Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Help: Kathryn Stockett


"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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