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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
I had never read or seen the movie of The Help before my bookclub picked it as the book for me to host (meaning I had to generate questions for our discussion).
In some ways, I think my bookclub discussion questions convey my feelings about this book better than a review could. So I included them in the pictures.
I'm pretty new to the concept of white saviorism. I'd only recently heard it in discussion with To Kill a Mockingbird, and it's been so long since I read TKAM that I didn't really understand the critique. But I started researching The Help early on and found it very helpful in explaining the concept to me.
Initially, the book felt SO lacking in self-awareness from the author: She, a privileged white woman, wrote a story about telling black women's perspectives without ever actually interviewing them. Not only that, but her self-insert main character did so by stealing the idea for the book from a black woman and doing the whole thing with selfish motives. Skeeter's really not a good person, by today's standards, she's just less bad than everyone else. And initially, her only redeeming traits are being a little less racist than all the other white characters.
But as the book progressed, a really nice foil unfolded. Hilly is the true epitome of hypocritical, harmful white saviorism. And while I would never defend Skeeter's faults, she at least became self aware and came to see how her intentions were wrong in the beginning. It was really nice to see the white savior narrative flipped on its head a bit and to see the idea that ignorant, racist people CAN learn and become better, even if it's a slow process.
I read a few people saying they felt Aibileen was the main character because the book starts and ends with her, but frankly, after learning more about the author and her intentions of putting right the way she had never appreciated her childhood maid as a child, I think this is undeniably a white woman's story interspersed with attempts to portray black women's perspectives. And in that regard, I think the rhetorical situation is not ideal, even if it was done with good intentions.
Ultimately, it was Kathryn Stockett trying to make amends for her own shortcomings toward people of color. The story is raising awareness about a time in history that isn't often talked about and doing so in a lovely way. As one redditer said, "The problem isn't with The Help, the problem is with people who stop at reading or watching ONLY white savior narratives."
But I also think critique from Viola Davis that the story "wasn't ready to tell the whole truth" is completely valid. I read this shortly after One Hundred Years of Solitude and at the same time as Invisible Man, so it was very easy for me to see how other stories told by the victims of oppression are more honest. While this book approaches these serious topics mostly from a serious perspective, it does have perhaps more optimism and good fortune than would probably be realistic. It's a comfortable book for a modern reader, and a more honest book would be more uncomfortable.
But I also felt Stockett did a great job showing some details she knew more about with really great realism. In particular, I really related to a lot of how she portrayed gender roles and gender inequality.
I know this is a ton to say for this book, especially considering that it was Good---maybe even Better---but not the Best of books about race, in my mind. But the bottom line is that books like this are important to discuss, regardless of if they're the best or just good at discussing such important content. It's vital to discuss what they do well and what could be improved upon. I would absolutely recommend reading this book, but I would also highly caution against slipping into the easy trap of thinking, "I think race shouldn't limit bathroom usage, so I'm clearly not the problem and don't have anything to learn." When it comes to supporting a minority you aren't a part of, we all have more to learn, and we all could probably be doing better.
The Help talks about a very unique slice of the discussion on race in the US. Nothing else that I've heard of quite dives into those same aspects of southern dynamics during the Civil rights movement. And for that reason alone, it is worth a read. And the sheer number of discussion points it raises also makes this definitely worth reading and discussing. Just don't stop reading about race there.
Questions:
One detail distinguishing African American characters is that they are all renting their homes while the white characters all own their homes. What are some other details you can find that show the system of this town is built to prevent black people from achieving an equal situation to whites?
Why is it important for people to be able to tell their own story?
This novel is commonly criticized for portraying the harmful white savior narrative. In what ways do you see that pop up? Do you think that this dimishes or strengthens the novel?
Bearing the last two questions in mind, what do you think about Kathryn Stockett, a white author whose self-insert was Skeeter, having written this book? How does this affect your reading of it?
In this fictional book, we fully believe that these maids are telling the truth as they tell Skeeter their stories. Why do you think people are so reticent to believe real-life people telling their stories when we hear/read/talk about them? Do you think we should be more willing to trust marginalized people telling their stories or that we should think more critically about them?
Skeeter is treated much better by everyone when they know she's dating Stuart (the first time). Do you think this social attitude is prominent in our modern society? Why?
Skeeter says no daughter should have to know something as awful about their mother as what Skeeter's mother did to Constantine. Do you agree or disagree?
Aibileen ends the book reflecting that Elizabeth is too caught up in her head to even recognize herself, and that Hilly is more trapped than she, herself. Why do you think the mean white women in this book are like this? (What roles do privilege and lack of privilege play in this?)
Viola Davis has since said of the film The Help, "There's a part of me that feels like I betrayed myself, and my people, because I was in a movie that wasn't ready to [tell the whole truth]." While the film and book are not the same, do you feel that there are ways in which the book is not ready to tell the whole truth?
What other elements of the book or questions do you want to discuss?
In some ways, I think my bookclub discussion questions convey my feelings about this book better than a review could. So I included them in the pictures.
I'm pretty new to the concept of white saviorism. I'd only recently heard it in discussion with To Kill a Mockingbird, and it's been so long since I read TKAM that I didn't really understand the critique. But I started researching The Help early on and found it very helpful in explaining the concept to me.
Initially, the book felt SO lacking in self-awareness from the author: She, a privileged white woman, wrote a story about telling black women's perspectives without ever actually interviewing them. Not only that, but her self-insert main character did so by stealing the idea for the book from a black woman and doing the whole thing with selfish motives. Skeeter's really not a good person, by today's standards, she's just less bad than everyone else. And initially, her only redeeming traits are being a little less racist than all the other white characters.
But as the book progressed, a really nice foil unfolded. Hilly is the true epitome of hypocritical, harmful white saviorism. And while I would never defend Skeeter's faults, she at least became self aware and came to see how her intentions were wrong in the beginning. It was really nice to see the white savior narrative flipped on its head a bit and to see the idea that ignorant, racist people CAN learn and become better, even if it's a slow process.
I read a few people saying they felt Aibileen was the main character because the book starts and ends with her, but frankly, after learning more about the author and her intentions of putting right the way she had never appreciated her childhood maid as a child, I think this is undeniably a white woman's story interspersed with attempts to portray black women's perspectives. And in that regard, I think the rhetorical situation is not ideal, even if it was done with good intentions.
Ultimately, it was Kathryn Stockett trying to make amends for her own shortcomings toward people of color. The story is raising awareness about a time in history that isn't often talked about and doing so in a lovely way. As one redditer said, "The problem isn't with The Help, the problem is with people who stop at reading or watching ONLY white savior narratives."
But I also think critique from Viola Davis that the story "wasn't ready to tell the whole truth" is completely valid. I read this shortly after One Hundred Years of Solitude and at the same time as Invisible Man, so it was very easy for me to see how other stories told by the victims of oppression are more honest. While this book approaches these serious topics mostly from a serious perspective, it does have perhaps more optimism and good fortune than would probably be realistic. It's a comfortable book for a modern reader, and a more honest book would be more uncomfortable.
But I also felt Stockett did a great job showing some details she knew more about with really great realism. In particular, I really related to a lot of how she portrayed gender roles and gender inequality.
I know this is a ton to say for this book, especially considering that it was Good---maybe even Better---but not the Best of books about race, in my mind. But the bottom line is that books like this are important to discuss, regardless of if they're the best or just good at discussing such important content. It's vital to discuss what they do well and what could be improved upon. I would absolutely recommend reading this book, but I would also highly caution against slipping into the easy trap of thinking, "I think race shouldn't limit bathroom usage, so I'm clearly not the problem and don't have anything to learn." When it comes to supporting a minority you aren't a part of, we all have more to learn, and we all could probably be doing better.
The Help talks about a very unique slice of the discussion on race in the US. Nothing else that I've heard of quite dives into those same aspects of southern dynamics during the Civil rights movement. And for that reason alone, it is worth a read. And the sheer number of discussion points it raises also makes this definitely worth reading and discussing. Just don't stop reading about race there.
Questions:
One detail distinguishing African American characters is that they are all renting their homes while the white characters all own their homes. What are some other details you can find that show the system of this town is built to prevent black people from achieving an equal situation to whites?
Why is it important for people to be able to tell their own story?
This novel is commonly criticized for portraying the harmful white savior narrative. In what ways do you see that pop up? Do you think that this dimishes or strengthens the novel?
Bearing the last two questions in mind, what do you think about Kathryn Stockett, a white author whose self-insert was Skeeter, having written this book? How does this affect your reading of it?
In this fictional book, we fully believe that these maids are telling the truth as they tell Skeeter their stories. Why do you think people are so reticent to believe real-life people telling their stories when we hear/read/talk about them? Do you think we should be more willing to trust marginalized people telling their stories or that we should think more critically about them?
Skeeter is treated much better by everyone when they know she's dating Stuart (the first time). Do you think this social attitude is prominent in our modern society? Why?
Skeeter says no daughter should have to know something as awful about their mother as what Skeeter's mother did to Constantine. Do you agree or disagree?
Aibileen ends the book reflecting that Elizabeth is too caught up in her head to even recognize herself, and that Hilly is more trapped than she, herself. Why do you think the mean white women in this book are like this? (What roles do privilege and lack of privilege play in this?)
Viola Davis has since said of the film The Help, "There's a part of me that feels like I betrayed myself, and my people, because I was in a movie that wasn't ready to [tell the whole truth]." While the film and book are not the same, do you feel that there are ways in which the book is not ready to tell the whole truth?
What other elements of the book or questions do you want to discuss?
I had to read this novel for university; otherwise, I would have abandoned it.
It is a piece of shit. A white saviour complex dish smushed into pages filled with stereotypes and harmful fiction: because it's that: FICTION
How the hell does somebody insert themselves into USA black people's part of history as a character that saves them????
It is a piece of shit. A white saviour complex dish smushed into pages filled with stereotypes and harmful fiction: because it's that: FICTION
How the hell does somebody insert themselves into USA black people's part of history as a character that saves them????
I find "The Help" particularly potent because it crosses racial and gender boundaries, and it springs from a topic most people take for granted.
Wonderful book. I really liked the different perspectives- looking at the same thing from different points of view. I also liked how the author was able to really capture the feelings, moods, and opinions of the characters/the people they represent. I could hear Aibeleen's voice and feel her frustration at being treated so poorly and her desire to make Mae Mobley feel beautiful. I love how it ended. I was nervous most of the book- afraid that violence would visit the women. But, as the characters pointed out- women don't hurt with their hands. They hurt with their words and actions- and they never quit. Kind of scary. I could have strangled Hilly a dozen times- hate her! Really well written. I was glad to see Miss Skeeter change and begin to stand on her own- think for herself and not be afraid. She even told Stuart about the book- she had to.
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An engrossing book that tells what it's like to be a black maid in Jackson, Mississippi during the 60's.
I absolutely loved this book! I read it after I had already seen the movie, so not alot of this book was a surprise to me. It was still very good though! Be careful.... you walk away with a random southern accent. :)