Book Review

Here is the link to my review on goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4667024-the-help

Book Review
Erin Langston
English

Whether you love to read, or you hate it, you won’t be able to put this book down!

What do unconditional love, some toilets and a book all have in common? For one, they are all main subjects of this book. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, is written in first person, through different peoples points of view. The three ‘main’ speakers are, Aibileen, Minny and Eugenia “Skeeter”. I think that Ms. Stockett was trying to inform people what the world was like in the ‘60’s according to two black maids, and a young white woman. Aibileen is an older maid who works for Elizabeth Lefolt. She cleans, cooks, irons, and takes care of Elizabeth’s daughter, Mae Mobley. Minny is a sassy maid who used to work for Hilly, one of the most important in the town. She was fired and now works for Celia Foote.

Celia wants so badly to fit into society’s standards, but, because of Hilly, she never will. Apparently, Hilly and Celia’s husband were getting serious (this was before he met Celia) and one day, Johnny left Hilly for Celia.

Aibileen always tells Mae Mobley that, “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” I really like that because no matter who you are, you need to know that. I love how she always makes sure that Mae Mo knows. I also just really liked the connection and the love they had for each other. It felt true and realistic. The stories that Aibileen would tell Mae Mo would help me understand just how prejudiced the world was back then. The one about the green alien named Martin Luther King, Jr.. I love how Aibileen was trying to teach ‘baby girl’ about the world, and even if someone looks different, doesn’t mean that they should be treated as such.
Another contributor to this books’ theme was the fact that Skeeter was able to form her own opinion. Even after years of living with her mother, and going to Ole Miss, she was able to open her mind and realize that how white people treated colored people was just wrong.

The wonderful writing style of this book drew me in, and invited me to continue reading. All of the fantastic detail, character development and the deep undertones were just factors that kept me reading. If you were to pick up this book tomorrow, I guarantee that you will be done in about two weeks. You won’t be able to put it down. So what are you waiting for? Go read the book!