Elle!'s Reviews > The Help

Okay yes I know two stars. That doesn't mean I want to take it into the woods in shoot it. It was a fun read! I was confused on whether give this fun book three or two stars. I'd give it a two point five.

The good: I found the story to be rather silly, cute and doused in pink glitter. I loved the descriptions of the dresses, the hair the food. I loved the little circle of ladies playing cards. For a redeeming point, I liked blonde Sugar Ditch bred Celia and Handsome Mister Johnny. I loved meany evil Ms.Hilly. I liked the revenge with the pie.

The Bad: Stereotypical characters , awful narration from the African American Characters and painted with cotton candy fluff.Kathryn, put her ideas and needs into the book. It was how a black maid should think. I know it's hard to write from a different point of view but it was lacking for me. The reactions in the heat of the Civil Right's Movement wouldn't have been so cutesie and glittered over. I get it, it's a novel but it was unrealistic.

Just imagine yourself in the maid's feet. The author seemed to forget that mothering someone else's child was a JOB not a HOBBY, that many woman who went through the tedious work of this had their own children. African American woman didn't have many job choices so they were practically forced to become Help if they wanted to survive in life. Raising someone else's child but never seeing your own! Wouldn't it be as if it were teasing you? Something in the back of your mind, wanting to raise your kids, see their first steps, hold YOUR child instead of another child who will be taught to hate you in a few years?

The Ugly:I wished Stockett didn't use stock "Mammy" characters. Yes, "Mammy" characters - they were predictable in their behavior and looks. This women were the epitome of the "Mammy". I was expecting a bit of diversity throughout the women but I didn't get that. I got a rack of stereotypes.

Stockett's narration: :(. God, that terrible narration. It was practically illegible - bad chopped dialect slowed down every sentence. I understand giving the dialogue, a bit of personality but Stockett turned it into a joke.
Another question, I have for the author is how was Aibileen supposedly great in school but she can barely speak a proper sentence? It doesn't make sense. Why do all of the black maids speak a like, aren't they different people?The author should have studied African American voices and stories from that era.

"I know how to get them babies to sleep, stop crying, and go on the toilet before they mamas even get out a bed in the morning.(p.1)"

If this was just once sentence to give me a picture of the character, I wouldn't care but ALL of the African American narrators spoke this way which I found pretty bias. If you interchanged the characters, and scratched out the names, you would have no idea which maid was speaking. They had the same thoughts, seem speech patterns.It was a relief to get to Skeeters section. I was very disappointed in the stereotyping by this author. She could have at least picked diverse characters with diverse personalities. Every African American female in that book spoke downright terribly except for Yule May and Gretchen (The "uppity" African Americans).

Skeeter had something to say which I found quite interesting.

"She [Gretchen, the African American Maid] was trim in her uniform dress. she wore lipstick , the same color me and my friends wore. She was young .She spoke evenly 'with care, like a white person'. I don't know why, but that made it worse. (p.305)"

Oh dear Skeeter.... Aren't you supposed to be the "stereotypical liberal" here? How should Gretchen speak to make you feel at ease? Maybe like the rest of the stereotypical maids - like a "Mammy." I thought Skeeter was the helpful open-minded liberal female.

Guess not.

To much of "Stereotypical Mary Sue" Skeeter and the maids didn't get to shine. This book was called "The Help" might I say not "The Skeeter". I was looking forward to hearing the maids perspective , all of them just - not 3 or 4.

Overall. I did not hate the book. I thought it was fun and cute. And I'll read it time to time. I have read it from time to time. For pure entertainment purposes it's nice but any other aspect, not really.