Courage in a Domestic Environment

 I watched the film adaptation of this novel before reading the novel itself. I knew from watching the film that this was a story worth revisiting, so I eventually decided to read it. While the film does an excellent job of sticking to the general plot of the novel, as I say with all book/movie pairs, the book was way better. Many rich details, including life in a Southern town, that can only be captured in text run wild in this novel. But what I love most are its subtleties. While it is a book surrounding both white and black characters, its author Kathryn Stockett does an excellent job of contrasting these two race's lifestyles and societal standings. In essence, these subtleties, or "lines" as some of the characters refer to them as, are striven to be broken through the writing of a book that reveals the oftentimes harsh lives of the help of white women in a town known as Jackson, Mississippi (a town that functions as if the Confederation won the Civil War). Overall, this novel is beautifully written and does an amazing job of developing characters and situations that put readers on edge and rooting for what can only be described as a happy ending. For what these characters are essentially fighting for by writing a manuscript that could expose them to the harsh exploits of a white supremacist society is change: change in how the country views a race that was supposed to be freed from oppression and given liberty many moons ago. Sadly, this story cannot and does not have a happy ending. How can it when today in the year 2020, the United States as a nation is still struggling to grapple with racial disparities? I highly recommend that you read this book; rather than saying "regardless of the lack of a happy ending," I instead want to say "because this story does not have a happy ending," you should read this book. While set in a fictional landscape with made-up characters, these landscapes and characters represent actions and environments that were very very real during the 1960s in Southern America. And everyone can grow from and enjoy the timeless theme of cultivating friendships despite obstacles and differences that this novel has to offer.


Some of my favorite quotes from The Help:

"All I'm saying is, kindness don't have no boundaries."

"Write about what disturbs you, particularly if it bothers no one else."

"No one tells us, girls who don't go on dates, that remembering can be almost as good as what actually happens."

"We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought."

"... I realized I actually had a choice in what I could believe."

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