Right now I am about 150 pages into The Help, and I have to say that I love it so far. The story captured my attention after just the first chapter, but it also has taught me a lot about what life was like for African American maids, as well as African Americans in general. The story takes place in Mississippi in the 1960s and focuses on a few different characters. Each chapter switches the perspective; getting to read from different characters' perspectives is very helpful, because it gives me a better understanding of how blacks and whites of all ages felt during this time period. For example, one of the main characters is named Aibileen and she is a black maid who works for a white woman. There is also Miss. Skeeter who is a white woman, but the more she gets to know the maids, the more she is against the way they are poorly treated.
The whole story has been very interesting and thought-provoking, but there is one scene in particular that still sticks out in my mind. Miss. Skeeter is reflecting on her childhood and remembers one day when her mother told her before she went outside to play with other children, "Be nice to the little colored girls when you're down there." Then, Miss. Skeeter replied with, "Why wouldn't I be?" I found this part of the novel incredibly powerful. It truly demonstrates the idea of innocence. As a child, Miss. Skeeter was too young to understand the difference between a white child and a black child. To her, everyone was a human being and deserved to be treated equally. I think that this demonstrates how ignorant some people can be. No one grows up thinking that whites are more powerful or worthy than African Americans; they think that because that is what they are taught. It makes me sad to think that only children have such a loving and open mind, whereas so many adults are quick to judge and form opinions.
Right now, the plot is beginning to form in the novel. Miss. Skeeter is determined to have a career in journalism, and as a result she is trying to create a novel that includes interviews from black maids who work for whites. It will be interesting to see how the story unfolds, because as many of the characters have commented, what she is doing is very dangerous. It could put both her life and the lives of the maids she is interviewing in danger. However, I hope that in the end the interviews will be published so that some of the more ignorant white characters can see the truth more clearly.
I agree that this ignorance is actually sad. And, parents influence their children in SO many other ways, too. For most of the book, though, it seems that Miss Skeeter is the only character who feels compelled to do something it. Everyone has their prejudices against other people, but it's frustrating that prejudices against specific groups of people, especially certain ethnicities, still persist today.
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