fabric, typically with a checked pattern
    She’s still in that ratty blue nightgown that looks left over from her Tunica County days, the gingham ruffle torn at the neck.
  33. reimburse
    compensate, as for a loss
    In lieu of reimbursing me for my dress you tore, we at the League would gladly receive a donation of no less than two hundred dollars.
  34. appropriation
    money set aside for a specific purpose, as by a legislature
    Do kindly make the check out to the Jackson League Chapter.
    Sincerely,
    Hilly Holbrook
    President and Chairman of Appropriations
  35. prissy
    exaggeratedly proper
    And she laugh, kind a prissy, like it was all real funny to her.
Created on Thu Oct 16 20:31:41 EDT 2014 (updated Thu Jun 22 14:01:18 EDT 2023)

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