The Help: Final Entry

    I truly enjoyed reading The Help and found it to be a really worthwhile experience. The storyline was fiction, which allowed me to become easily captured into the story, plot, and characters. However, it still contained many facts and the history that was behind the novel allowed be to learn a lot about the time period and what living with discrimination was like. In the last few pages of the novel, I found a quote that I believe fully explains what this novel was about. Miss. Skeeter wonders to herself, "Wasn't that the point of the book? For women to realize, We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought" (418). That is what the story of The Help teaches us. It reminds us that people are people no matter their hair color, eye color, height, weight, or skin color. Blacks are equal to whites, and therefore they should be treated equally and fairly. This book showed me how important it is to remember that we must be aware of how we treat people. Even the smallest things can make a big difference. This story reminded me that the similarities outweigh the differences; even though someone's skin color may be different, each person is a human with a heart and a mind, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion and their individual rights.
    Facing the truth and standing up for what you believe in takes enormous amounts of courage. It makes me wonder what the world would be like if there were more people like Aibileen and Skeeter. The story shared the idea that a difference can only be made if people try to make that difference. Thinking and acting are two very different things. The conditions in Mississippi regarding the unfair treatment of the African American maids was only able to be fixed when someone stood up and said, "This is wrong. Things need to change." We cannot let ourselves become influenced by others, when we know what they are doing is wrong. Miss. Skeeter was strong enough to go against her friends in order to change the lives of many maids.
    Overall, I found The Help to be a really moving story. I was affected by the characters and it allowed me to place this fictional story in a real-life scenario. The story was not exactly the same, but things that happened in the story also happened in Mississippi during the 1960s. At times it was difficult to read what the maids had to go through, but in the end, they prevailed. I believe that the purpose of this novel was to teach and remind readers that it is important to treat everyone equally, but more importantly, we must stand up for what we believe in. Miss. Skeeter knew it was wrong to abuse the black maids, and therefore, she devised a plan to find a way to end this discrimination. I learned a lot about the history during this time period throughout this book, but I was also able to apply the knowledge to my life now. The message Kathryn Stockett taught me, is that despite the outward differences, I must be mindful of others' feelings and remember that all of us are connected in some way or another.