40 Book Challenge Blog

The Help

By: Kathryn Stockett

Pages read so far 1-142

Prompts:
Summarize what you just read
Describe the major conflict. What side are you on?
If the author were here, what would you say and ask him/her?

          The book I am reading is called The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. So far this book is about how three women's lives are during 1962 in Mississippi. Their names are Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter. Aibileen and Minny are maids who work for white women, and Skeeter is a soon to be journalist who wants to write a book about what it it like to be a maid in their town. The main conflicts of this book are racism and fear. Since Skeeter wants to write a book about that sensitive topic, if the people who employ Aibileen and Minny find out they would fire them, or worse. There are moments in the book where you are terrified for the characters, and there are times where you feel sorry for them. This book has been really entertaining so far. 

          The major conflict in my book right now is if two of the main characters should agree to help write a book about their jobs. Their jobs are working as a maid for white women, their jobs are really hard. They don't get paid the minimum wage and they work hard cleaning the whole house and taking care of the children. Aibileen and Minny might not help make the book because they could put some of their experiences in there that the people they work for don't like. In the book they could put how awful their working conditions are and share personal stories about their employers. They might get extremely mad and fire or kill them. I am on the side to write the book. I think that if they were sneaky enough and they didn't get caught then it would be a major breakthrough for their community. The town could use the perspective of a lower class citizen. If a lot of people read it then they would feel bad for them and maybe change how they act. The jobs could be nicer, the employers would cut them some slack, and they might get paid more. Their whole lives could change.

           If the author was here I would tell her and ask her many things. One of the things that I would tell her is that her book has changed my perspective on things. I now realize how little jobs there were for women during the 60s. Another thing I would tell her is that her book will affect people in different ways. Some people could totally see her perspective and that others could disagree with her. One thing I would ask her is how she got all of the information about being a maid during that time. Did she interview a person who was a maid, or did she read someones writing about it? Besides of asking her how she got her information I would ask her why she chose to write about it. Maybe she felt like it was her obligation to inform the new generation about what life was like back then, or maybe she just thought that this topic was very interesting. Those are some of the things I would tell her and ask her.