I am just cruising through books now that I'm out of school. I read The Help in about three days last week, and now this week I'm starting The Maze Runner.
I still get these feelings nagging at the back of my head, telling me I have an assignment due. Obviously I don't anymore (FREEEDOM!!!), but reading constantly keeps that nagging voice suppressed. It helps me feel like I'm still learning about the world around me.
Anyways, I really enjoyed The Help. I'd already seen the movie when it first came out (and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the book was similar--the movie-makers did a good job of staying true to the story), so the story wasn't a surprise or anything.
But it was still so well-written. From a linguistic standpoint, I was very impressed by the author's use of three separate dialects and voices for her three first-person narrators. It meant that whenever I picked up the book again after a period of not reading, I could immediately read a line or two and know whose point of view I was in. And it made the characters that much more defined in my imagination.
The storytelling is amazing, too. The book isn't a mystery novel or an action/adventure, but the way Stockett presents the story, it makes you curious about the characters' backgrounds and keeps you on the edge of your seat to see how it will all work out for them.
But what I loved most about the book was what was portrayed towards the end. They've published the controversial book exposing the life of black maids and nannies, and the white residents of Jackson, Mississippi are furious. It looks like all those involved are going to lose their jobs and be ostracized from the community, and possibly come to physical harm.
They start to wonder if putting the book together was even worth it, and in the beginning it doesn't seem like it made any kind of difference. Overall, things are still very tense in the South. Civil rights movements are happening in the North, but this little book they put together doesn't seem to be doing much to better the world.
Then, a white woman goes up to the discouraged in-story author and tells her how glad she is that someone stood up for the help--how much she despises the way other women treat their maids, and how much she loves and appreciates her own maid. Up until then, the author thought she didn't have a single ally in the world. But this woman showed her that the book made a difference. It drew at least one woman out of the woodwork and helped her find the courage to take a stand for civil rights.
On the other end, the maids are terrified of what they've done, especially when many of their friends are fired by their white employers, who are suspicious of their maids' involvement in the book. But one maid shows up with good news. Her employer was driven to tears because of what was written about her in the book, and she promised to never fire her maid for fear that others would come to know how she'd wronged her help.
Eventually, more and more good comes from the book, but I loved these very early examples. Even if there had been no further results from publishing the book, we see that at least two peoples' lives were changed for the better. The author and her friends faced danger for taking a stand, but Stockett makes it clear that even if only a few lives were bettered because of it, putting themselves in danger would be worth it to the main characters.
It's an inspiring read. It made me wonder how I would react if I were to witness injustice and immorality. Would I just keep quiet and stay out of it, fearing for my own life? Or would I give up my own social standing and livelihood to try and change it? Would I think it was worth it if I only changed a few lives, or even just one?
Food for thought. It makes me sick to think that the events of The Help were based on very real social situations of the past, but I know that the world is currently full of things that are just as bad if not worse.
What will we do about it if we see the opportunity?
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