"Aibileen Clark is a black main in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, raising her seventeenth white child. She's always taken orders quietly, but lately it leaves her with a bitterness she can no longer bite back. Her friend Minny Jackson has certainly never held her tongue, or held onto a job for very long, but now she's working for a newcomer with secrets that leave her speechless. And white socialite Skeeter Phelan has just returned from college with ambition and a degree but, to her mother's lament, no husband. Normally Skeeter would find solace in Constantine, the beloved maid who raised her, but Constantine has inexplicably disappeared.
"Together, these seemingly different women join to work on a project that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town--to write, in secret, a tell-all book about what it's really like to work as a black maid in the white homes of the South. Despite the terrible risks they will have to take, and the sometimes humorous boundaries they will have to cross, these three women unite with one intention: hope for a better day."
This book was assigned for my Multicultural American Novel
course. I was excited as soon as I
saw it on the syllabus, but wished we were going to read it earlier in the
semester. This past week was
Spring Break, so I took advantage of the respite from my incessant homework and
essays to read this book. I had
already signed up to analyze the book and compare it to the film (which I have
yet to see) for my final project and told myself that reading ahead of the
syllabus was only going to help me have a better final. I picked up the book as soon as I was
able and read it in a matter of only a few days. Overall it was extremely captivating. The characters were rich and the
writing was very enjoyable to read.
I love it when it just feels natural to read a book.
The way the author chose to tell her story through the
points of view of Aibileene, Minny, and Miss Skeeter was brilliant. Rather than an omniscient narrator, the
first-person narration and its limitations made the story much more
interesting. I found myself
wrapped up in the characters. It
was so much easier for the reader to put herself in the shoes of the characters
and fall in love with the story because of this narration choice. The reader sees and experiences only
what that singular character does.
Rather than feeling jumpy and disjointed, the story felt much more--for
lack of a better description--“comfortable” and inviting. The characters really felt alive, like
the story that I was reading was brought to life by their unique personalities. If asked who my favorite “heroin” was,
I do not know if I could choose between the three main characters. Aibileen was such a mother figure that
it was difficult not to fall in love with her. The way she cares for poor little Mae Mobley really tugged
at my heart--perhaps due mostly to the way that the little girl was treated by
her mother, Elizabeth. I cannot
imagine anyone I know would treat their child in that exclusionary manner. What really hit me, though, was
that--after reading this book--I’m sure it happened (even happens) a lot more
than we think. For all those
children who feel smothered by their mothers, there opposite side of the
spectrum seems to be an even worse alternative. I enjoyed reading Minny’s passages as well. She puts up such a hard façade and it
was nice to see another side of her.
I found her job working for Miss Cindy particularly interesting. Her new employer is shrouded in mystery,
which only made me want to read more quickly so I could find out what was
really going on with that odd woman.
The contrast of Minny’s home-life with how she behaves in public was another facet of her character
that interested me. The
juxtaposition of her strength in public coupled with the way she coped with her
husband felt very (depressingly) real.
In a backwards way, it endeared Minny to me. (Having not been in a situation like Minny’s, I know it is
easy for an outsider to say how easy freedom could be. I’m a little bit ashamed to say that
I am disappointed in Minny in that aspect. I did especially loved finding out
about the Terrible Awful Thing Minny did to Miss Hilly…I won’t give it away
though!) Miss Skeeter was
enjoyable because she was so relatable.
I think almost every reader can relate to her in some way (being an
educated woman when it’s not something that is necessarily embraced, losing
love over an inability to see eye-to-eye, a pushy mother, the pressure to
conform to society’s norms and what one’s friends expect of her, or even just
being that awkward girl who took awhile to come into her own). It sounds cliché, but I can see a
little bit of myself in Skeeter and I think that’s what made it so much fun to
read. She was extremely easy to
connect with and the fluidity of her passages was refreshing after the
dialectical elements of Minny and Aibileen’s. (That is another thing that I really appreciated about the
writing: The fact that the author
took the time to make each of her characters literally sound different!)
The plot was unique and controversial. While I do not have the authority to
say that it’s never been done before, I will say that the way it was written
and the brilliant characters definitely made it stand out. Apart from the shining main
narrators/characters, the “villains” were remarkably interesting as well. They helped make the story so much more
believable. Hilly’s cruelties were
numerous and shocking. The fact
that she managed to hurt or control practically everyone who appeared in the
book was fascinating. The depth of
her manipulation and depravity and her lack of conscience were appalling. I couldn’t help but hate her. I love it when there is a character
like that! Elizabeth Leefolt,
while not exactly a villain, was made cruel by her inaction when it came to her
children and her maid, and her weak will when it came to Miss Hilly. The only times she ever showed any
emotion toward her children were when Mae Mobley was “bad”. These scenes broke my heart because I
know that there is some child out there that has had these experiences. (It only solidified the resolve I
already had to speak to my children the way Aibileen spoke to Mae Mobley.)
If you cannot tell from my review, I absolutely loved the
book. (I wish the ending had been
a little bit more satisfying, but I think that would have made it less
realistic. There was not always a
happy ending in the struggle for Civil Rights.) I am so looking forward to watching the movie now--I’ve even
made my boyfriend promise to watch it with me. Sweet torture.
I laughed so many times while reading this book because the humor
managed to lighten the piece without diminishing its dramatic impact. Not to sound racist or uncaring, but
I’ve always had a hard time staying interested while studying the Civil Rights
Movement. This book brought it to
life for me in a way that history class was never able to. Though a work of fiction, there was
enough historical impact in this book to make me feel like I was being exposed
to a time that I’d never before really cared for. And I enjoyed it.
I absolutely recommend this book on so many levels and to so many
different people. This book has
the remarkable ability to be read for entertainment as well as for something
more sober like an analysis of Multicultural Literature (as I did). While I would not recommend this book
to someone as young as I’ve seen read it (I know some girls around thirteen who
have picked up this book because of Emma Stone’s involvement in the film
adaptation) purely for the reason that I do not believe they’re able to grasp
all of the nuances just yet or understand why some acts of violence are
described, I believe this novel is a fantastic tool for a great variety of
readers to witness (and subconsciously learn) acceptance and appreciation. I would LOVE to hear what others have
thought about this book! Please
feel free to comment with your interpretations, input, and thoughts on this
work.
*I will be watching this movie soon so I may be updating my
review with my opinions of the movie adaptation! Keep an eye out for it!
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