Kathryn Stockett THE HELP.
One of the concluding comments, a very simple but poignant one is spoken by Skeeter's mother who is dying of cancer. When she became an important political figure she betrayed Constantine, the help who had brought Skeeter up to be strong and independent. She dismissed her and her daughter Rachel from her home to show white superiority in front of her political and influential friends. She lacked the courage to openly admit that coloured people were valued and an important part of her white family, guilt she had to live with for the remainder of her short life.
Skeeter is a journalist and learns the whole truth when she attempts to write the torturous accounts of the abuse and humiliation the coloured women had to suffer at the hands of the middle class, racist whites.
The story is about the courage to tell the truth even though there were painful consequences. Skeeter became ostracized by the white hypocrites and Aibileen Clark, one of the main coloured characters is dismissed by the worst kind of hypocrite, Miss Hilly.
Skeeter's mother remarks on how courage skips generations and after so much tension with her daughter throughout she makes peace with her and tells her how proud she is of her.
What I found remarkable is that this is Stockett's debut novel which took her five years to complete. definitely a labour of love and a painful and shocking tale to tell.
The 1960s were an important turning point in American history with the Civil Rights Movement and the assassination of of Martin Luther King in 1968. The setting is Jackson, Mississippi, the writer's home town.
Stockett was born the year after the assassination and she was raised by an African American domestic woman just like Aibileen, Minny and thousands of others. Skeeter represents the writer, a compassionate woman and brave. Her friends deserted her and even her boyfriend Stuart walked out on her telling her she was stirring up trouble.
In reality, Stockett's brother employed a black maid who filed a lawsuit in a Mississippi court against him. Her name was Abilene Cooper. A bit of a coincidence, isn't it? The lawsuit was thrown out of court and the writer has denied any claim of using Abilene as her main character in The Help.
The last image will stay with you for some time-Aibileen's dismissal, tears streaming down her face, the rain soaking through her skin. The pause, the reflection and then a strained smile as she realises that telling the truth has made her feel free. Therapeutic. A story that certainly needs telling and retelling.
Copyright 2012. Permission to use this article must be requested from the author.
Skeeter is a journalist and learns the whole truth when she attempts to write the torturous accounts of the abuse and humiliation the coloured women had to suffer at the hands of the middle class, racist whites.
The story is about the courage to tell the truth even though there were painful consequences. Skeeter became ostracized by the white hypocrites and Aibileen Clark, one of the main coloured characters is dismissed by the worst kind of hypocrite, Miss Hilly.
Skeeter's mother remarks on how courage skips generations and after so much tension with her daughter throughout she makes peace with her and tells her how proud she is of her.
What I found remarkable is that this is Stockett's debut novel which took her five years to complete. definitely a labour of love and a painful and shocking tale to tell.
The 1960s were an important turning point in American history with the Civil Rights Movement and the assassination of of Martin Luther King in 1968. The setting is Jackson, Mississippi, the writer's home town.
Stockett was born the year after the assassination and she was raised by an African American domestic woman just like Aibileen, Minny and thousands of others. Skeeter represents the writer, a compassionate woman and brave. Her friends deserted her and even her boyfriend Stuart walked out on her telling her she was stirring up trouble.
In reality, Stockett's brother employed a black maid who filed a lawsuit in a Mississippi court against him. Her name was Abilene Cooper. A bit of a coincidence, isn't it? The lawsuit was thrown out of court and the writer has denied any claim of using Abilene as her main character in The Help.
The last image will stay with you for some time-Aibileen's dismissal, tears streaming down her face, the rain soaking through her skin. The pause, the reflection and then a strained smile as she realises that telling the truth has made her feel free. Therapeutic. A story that certainly needs telling and retelling.
Copyright 2012. Permission to use this article must be requested from the author.
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