The Help by Kathryn Stockett
By Renata Bastos
“The Help” by Kathryn Stockett is a novel about the maids in Jackson, Mississippi, during the racial segregation: black people had to have their own separate bathrooms, movie theaters, and sit on the back of the bus. The book brings a reflection about the hypocrisy of a racist society that exploits black people’s work and feels disgusted by them.
In this story, the maids worked exhausting hours at white people’s houses, cooking, cleaning, and babysitting while their own children waited. We can also see something that everyone should know: nobody is born a racist. In “The Help”, the parents, and even the teachers, teach children early on that black people have diseases or are criminals. After they grow up, they simply pass on the same racist behaviors.
The book revolves around Minny and Aibileen’s lives, the maids, and Skeeter (Eugenia), an aspiring journalist and writer.
Skeeter goes back to Jackson and feels uncomfortable about her best friend’s initiative to have a separate bathroom for the maids, and decides to do something about it.
Aibileen is an inspiring maid that dreams about being a writer. Despite losing her son and feeling bitterness consuming her heart, she doesn’t lose hope of a world where people’s skin color doesn’t matter.
Minny is a strong woman that fights hard to survive a hard-working life and a violent husband. She has a unique personality and is undoubtedly my favorite character.
Kathryn Stockett has a way to write that makes 451 pages feel light as a feather. I don’t have words to describe how good and how important this book is. “The Help” is one of or the best novels I have ever read in my life.
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