The Help, Kathryn Stockett
The book is about the black helps and their white bosses in Jackson, Mississippi during early 1960s. Story unfolds in three women's viewpoints, 22 year old Skeeter who aspires to become a writer, Aibiline and Minni two coloured helps. It is Skeeter's idea to write a book about the helps and their perspective of their work is what brings these three women together and changes their lives..
Of all the characters, Aibiline stands out, being wise, kind and dignified. Just out of the trauma of the tragic death of her own son she is attached to the little girl she is looking after. She is raising her seventeenth white child, Mae Mobley, a chubby 2 year old, who is deprived of her own mother's love and care. The bond between Aibiline and Mae Mobley is the most touching part of the novel. Aibiline tries to make the 'baby girl' a confident young lady and also tries her bit to pull out the seeds of racial discrimination from the mind of the little girl.
It is a paradox that the black helps raise the white kids as their own, but when they grow up they would be as discriminative as their parents. Aibiline makes it a point to leave once the child reaches that stage, because she can't stand seeing her own kids being discriminative towards her.
After reading "Gone with the wind" and "To Kill a Mockingbird", I was waiting to read this one. Yes, the racial and historical elements are there, but not deep enough to register. I see it as a completely feminine book. The coloured helps stand high in every aspect, except their places in social hierarchy. Most of their bosses are complete emotional messes. They are completely dependent on the helps, to run the houses, to raise the children, to cook and even for their own emotional well-being.
It is a nice, simple book with a humourous narrative. What I loved most is the message, that the contentment in the comforts of conventions and the fear to break away are the major drawbacks of a person or a society. That's what makes life mundane and even pathetic.
Preetha Raj
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