Over the next two weeks, we will be posting a series of journals on the Help by Kathryn Stockett. These journals will include an overview, a reading response, a discussion generator, significant passages, and a real world application. These have been written by a close friend of mine, I thank her for her permission to put this on the site. Enjoy these wonderful insights and a mixed variety other than book reviews!
The Help, Journal 1
Overview (chapters 1-10)
-Aibileen introduces Mae Mobley
-Ladies at Bridge Club are introduced
-Miss Hilly talks about Home Help Sanitation Initiative
-Miss Skeeter asks Aibileen if she wishs, "...you could ever change things?"
-Aibileen warns Minny that Miss Hilly is out to get her
-Miss Walter gets sent to the nursing home, Minny needs another job
-Miss Hilly tells the town Minny stole a candelabra from Miss Walters
-Miss Leefolt builds Aibileen her own colored bathroom
-Minny gets a job working for Miss Celia
-Miss Skeeter starts talking from her point of view and is described in detail
-Miss Skeeter wants to be a writer
-Skeeter tells the story of Constantine, her old maid
-Elaine Stein, an editor in New York, writes Skeeter back about writing and offers to read some of her work
-Skeeter gets a job at Jackson Journal
-Skeeter starts asking Aibileen Miss Myrna cleaning questions
-Aibileen potty trains Mae Mobley
-Miss Skeeter wants to interview Aibileen on her life as a maid
-Skeeter goes on a blind date with Stuart Whitworth, which ends up being a disaster
-Aibileen talks to Minny about Skeeters interview question and asks if she thinks its a good idea, Minny does not think it is a good idea
-Minny meets Mister Johnny, Miss Celia's husband
Reading Response
So far in the story, I think Kathryn Stockett has done a fine job describing Aibileen and Minny, two black maids. However, the character Miss Skeeter I find is lacking a distinctive personality. I find that the depth of her character gets lost in her rambling, un-needed dialogue. I find Miss Hilly's perspective interesting. She is not a very nice lady, but it gives you a glimpse into what the ultimate white lady looked like in the 1960's. I am a bit unsure of what "The League" is, I do not think Kathryn Stockett gives a good description of what Miss Hilly is president of. I would have liked to hear exactly how much power Miss Hilly wields being the president of such a club.
Continuing on in the story, another character I like is Miss Celia. Her relationship with Minny is so different from what you've heard up until then, that it is immensely interesting. I also enjoy the aura of mystery that surrounds Miss Celia and her doings. If I were Minny, I would have had the courage to go check in the scary up stairs bedrooms, to see what Miss Celia is up to! Something I do admire about Miss Skeeter is her courage to be-friend Aibileen and ask her about her idea for a book. I applaud Skeeter for her marvelous idea, but I do agree with Aibileen that it would be very dangerous. A last scene I would like to touch on is Miss Skeeter's blind date with Stuart Whitworth. I found this part of the book hilarious. It was quite obvious that neither Skeeter nor Stuart were ready for the date, but I liked this part because it brings out some more in Skeeter's character. Although she's embarrassed, the embarrassment turns into strength. Strength to not put up with Stuart when he gets a little too rude and drunk. A good character always stands up for themselves, and doesn't let others boss them around. When Skeeter finally refuses to drive a drunk Stuart home, it shows an edge we didn't see in her before this part in the story. I do feel bad for Skeeter, but some things just were not meant to work out!
Discussion Generator
Is Miss Hilly's Home Help Sanitation Initiative racist, or is it kind to let the help have their own bathroom?
Do you think Stuart and Skeeter would have had a good date if Stuart wasn't drunk?
Why is Miss Celia so friendly to Minny when other white ladies are not?
Discussion Answer: I think Miss Hilly's Home Help Sanitation Initiative is racist. Miss Hilly does not have the maid's best interests in mind. She wants to further the separation of the races because she truly believes white is the dominant race. Also, Miss Hilly's husband is running for office. They believe that if they pass this Home Help Sanitation Initiative, people will look highly upon her husband, Will. The hired help do not view this act as a favor. These bathrooms are usually built outside, and are made very primitively. Aibileen describes it as, "...a little swampy. Even with the light on its dark, and they ain't no fancy wallpaper like inside a house. Fact, they ain't no proper walls at all, just plyboard hammered together." The point is to not honor the maid by building her her own facilities, but to make sure that the white guests and home owners do not have to share with the black help. Miss Hilly also describes the Initiative as a "disease preventative measure", implying she thinks the black help carry diseases that white people are not immune to. In conclusion, I do believe the Home Help Sanitation Initiative is racist.
Significant Passages
"Do you ever wish you could...change things?"
page 12 paragraph 1
Miss Skeeter is talking Aibileen after playing bridge with her best friends Miss Hilly and Miss Leefolt. Miss Hilly introduced her Home Help Sanitation Initiative. Miss Skeeter knew Aibileen could hear, but Miss Skeeter was upset about the idea for more reasons than that. She disagrees, believing that it's not morally right that the help be separated so far as to have to use the bathroom outside, let alone the guest bathroom. She comes into the kitchen, upset and asks Aibileen, "Do you ever wish you could...change things?" Aibileen thinks this is a stupid question. She turns from Miss Skeeter so she don't see her rolling her eyes. Her response is, "Oh no, ma'am, everything's fine." But Skeeter knows she heard the bathroom talk. Before she could converse more about it, Miss Leefolt comes marching in, and Skeeter has to leave.
This passage is important because it really reflects what Miss Skeeter is all about. She is about changing things. She wants to be a journalists. She isn't married yet. She doesn't care to the extreme about her looks, she is friendly with the maids. She has an outrageously dangerous idea and she has Aibileen about convinced to join her in her feat. This quote is also important because it shows a hint of the friendship that is blossoming between Skeeter and Aibileen. The fact that Skeeter has the guts to ask Aibileen such a question in Elizabeth Leefolt's home shows she stands for change, and wants Aibileen to feel relaxed around her.
2. "...I find myself reaching for that dirty glass a hundred times to wash it. I like things clean, put away."
page 58 paragraph 3
Minny has gotten a job for Miss Celia Foote, a young lady who happens to look like Marilyn Monroe. Miss Celia doesn't know anything about cooking, cleaning, or how other ladies treat their help (she treats Minny like a best-friend). Miss Celia is also mysterious. She lays down all day and sometimes sneaks upstairs to what Minny calls the, "creepy bedrooms". Miss Celia also doesn't want to tell her husband, Mister Johnny, that she has hired help. She has her reasons, but she just won't tell Minny why she's afraid to tell Mr.Johnny. Minny makes her agree to tell him on Christmas Eve, much to Miss Celia's reluctance. Because Mr. Johnny doesn't know about Minny, they need to make the house look believable. Miss Celia is always telling Minny to leave something a little dirty, burn the food a little, or don't take out the trash. Minny's about had it. One day, Miss Celia tells Minny to leave the glass on a mirror dirty. Minny tells readers, "It's always something, mirrors, floors, a dirty glass in the sink, or the trash can full. ...I find myself reaching for that dirty glass a hundred times to wash it. I like things clean, put away."
This passage is important because it shows so much about Minny's personality. She likes things dealt with, done, and to the point. She likes clean cut, simple, and honest. Minny doesn't like this game Miss Celia is playing, not telling her husband about her. It's scary, thinking he might be home too soon and ready to shoot her. Minny finds it difficult to deal with Miss Celia's ways. She treats her kindly, not like the other help. She is always smiling at her, and talking to her like a friend. This isn't clean cut. Miss Celia is bending Minny's perspective on white people, without even knowing shes doing it.
3. "Be nice to the little colored girls when you're down there."
page 72 paragraph 4
When Skeeter was little, her house employed a maid named Constantine. She was very close to Constantine, and if she practiced her catechism, her mother would let her go home with Constantine on Friday afternoons. She explains how there was two girls there named Mary Nell and Mary Roan, who lived beside Constantine and would come to play with her. They were so black she couldn't tell them apart, so she called them both Mary. Her mother would tell her, "Be nice to the little colored girls when you're down there." And Skeeter always replied, "Why wouldn't I?". Her mother never explained.
This passage is important for two reasons. One, because Skeeter's mother Miss Phelan always assumed Skeeter would treat the colored people like she did (which wasn't true), and two, it shows the personality of Miss Phelan. Miss Phelan would tell Skeeter to treat the two Mary's nicely because, if she followed how she was raised, she would have treated them as a lesser. Now, Miss Phelan could have cared about the two girls, but judging by how she treated Constantine, I'm thinking she was just making sure her daughter didn't look like a mean fool. This shows that Miss Phelan is deeply flawed but somewhat sympathetic.
Real World Application
In the first third of the book, you are introduced to life in 1962. Blacks and whites are separated. White's think they are the dominant race. You are introduced to Aibileen and Minny, two characters who are very real. Millions of people in 1962 were just like them. You are introduced to Miss Skeeter, Miss Hilly, and Miss Leefolt, also characters based on something very real. It is sad to realize that people back then were doing things such as Miss Hilly's Home Help Sanitation Initiative. Even today, I wonder if there are people we discriminate. Do the rich discriminate the poor? The educated discriminate the un-educated? We need to evaluate how we view people who aren't the same as us. Our society views the different people, the people who don't look like barbies or have piles of money, society treats them differently. The girl who is overweight gets left out at school. The girl who can't afford new shoes gets made fun of. We look back on history and scold that generation. But are we doing the same in different context? Are we so blinded by media that we cannot see our own mistakes? Food for the thought.
-ShewolfLia17
No comments:
Post a Comment