I recently started reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. It's set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s. I was going to see the movie, but I wanted to read the book first. Every two chapters, the narrator changes. I have only read from the voices of three characters so far- Aibileen, Minny, and Miss Skeeter. They are all different, but they're similar in the way that they all feel trapped somehow. Aibileen and Minny are black women working as maids for very little pay. They're friends but their personalities are quite different. Aibileen usually keeps to herself and doesn't show her feelings. She gets very attached to the children she takes care of, especially Miss Leefolt's two-year-old daughter, Mae Mobley. Aibileen secretly resents the fact that Miss Leefolt claims to love her child, yet she never spends time with her.
Minny is outspoken and sassy. She's smart even though she was forced to drop out of school before high school to be a maid. She has a good heart, but she's not very good at keeping a job for a long time because of her sharp tongue. At the beginning of the book, Minny is unemployed. She is having trouble finding a job because many people in town know about her habit of talking back to her employers. Both Aibileen and Minny feel that it's time to change they way people treat African Americans, but neither one of them really knows where to start.
Even though she's from a rich, white family, Skeeter feels like she's always being pressured by her mother. At the beginning of the story, 23-year-old Skeeter returns home from college and to her mothers dissatisfaction, she has not found a husband. Her mother thinks that Skeeter is wasting her time by getting a college education and that she needs to find a man to marry. But getting married isn't what Skeeter wants. She wants to reunite with Constantine, the maid who raised her and was the only person who kept her secrets and really understood her. She also wants to persue her dream of being a writer.
I haven't gotten very far in the book, but I already like it a lot. I waiting anxiously to see how their paths cross and what happens in the end.
I could really get the idea of how all the characters felt trapped. I liked how you gave a little summary so the reader would know what was happening in the book. But, not too much because you still got your point across. The character Skeeter somewhat reminded me of the character Jo, from "Little Women" because they both don't want to get married and want to become writers. Is that true? Your focus was really clear and I loved your response!
ReplyDeleteI really like how you relate the characters even though they're all different. Good post!
ReplyDeleteI like you gave us information about the book and told us about the characters. You connected them together in a way. Good job :)
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