Author: Kathryn Stockett
Length: 534 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books
Price: $12.99
Open Your Eyes
By: Erin Nelson
"Eat my sh*t." Minny Jackson, played by Octavia Spencer in the movie, proclaimed these words to the local, vicious white woman, Hilly Holbrook, to get back at her for the disrespect she is shown daily. Jackson baked Holbrook a pie and literally filled it with her bodily wastes and gave it to Holbrook. This scene shows the final straw Jackson had from being treated so terribly. This is an important scene because it conveys the daily ill treatment the white people showed the African Americans in the 1960s.
Tate Taylor (director)
Kathryn Stockett, the author, placed the scene of the book in Jackson, Miss., where she was born and raised. Stockett received a degree in English and Creative Writing from the University of Alabama, which enhanced and led to the writing of The Help. The book was on The New York Times Best Seller list for over 100 weeks after it was released. The Help is the only book she has published, so far.
The over all subject of the book, personally, is to give respect and equality to everyone, despite differences. This book emphasizes the severe disrespect and unfair treatment the African Americans are given and uses Eugenia 'Skeeter' Phelan, the white author who writes the book about their lives, to convey that they are people just like everyone else.
I think Stockett nailed her point that equality and respect is to be given to everyone. Besides this one scene, there are many important moments throughout the book that stress the wrongful treatment. She uses Skeeter well to convey how it's perfectly OK to get along with African Americans by showing the change of heart and kindness Celia Foote shows towards the African American women. The ending to the book should have showed more detail about Holbrook's slow change of heart and attitude towards the African Americans. This would have benefitted the emphasis about the change of heart that slowly happened.
judgmentalobserver.com
I would recommend The Help for anyone, in particularly women, to read in their spare time. Even having an open mind can change your look and open your eyes more to see the importance of how our actions towards others affect those around us.
No comments:
Post a Comment