Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Title: The Help
Author: Kathryn Stockett
Released: February 10, 2009
Publisher: Amy Einhorn
Pages/Format: 464 (Hardcover)
Source: Public Library

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter Phelan has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till she has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell her where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk.

One Sentence Review:

In-Depth Review

¡WARNING! There are a couple of spoilers in this review. They are marked so you can avoid them if you wish.

A note on the controversy: Since The Help began climbing up the New York Times Bestseller List, controversy has raged. Is it appropriate for a southern-born white woman to write in the heavily accented voices of struggling black maids living in segregated Mississippi? Criticism has been leveled at Stockett for a number of reasons: While the voices of the black maids are distinctive by their thick dialect, the white women carry no accent at all. The success of the main characters’ scheme seems to depend entirely on Skeeter, the lead white character. Janet Maslin even wrote in her New York Times review that The Help is “a story that purports to value the maids’ lives while subordinating them to Skeeter and her writing ambitions.”

I read the book and I read the reviews. And I’ve never heard such hogwash. The Help is clearly a racially charged book and bound to stir up some level of dissent. But it is an undeniably anti-racist book, blatantly denouncing the attitudes of segregationists in the sixties and showing a great deal of respect for the women that made the south run without being given a lick of credit in their time. It’s also a story about learning. Sure, it’s quite possible that Skeeter’s primary motive for writing the book is to advance her career… At least in the beginning. But as the story progresses, she gains an understanding of the great injustices etched into the very legislation of Mississippi and grows to respect the women who suffer under them. Stockett is simply writing from her own learning experience.

Plot:

The central plot of the book was well wrought out and engaging. The sub plot of Minny and Celia’s relationship was my favorite aspect of the story. This brought some mystery into plot, which I loved, and brought out the emotional side of Minny. I also enjoyed the air of mystery that Skeeter’s search for Constantine brought to the story. Aibileen’s life caring for Mae Mobley at the Leefolt’s was captivating as well.

Characters:

The three main characters which narrate the story–Aibileen, Skeeter, and Minny–are generally well-drawn and lifelike. Out of all the characters, I felt like I got to know Aibileen more than anyone. I found myself liking Minny in spite of myself, despite the fact that she seems to despise white people with every fiber of her being. I enjoyed watching her grow throughout the novel.

I found Skeeter problematic. I’m pretty sure I was supposed to like her, but I couldn’t help disliking her more and more as the story progressed. One word that comes to my mind when I think about her is irreverent. I was particularly put off by the way she treats her mother, {*SPOILER*} even when she’s dying. {END SPOILER} Yes, her mother is racist like most of the white women in the story, and yes, she is overly critical and sometimes downright demeaning of Skeeter, but that isn’t sufficient grounds to be disrespectful. Despite Skeeter’s distinct action and hard work on the book, I found her vaguely apathetic. I can’t really understand why, it’s just an abstract feeling I had.

Celia was probably my favorite character of the bunch; I found her story and the mystery surrounding it the most interesting. I was also drawn to her color-blind attitude which stood in stark contrast to the rest of the white women in the story.

Hilly Holbrook is as close to a comic book super-villain as Stockett could hope to get. I don’t know much about the attitude of southerners in the 1960′s except for what I’ve read in this book, but I can’t imagine someone so viperish existing in real life. She’s like the Cruella Deville of Mississippi, USA.

Ending:

The ending wraps up the central plot very well. It follows up with each of the main characters and gives  a satisfying glimpse into their futures. My only complaint is that I didn’t feel there was enough emotional closure with Aibileen. {*SPOILER*} She leaves Mae Mobley, who she has cared for since infanthood, crying in the kitchen and doesn’t seem to give a second thought to her. It didn’t seem terribly realistic to me. {END SPOILER}

Writing:

I was very impressed by Stockett’s rendering of the maids’ thick dialect. Reading regional dialect of any kind usually slows me down considerably and can even distract me from the story, but this was easily readable and really brought the personalities of Aibileen and Minny to life while making the story much more authentic. The dialogue of the white folk in the story was not written with any kind of an accent, which is technically inaccurate. They obviously should have strong southern accents. Personally, I was relieved that this was not written in, because I’m sure it would have slowed me down considerably.

My biggest complaint was the foul language sprinkled throughout the narrative. It was mostly unnecessary, and an unwelcome distraction to the story.

Cover:

Nice cover on this one; good coloring. Though I’m not exactly sure how chickadees are relevant to the plot. As I recall the bird on the cover of the book in the story is a dove.

Other Reviews:

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About Kathryn Stockett:

New York Times bestselling author Kathryn Stockett was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. After graduating from the University of Alabama with a degree in English and Creative Writing, she moved to New York City where she worked in magazine publishing and marketing for nine years. She currently lives in Atlanta with her husband and daughter.

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