The Help

Synopsis: The story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi, following the life of Skeeter. Skeeter recently graduated, and dreams of becoming a writer. She returns to Jackson after school though, to find out that her maid Constantine from childhood has disappeared for a reason that no one will inform of her of. When Skeeter returns home, her mother immediately begins showing her how to be a housewife, how to meet a man in order to start a family, and encourages her to hangout with other housewives. Despite all of this influence from her mother, Skeeter still deeply wants to be a writer. She takes a small job at a newspaper company, where she writes cleaning advice columns. This is a time in Jackson where African American maids are being used in the house, so Skeeter is unable to correctly write her advice columns. This is when she turns to her friends maid, Aibileen. Together they write these columns, but they also begin to work on a different project. Skeeter interviews Aibileen about her life and what it's like to be a maid. As racial tensions increase in Jackson. more maids start to be interviewed, including Aibileen's best friend Minny. Eventually, Skeeter has enough interviews to publish a book, which is published anonymously. People in Jackson begin to recognize themselves in the book, and the book continues to climb in popularity. Along the way, Skeeter also learns what happened to her maid Constantine, but I won't give away the ending.

Characters:

Skeeter- Skeeter is the main character in this novel. She was a young woman who wanted to become a writer. She befriends Aibileen and the other help in Jackson while writing her book, which became extremely popular. During the book, she also tries to figure out what happened to her maid Constantine, which was very heartbreaking because she loved Constantine very much. Her mother urged her to spend time with the housewives in Jackson that were her age, and these women also appeared in her book since they all owned maids.

Aibileen- Aibileen was the help for one of Skeeter's friends. At the time that the book is taking place, Aibileen is still grieving over the death of her son. He passed away he got severely hurt while working, and the white family whom he worked for looked away and let him die. Aibileen showed a lot of courage throughout this novel, she was the first one to be interviewed by Skeeter for her book, which is really scary because at a time in Mississippi when racism was very common, Aibileen could've gotten into severe trouble. Aibileen also urged another character, her best friend Minny, to be in Skeeter's novel as well.

Minny- Minny worked for Hilly, the antagonist of the story. Minny interviewed with Skeeter for her book, and it was because of Minny's story that Skeeter wasn't revealed as the author. Minny told the story of the time she seaked vengeance of Hilly for the way she was being treated. It would've been too embarrassing for Hilly if she was exposed for the story Minny told, especially with the powerful position that Hilly held. Due to her different views on the civil rights movement and racial equality Hilly herd from Skeeter, their friendship fell apart throughout the novel. Minny and Aibileen formed a wonderful friendship with Skeeter that none of them expected.

In conclusion, The Help by Kathryn Stockett was a wonderful novel. It was a touching, heartwarming story about racial inequality, friendship, and courage. Skeeter is a true example of the type of people that stood up for change back when the times written about in this novel, were a reality. The bonds that the characters formed in The Help with each other, and the growth that each person went through throughout the book were amazing to read about. The writing style of Kathryn Stockett was absolutely beautiful. All-in-all, this is not a book that you should ignore, and the message in this book is especially one that you shouldn't ignore either.