Saturday, September 15, 2012

Kathryn Stockett-The Help

There was quite a lot of hype around the movie version of the book. Didnt get to watch the movie though. The story was set in the 60s, in the south of America, when helpers were still a common sight and were assumed by Blacks. The main theme of the book was that of racism, whereby the Whites look upon their help as lesser beings. Hilly and Skeeter were the main shows in the book. Hilly, an outspoken and proudly racist woman, wanted all households to implement a separate bathroom for their helps, this spurred Skeeter to want to give the helps a voice. She began recruiting various helps to share their perceptions and the stories of their lives in Whites household.

Skeeter herself had a Black nanny when she was young but who disappeared all of  sudden, one fine day. She eventually found out that it was her mom who had sent her away as she had gotten pregnant with a White child.

Although the book was a bestseller, I didnt quite find it believable. I felt that the characters, especially the helps, were too contrite and too cliched. It feels a bit too....textbook-like, with no originality.

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