The Help Book Talk

Transcript

The book that I have chosen to talk about is The Help by Lauren Stocket it is realistic fiction. This book takes place in Jackson, Mississippi 1962-1963.  There are three main characters in my book. Every other chapter a new character tells their point of view. The main characters are Minny, Aibileen, and Skeeter. Minny is a black maid who has a hot temper and is an amazing cook. Aibileen is a black maid too, but she is much older and has a way better patience. Skeeter is a young white woman who is awkward looking and is trying to be a successful writer. Throughout the book the characters have to overcome racism, fear, and the wrath of the Mississippi men and women. Skeeter thinks up of a way to change the views of everyone, but many are afraid to do it. The mood of this book was pity. As I read the book I felt so sorry for people who had to suffer through the racism and torment that the characters had to experience. It wasn’t just racism that was hard to read. Another thing was that Minny’s husband abused her and Skeeter’s mother falls very sick. While I read the book I felt so bad for the main characters. One of the themes of this book is courage. It is courage because in almost all of the main events the characters had to act courageous. One of these events was deciding if they should write a book about what life is like being a maid for a white family. This was very courageous because if people found out that the main characters wrote this then they could be sent to jail, killed, or worse. I’ve learned that you have to be brave in order to get what you want because things are not always handed to you.    

I liked this book because it made me see what life was like for women during the 60s in the south. I was surprised to see what the difference was like from then to now.  What I remember most about the book was the fear that the maids had from the villain, Hilly Holbrook. She was a very powerful woman who could manipulate anybody and people believed anything she said. The maids were afraid of her because she could tell bad things about them to other people that weren’t true, and the maids would get fired or beaten. I would recommend this book to older viewers such as teenagers to adults. These ages can fully understand the meaning of it and they could cherish it. I wouldn’t recommend it to younger people because some of the content might be a little bit too intense and they might not understand the message. Someone should want to go out and get this book because while you read it you would never want to put it down. This book will make you see through the eyes of the help instead of the “powerful figure”. You will never see or hear maids and segregation the same way again.

Book Talk