30 January 2012

The Help



I may be the absolutely last person in the universe to have read The Help, but if, by some chance, I'm wrong and you haven't read it yet, you really should. 


It was amazing and touching. 


What gets me most is that it's the sixties. The sixties. And in the south, they still have their colored help. This is Bewitched. And it's civil rights. It's like my momma could be Mae Mobley, and "the help" has to use a seperate bathroom! They're good enough to raise kids, but not much else. They know how to keep house, but they're "too stupid" to take care of themselves? I'm confused. Which, I suppose, is part of the point of the book. I also liked how it tied in feminism. Everything, all these changes, were just starting. People thought things were fixed. They thought things were fine. Women could vote. Blacks could vote. Everyone got to go to school. Separate but equal. Activists knew better. And because of these people, life is different today. 


Last thought? I don't know why, but I had to check if stockett was white or black. She's white. However, she had a history quite like Miss Skeeter, so that's the connection :) 

2 comments:

Kara Jarvis said...

Honestly, I didn't like it. I thought it was trying too hard to make a statement, which I didn't appreciate. However, I did appreciate the content and spirit of the story. But perhaps not the execution.

Wait a second...that's how I feel about Twilight too...

Kara
www.frecklesandrouge.com

Jayme said...

Yes, but you were also told it was the next TCAM, which it most certainly is not! :)