Book Review: The Help, and International Day for the Elimination of Racism
March 21 was the International Day for the Elimination of Racism, so I found it quite appropriate that I finished reading The Help that day.
Summary:
Set in Jackson Mississippi in the Civil Rights era of the 1960s, the story is written from the first-person perspective of three characters: Aibileen and Minny, 2 black maids, and Skeeter, a young white woman. After getting a degree and realizing that she's not going to get her dream job out of school, Skeeter decides to write a book about the experiences and interviews of black maids in her community in an attempt to impress a publishing editor. However, it's risky for the maids, as these are the same maids that work for Skeeter's family and friends. At first, Aibileen is hesitant to even speak to her, and with good reason: she'd be jeopardizing her only job prospect as a maid. But events transpire, which motivates more maids to speak up and contribute to the completion of a controversial book.
The Good:
- An enjoyable read that held my attention. I found all three characters equally interesting, and didn't mind when the narrative switched. Sometimes narrative switches really bug me because I feel like it disrupts the flow (I know it's also deliberate to build anticipation).
- This book felt like a classic case of "write about what you know", a tip that was given to Anne Shirley (of Green Gables; yes, I know it's fiction) when she tried to write about topics that were beyond her scope. Skeeter's life seems to mirror Kathryn Stockett's own: growing up in Mississippi and being raised by family help, going to college, and then working in journalism in New York City. Even Skeeter's frizzy hair, career ambition, and physical appearance seem to be similar to the author. For this reason, I'm not bothered by what others say are stereotypical characters - the high-level publishing executive is a Jewish woman not because they were ALL Jewish women, but most likely because Kathryn's first encounter with a publishing exec was a Jewish woman.
- The author does a decent job of portraying a variety of characters and their complexities. People are not singularly good or bad. The antagonist Hilly is very racist, but she is a loving mother and a good friend to Skeeter (up until they disagree). Skeeter's friend Elizabeth seems ambivalent but is easily swayed by Hilly's influence. Another friend Lou Anne is portrayed as bland and mindless, but we learn that she offered help and support to her maid during a difficult time. Minny, the maid with attitude, is a strong woman but has an abusive husband and has an aversion to blood. There is Leroy the abusive black man, but there's also Treelore, Aibileen's intellectual son.
The Bad:
- The dialect. It was so annoying to read the voices of the two black maids, while the southern accent of the white ladies were not shown at all. At most, the "white trash" character Celia may have had a few dialect things slipped in, but on the whole, it was pretty intolerable.
- Loose ends. When I remind myself to look at the story from the narrators' perspectives, I can understand why many things are not explained fully. However, as a reader, I'm dying to know. Why did Hilly and Johnny break up? How did Johnny and Celia meet, given their vast differences in socio-economic status, and why does he love her so much? Is Johnny really so stupid as to think that Hilly would want to hang out with Celia given his romantic past with her? How the heck does Celia, who grew up in the worst part of town and most likely did not have any household maids, have no clue how to cook or clean yet can hold her own in a fight? What happens to Aibileen afterwards? It's one thing to end a movie with a walk-away, but you can't really do that in a book, especially after saying so much about the risks of helping with Skeeter's book.
- The historical inaccuracies. In a footnote, the author acknowledges that she took some artistic liberties with some of the timing: she refers to Shake'n'Bake, which hadn't been invented yet, and a song that hadn't been released. This made me question some of the references to historical events. I felt that these discrepancies really were not critical to the story, and cheapened the book somehow. It's just that even though it's fiction, you'd want some authenticity and credibility to the time period. You don't set a book in Victorian times and then refer to the microwave, citing artistic liberties.
This story is not about a white person realizing that her entire livelihood is made possible by the systemic exploitation of black workers and then rallying against her community to bring this point to light. There is no such lightbulb moment, and I didn't expect there to be. This is a story about a young woman's path of self-discovery.
Overall, I think we need to keep in mind that aside from the three main narrators, the way characters are portrayed are limited by the interactions that the narrator has with them. However, this book isn't exactly tearing down any stereotypes or racial barriers, and it's important to keep your expectations in check. At the end of the day, it's fiction, and not the kind of fiction that hits you in the gut with its ground-breaking themes. But it does prompt me to go check out other, more researched books on this topic.
As a side note, this book really made me wish I had someone to help with cooking and cleaning, especially since half my weekend was spent doing house chores. I don't have any bears to vacuum or any silver to polish, but damn, I'd love it if I had someone to make me dinner and sweep the floor once in a while.