I'm not sure Kathryn Stockett's The Help will be the new American classic, but I am sure that its theme resonates within its readers' hearts and minds. It is an important theme, and Stockett's treatment is unusual, propelling this first novel from the ordinary to #1 on the NYTimes bestseller list. It may be possible to count literature's great themes on one's fingers, but the superior writer is able to tackle her theme in a unique way. Kathryn Stockett does this; the result is The Help is a tough book to put down.
The “help” of the title are the black women who historically took care of the South's white families and were treated as non-existent even as they moved through the rooms of those white families' homes. The Help is set in Jackson , Mississippi
Stockett's exposition comes through the voice of each character's immediate predicament. We enter the homes of white women in their early 20s who were raised by black women and now hire them to serve in their homes and raise their children. It's a strange relationship not easily understood by those of us totally unfamiliar with the South of the 1960s. We're made to understand a little better through our main characters, a white twenty-two year old, Skeeter, and two very different black women, Aibileen and Minny.
We are reminded of the time, 1963 and 1964, through the rock 'n roll of the era and the Civil Rights events that occur, events I distinctly remember but only with the eyes of a Northern teenager. Incredible as it may seem, as I read I began to see how whites could live both in the midst and apart from the incidents occurring around them. These white women's daily interactions with the black help did not change. Fully expecting the status quo to remain, they remain blinded to the historical changes occurring in their own back yards. Stockett does not stereotype southern women. The white women react to situations individually and according to their individual strengths and convictions.
The reactions of the black women are equally believable. Depending on their circumstances, their reactions differ. Their jobs and their livelihood are crucial, so how much they can be part of the Civil Rights movement happening around them varies from individual to individual. It's easy to say everyone should be involved; it's quite another thing when one’s livelihood is threatened by that involvement.
The individuality of each woman—black or white—is essential to the theme. We react as we do because we are all equal in our individuality.
If this were all there was to The Help, it would not have made the leap into a first rate book. Kathryn Stockett took each situation whether it involved class, marriage, civil rights, freedom, or understanding and skillfully made parallels between the black and white characters in the book. We are exposed to the complexity of relationships, the complexity of race, and the consequences of not dealing honestly, fairly, and openly with one another. We all bear the burdens caused by these shortcomings in society. We share a common humanity, for good or bad.
The Help is set nearly 50 years ago. Times have changed and so have some situations. But not everything has changed. It is important, periodically, to be reminded of how far we still have to go. Kathryn Stockett gently but firmly urges us to be better.
The Help will be out as a movie this August.
books novels "The Help" "Kathryn Stockett" "New York Times" bestseller reading literature south "Civil Rights" themes
2 comments:
I’m happy to report to you that I read The Help about a year ago, thanks to my sister, and passed it on to both my
Robyns’. We all really loved it. Glad you heard about it. Could you believe the bit about the bathrooms? I know I lived through those times, but I had no idea what life was like for southern people. Do remember going thru south
and seeing different bathrooms and eating areas. Good golly, what a time that was! Take care and know that book will stay with you for a long time.
I agree with you 100%. At that time, I had no connection with the south, however. I had never been to Florida which is where New Yorkers go. So the only things I got was on tv as I'm sure I was not a newspaper reader then. I remember all the stuff that happened down there. I guess it was the same in Missouri? Was it? What I really believed about that book is that people living it often didn't think about it because "that was the way things were." It's when they thought about it and accepted it that makes me ill. Nor do I think everyone should have "done something." Even the Help couldn't all do something. I'm guessing the book had honesty.
Post a Comment