Tolog Review: The Help

The Help
by Kathryn Stockett
reviewed by Christine Valdivia 

Racism seemed so normal to those who lived in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960’s. There was segregation, hate, and other upsetting things having to do with race. You are able to experience how it was to live in the middle of this time through the eyes of two black maids and a white aspiring writer. Their names are Aibileen, Minnie, and Skeeter. Aibileen is the eldest and has been a maid for as long as she could remember and is currently raising her seventeenth white child. However, Minnie is not able to hold a job very long do to her smart mouth and sassy tone. Then there is Skeeter, who has been raised by black maids and wishes to find out where her beloved maid, Constantine is.

After witnessing the pains the maids go through in the white family houses, Skeeter decides to write a book based on all the experiences Minnie and Aibileen have gone through over the years. The girls have to keep quiet throughout the whole process, otherwise they will be fired immediately.

Kathryn Stockett does a fantastic job of portraying two black maids living in the 1960’s. This historical fiction is like no other, showing the importance of friendship, love, loyalty, and equality. The story also shows how everyone has a voice and needs to use no matter what the consequences could be. Using her own experiences from growing up in the South, Stockett educates and entertains the reader from the very first page to the very last!