BOOK REVIEW: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

8:46 PM

Original title: The Help

Author: Kathryn Stockett

Year of Publication: 2009

Number of pages: 476

Available in: 42 languages

I read it in: Spanish

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important."

In the small town of Jackson, Mississippi, live 3 women that are quite different from one another. One of them, Skeeter, has just come back from college with one idea on her mind: to write, and this way begins her friendship with Aibileen and Minny, two black servant women of her friends, whom she asks to narrate their daily experiences as the help of white people, in a time that the opposition to the segregation laws is not welcome.

In 1962, the laws of Jim Crow were being upheld with total rigour en the whole south of the United States, laws that segregated the black people, and is in this context that our story starts. It is important to understand that even though the book is stablished in this context, it doesn't modify it, and in that way the whole story feels more like a quick look to what could've been happening at some place in Mississippi.

The book has its strengths and weaknesses. The first thing I noticed when I started reading it is that it clearly had a specific demographic target group from the beginning: mainly white women of middle / upper class. The context in which it takes place is a very delicate one, so the main goal of the book is to sensitize the reader, however, not think, the teachings are fairly straightforward and don’t leave much room for rationalization itself. Another aspect of it is that, as I mentioned, the story does not change the context, making everything that was happening in the early sixties purely background noise or footnotes, so not much happens in, leaving the dreaded Hilly Hoolbrok as the final enemy. Not trying to justify Hilly’s actions, but her status as main antagonist of the book is really undeserved compared to what was happening in the rest of the country, while men in the book were painted as peaceful observers and rarely perpetuators of crime.

All these is well reflected when Stockett writes: "Womens, they is not like men. A woman is not gone beat you with a stick. Miss Hilly would not pull no pistol on me. Miss Leefolt would not eat my house burn down. No, white womens. They like to keep hands clean. They got a little shiny They use set of tools, sharp as witches' fingernails, laid out neat and tidy, like the dentist picks on a tray. They gone they take time with em. " Wanting to demonstrate the dichotomy of "women's world", reinforcing the idea of who was the book addressed to. In addition, the descriptions of the physical appearance of other women were not the best.

But nonetheless, (yes, there is a but), the book also has its strengths. This book can be seen as a door. Simple words and direct arguments can and change people, make them see things from another perspective and to step into the shoes of others. Kathryn Stockett did an excellent job with historical research, so all the background noise of what was happening in the country, as well as small details (cars, clothing, accessories, modus vivendi) are well represented in the book.

At the end of the day, it is a story of friendship. The best chapters definitely are Minny’s and I wish it had more of them, or the whole book from her perspective. However, the chapters of Aibileen really swayed Minny’s strong personality.

My high expectations (of how and by whom it was recommended to me) may as well be the reason for my disappointment, however, it is a beautiful story with many merits and deserves to be read.

It was made into a film in 2011 starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain and many more actresses. The film definitely moved and changed some things in story to fit the film industry, and I highly recommend it.