So let's learn a little about Demetrie, then. Demetrie was like "the help" featured in the Stockett's novel, a black woman working in a white family's household. She was employed by Stockett's grandparents first, taking care of our author's father and uncle (source). She was a huge source of stability for Stockett growing up, boosting her self-esteem and standing by her when life was hard. When Demetrie died in 1986 (Stockett was sixteen), she was still employed by the family (source). This was well before Stockett began to really think about life from Demetrie's point of view. She writes,