The Help

The Help was one of the best books that i have read this year. There is nothing you can't learn from this book about equality. I thought that it took me back to the 60's and really showed me how life has changed since then and what it was like. It dealt with a lot of hard subjects that aren't talked about much anymore or that people didn't know anything about then thus leading to the bad situation. I thought this was an extremely well written book being from the point of three people two of which were in the dialect of the African Americans at the time.

Abilene:

She has been "The Help" her whole life, always moving on after the child has turned nine or so and starts to realize the color difference they share. Abilene is starting to realize that even though she raises the white children until they don't need her anymore, it doesn't matter because they always realize in the end that she is nothing more then the woman who took care of them.

Now she's working for Mrs.Leefolt who is possibly the worst mother she has ever known. She pays absolutely no attention to her daughter Mae Mobley who is starving for attention. She realizes that if she doesn't start changing things that Mae Molbey will end up the same way as all the others. And then there's Mrs. Leefolt. She is obsessed with Hilly Holbrok. Nothing else matters except pleasing Hilly. She is like a goddess to all the other white women in the town and if your her friend, you are in and everyone else is a loser or has something not right about them and Abilene can't stand her. Especially after she hears that Hilly is planning on passing a law that every white house must have a separate toilet for the help due to all the "diseases" that "they" carry in their urine. So when Miss Skeeter tells Abilene her idea,she realizes that she might just have to do this.

Minny:

Ever since she was a little girl she has know how to be a white woman's maid. It was her future. There was never a question that there would be a different one. At the moment Minny hates her job. But more then that, she hates Hilly Holbrok. How could a woman have the nerve to pass that around about her? Of course Minny could ask the same thing about her self. She has always had sass but never has she ever done something so terrible to anyone before. She is grateful that Abilene is trying to help her find one because thanks to Hilly Holbrok she can't get one. And that when she meets Mrs. Celia who doesn't seem to see the lines that clearly separate them. Minny begins to realize that even though Mrs. Celia is the social outcast of Jackson, Mississippi she may just be the only sane one there. She begins to consider Miss Skeeters idea.

Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan:

Skeeter is having a hard time understanding what happened to Constantine, the woman who practically raised her. Where did she go? Skeeter got home from Ole' Miss and she was just...gone. No one will tell her anything except: she moved to Tennessee. What was in Tennessee? Why couldn't she have at least said goodbye? She was more of a mother then her real mother. The world doesn't feel as right as it used too. Skeeter is starting to see the faults Jackson has not only in the laws but in the people. Like her best friend Hilly Holbrok. Why was she trying to pass this silly law about having segregated bathrooms in your house. YOUR HOUSE! wasn't there already enough segregation? All Skeeter has ever wanted to be was a writer. She was never sure what kind but now she is almost sure of it. After meeting Abilene through her best friend Elizabeth Leefolt and hearing about how Abilene's son had written a book on what it was like to be a black man in Mississippi before he died, she thinks about how maybe that is what she should be writing about now. Focusing on how "the help" is treated. It could be a best seller.

The Help:

Miss Skeeter, Abilene, Minny and many others will find their way in this amazing story about life.

I recommend this book strongly. I thought that the story was phenomenal and would read it over many times. If you want a ground breaking book, this is your top pick.