The Help Book Review

Over the summer, I laid my hands on the cover of The Help, expecting to become buried under mounds of cheesy, overused themes. White people have hair, so do black people. Oh, and white people have toes, and so do-However, I was pleasantly surprised.

The Help tells the journey of two black maids living in Jackson, Mississippi, during the unfortunate times of the 1960s. Aibileen and Minny, two hardworking women, are burdened from low wages and unfair Jim Crow laws. What starts off as a small quibble soon rises to a full-blown fight (That escalated quickly!), when the two are no longer allowed to use the bathroom in the house which they clean. They are not the only ones complaining; Mrs. Skeeter, an awkwardly tall southern lady also expresses her concerns. Together, the three form an unlikely friendship. Working undercover, they collect stories from all the black Jackson maids, fighting at odds with one of the most demanding bosses, Miss. Holly. 

From a glance, The Help may appear to be a bland tale filled with bookish characters and lifeless plots. Don't be fooled, children. This work has enough flavor and spice to impress even the pickiest of book eaters. Not only are the characters fangirl worthy, the action never failed to send my brain into steroid mode. I got lots of paper cuts from my frantic page flipping.
 
All of the characters were wonderfully crafted and very believable. When Miss Skeeter quipped, "Stuart needs 'space' and 'time,' as if this were physics and not a human relationship," I wanted to give my girl a high five. When Cecilia suffered through a fourth miscarriage, I wanted to bury my head in a pillow and... cut some onions. When Miss Holly donated to “the Poor Starving Children of Africa” even though she treats her black maids like dogs, I wanted to slap her right then and there. 

The plot was also intriguing and lively, and although collecting stories for a book may seem like a Little Women anecdote, the strange twist of events has kept me from going to bed before midnight. Also, the occasional jab of humor and sass was maintained at just the right level. A lovely example- “Mississippi is like my mother. I am allowed to complain about her all I want, but God help the person who raises an ill word about her around me, unless she is their mother too.”

So far, I've given this book excellent ratings, so I guess I have to nitpick a little, because it's fun to complain. The only thing that really bothered me was the dialogue. Throughout the story, Stockett writes with a very "unique" voice. The main character, Abeline, often speaks with a thick dialer, heavy slang, and limited vocabulary. I can't tell you how many times the words "Law have mercy", and "I reckon I’m on do it" have passed under my rolling eyes. Here's an extreme example of some overused, stereotypical diction:
“Ugly live up on the inside. Ugly be a hurtful, mean person.”Of course, I have no right to be completely judgmental. I was not born in Deep South during the 60s. Oh, and yeah... I'm not black. (Sorry, was that too blunt?) As a reader, I have no idea whether or not the characters' voices were authentic. Some people may find the diction to be offensive and degrading, and I have read lots of... unpleasant, so to say, comments about Stockett's racist perspective (with some colorful language, I might add). Hmm, very ironic since the book itself is about the culture differences that define a person. Is Stockett being racist when she portrays Aibileen as an uneducated, "uncultured" black maid? As I kept turning the pages, I found myself pondering this question over and over again. Perhaps she is attempting at satire to prove how ignorant society is. Perhaps she really is indeed, a "smug White Lady" writing "horrifically stereotyped voices". (I'm sorry, I wish I had made those quotes up. Unfortunately, they come directly from Goodreads.) Personally, I think that the characters' voices were nothing but an occasional annoyance. It can be overwhelming at times, but overall, I found myself enjoying Minny's sassy jabs and Aibileen's southern drawl.  
If you need a book to make you cry, laugh, and think all at the same time, I suggest you stop by Barnes and Noble right now. Lovers of historical fiction, realistic fiction, and long novels should also come along. And if you aren't an avid reader, or are too lazy to get up and physically scan your eyes across the letters (don't worry, I feel you), go the Netflix and check out the movie version. I have never seen this before, but four Oscar nominations can't be too bad. 

Oh, and remember how I predicted that the theme would be cheesy?
Well, I was right about that. But, no matter how much I wanted to not buy into the overused moral, I have to admit that the  repeating message could never have been delivered more cleverly and clearly.
“Wasn't that the point of the book? For women to realize, We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought..."
Indeed, Kathryn Stockett's The Help masterfully and artistically proves just this- that we are not as different from one another as we seem.