The novel and the film based on it are
set in Jackson, Mississippi, 1962, and describe the lives of
black maids in that time and place. The Association of Black Women Historians is not happy with the portrayal, accusing: “both the book and the film of insensitive portrayals of African American Black Vernacular English, a nearly uniform depiction of black men as cruel or absent, and a lack of attention given to the sexual harassment that many black women endured in their white employers’ homes.” We might not have the knowledge to assess the book’s veracity, but we could think about whether the characters are caricatures; how far, if at all, our own societies have moved on in terms of racial relationships, from the one shown here; and why the book has been so successful.
Hello Ladies! Hope you both are well! Over here, I still don’t have a kitchen. Most frustrating. Franklin is still looking for a full time job. So we’ll see. I’ve finished the book, so if you ladies haven’t you might not want to read my post.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this book but there are two things I didn’t like. The first is that Hilly didn’t get enough of what she deserved. And second, that we are left not knowing what will become of Aibileen after she is fired from the Leefolt’s. I hate that Hilly could lie about Aibileen and never be penalized for it. I understand that during this time period in the south, actions like this probably occurred frequently. I understand that racism in the southern states of the US is much different than in the northern half. But it is still a hard concept for me to grasp having grown up twenty plus years after the setting of this book in a northern state. My best friend in elementary school, and most of high school, was African American. My husband is chinese. I guess I don’t know how to be racist. (haha!)
In the back of my book there are some discussion questions. I decided to pick one and answer it. The question is:
Do you think that had Aibileen stayed working for Miss Elizabeth, Mae Mobley would have grown up to be racist like her mother? Do you think racism is inherent or taught?
I think that racism is more taught than inherent. Elizabeth Leefolt was a terrible mother (or so we’re told in the novel). She seemed to like the idea of her children but not the children themselves, especially Mae Mobley. Aibileen is more of a mother figure to Mae Mobley than Elizabeth. I believe Elizabeth Leefolt would have continued neglicting her children and would have left them to Aibileen to raise. After the creation of the book, Aibileen becamse more daring. Since Aibileen was raising Mae Mobley, she would have continued teaching the child that there is nothing wrong with African Americans. I believe she would have continued telling Mae Mobley her “secret stories”. She would have continued to teach her that we are all the same, and it is what’s on the inside that matters most. Eventually I believe that Mae Mobley would have become like Skeeter. She would be more tolerant of others. She would probably honor the obligations of a mother-daughter relationship but always feel more love and devotion to Aibileen.
As for the next set of books you’ve suggested, I have read Memoirs Of A Geisha but I don’t think I’d be against reading it again. I will think of some other novels I think should be added.
Like you, Katie, I enjoyed the book but had some reservations. Mine related to what sometimes seem to be rather melodramatic moments, for example Celia’s drunkenness and Johnny’s acceptance of it at the Benefit Ball. This was a much less successful section anyway because the structure broke down here and we lost the vivid voices of the three narrators. And, my second reservation, though I was really convinced by the voices of the maids, I was a little less involved in Skeeter’s character.
ReplyDeleteThe relevant historical details, for example Vietnam, Kennedy, Medgar Evans, Martin Luther King and the lunch counter protests, were helpful in establishing the setting - and the variety of perspectives on that background made the text an interesting history lesson.
The inclusion of some of the Jim Crow Laws of the South give a real appreciation of how many of the whites viewed the black population. The enormous problems caused by the desire for separate toilets is potentially and actually tragic: toilet training Mae Mobley, the old workman who has to use the bushes, the beating and blinding of Robert and finding a black doctor to treat him.
The social acceptability of racism and the complete self absorption of some of the characters, were all too convincing. Do Skeeter’s own feelings of insecurity contribute to the beginning of her awareness of how Aibileen might feel about a separate toilet?
I thought the ending was as happy a one as could be engineered in such a novel. At least the three main characters seem more likely to fulfill their potential. I got the impression Aibileen was going to write.
The book was a real page-turner, the reading driven by a dreadful prospect of disaster. Suspense was created by the all too real possibility of injury, death . . .
On the whole, I enjoyed it enormously.
Sadly, Katie, I think racism is taught, too. I read some research somewhere in which five year olds were given pictures of representatives of different racial groups and asked to say what qualities they associated with these people. The comments they made suggested they’d absorbed the racism which surrounded them. But it’s old research and perhaps the findings would not be replicated today.
I’m so sorry about the kitchen, Katie. I hope you get one soon – I regret to say that when we were without one, we just went to a pub that sells cheap meals to pensioners. Someone like Franklin can’t fail to find a full-time job – just a matter of time. Jay and I wish him lots of luck in his search.
Hello Ladies,
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed our book this month. Has anyone seen the film?
I try not to do both but a friend of mine told me she enjoyed the film immensely.
In the back of my book there is an interview with Katherine Stockett which I found enlightening. I feel the character of Skeeter is loosely based on herself.
In your post Sue you quote The Association of Black Women Historians comments on the book.The author says this in her interview. "I don't presume to think that I know what it really felt like to be a black women in Mississippi, especially in the 1960's. I don't think it is something any white women on the other end of a black women's paycheck could ever truly understand. But trying to understand is vital to our humanity. In The Help there is one line that I truly prize:
"Wasn't that the point of the book? For women to realise, We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I thought."
She goes on to say how frightened she was of getting it wrong of saying too much or too little. In a novel with such an emotive theme I dare say I would be a little frightened of getting it wrong too!!! I guess what I am saying is despite some reservations from the communities it is written about I am glad she wrote it.
What I am waiting for and I feel we will all let out a whoop of joy is a strong male character !!!! Where are they all!!! Again I found the men in this story suspect and weak. Skeeter's father may have shown some backbone when talking to the Senator at dinner, but really I am grasping here.The Association of Black Women Historians was also critical of the portrayal of black men in the book. I feel perhaps alcoholism and domestic violence is more a socio-economic problem than one relating to race. What do you think?
The other paragraph in the book that struck me on page218 . Minny talks of all the "coloured things she could do [besides telling her stories] to help the protest, but she says," I don't care that much about voting. I don't care about eating at a counter with white people. What I care about is if in ten years a white lady will call my girls dirty and accuse them of stealing the silver."
In the novel we read "Falling Angels" the maid of one of the suffragettes said something very similar about not caring about the vote just wanting enough food to feed her child. What do you ladies make of this? Do sometimes all our grand protests miss the mark and fail to address the grassroots dilemmas that people have to endure everyday?
I agree with you both I feel racism is a learned behaviour spawned from misunderstanding and fear.
So Katie is Memoirs of a Geisha in or out, your call.
Thanks Sue for this suggestion I really enjoyed it and once again have learnt more about different cultures and my own reactions to them.
Indeed, Nancy, where are all the strong men? I'm assuming we know some in life, so how come we haven't encountered them in our reading list? I've only just begun reading "We Need to Talk About Kevin", but it seems unlikely we are going to find one here either. The first few chapters, though, are gripping.
ReplyDeleteI'm being very idealistic and re-stating a common view, I know, but I sometimes think that alcoholism, domestic violence and other forms of destructive behaviour are, to some extent, caused by a society's lack of respect for all its individuals.
Minny wants respect for her girls and the Edwardian maid wants the opportunity to satisfy her family's basic physical needs. By todays standards, their human rights have been denied.
Has giving the vote to the people these characters represent addressed these issues?
The Edwardian maid's economic problems have been alleviated to some extent, I think, but looking at the state of my country's economy, perhaps temporarily. Addressing some grassroots dilemmas can only be achieved in a successful economy - but it has to be a economy which recognises individuals' human rights. This is still a problem in the U.K. To solve it would require a cultural shift.
Minny's human rights problem also needed a cultural shift to address it. Katie would be best placed to tell us whether that has been achieved at the national level.
There are real problems with the democratic system, which can so easily be manipulated. The turnout at elections here is really low. People do not think that their vote makes any difference and in our first past the post system, that may be true. The electoral boundaries can be manipulated to favour different parties.
And when one looks at other ways in which democracy can be corrupted (India, regimes voted in after the Arab Spring . . . ) it's clear democracy is only a starting point, and not even that in some societies.
So, yes, Nancy, I do think many grand protests miss their mark, but I also think that it is only within a democracy that we can begin meaningfully to address people's human rights.
Scotland's future independence will be decided by voting in 2014. In the seventeenth century, it was decided in the corridors of power. Of course, it could be said that's still the case. (The fuss about the phrasing of the questions has been endless) And it's also true to say that I'd have liked to vote on it, too. (The feeling is that if the whole of the U.K. voted, the Scots would have their independence immediately.) But even a partial say is better than none. (Beside if the Scots get independence, it's Yorkshire's turn next!)
I have gone on for ages again, ladies - sorry. sorted out my own views in my head, though. Thanks for the opportunity.
And, no, I haven't seen the film, Nancy.
Will now return to Eva's awful parenting problems.
Hello Ladies,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Sue, firstly we need a functioning democracy to begin to achieve any lasting change for good. Sadly, that is so very difficult to achieve. I always find it so ironic in Australia we are by law forced to vote,[ with threat of big fines if not compliant}for our democratic freedoms. Please don't get me started on the politics here at the moment it is humiliating and embarrassing to watch.
Katie , are you OK? I hope Sandy doesn't cause you too much trouble. I have been watching on the news and it seems quite devastating the damage done to the big cities there.
Sue, I thought Yorkshire was already an independent nation !!! lol
On that note I'm off to earn my daily bread!! I only work 2 days a week, yet always seem so busy. Gracie is home next week for 4 months, these uni kids seem like they are training to be professional holidayers.But I joke, I can't wait to have her home with me.
Hello Ladies,
ReplyDeleteI’m writing to you from a well-lit and heated house! It only took about a week to gain back power. We are fortunate as there are still many people, closer to the east coast, without power.
Sue, to address your thought, I don’t know that I’m in the “best place” to address Minny’s problem. I’m afraid I have lived all my life in a northern state and haven’t traveled much around my own country. I’ve heard stories that there are still towns down south that haven’t changed much in the last several decades. There are still places that behave like the Jackson, Mississippi. But again, this is not first-hand knowledge on my part.
It is interesting that you bring up democracy as we (the States) are in the middle of our election. Over here, I believe, there seems to be a large gap between the wealthy and the poor. Fewer and fewer individuals are falling into the middle class and this is not limited to race. Many people are unemployed and in mounts of debt. Our economy is in bad shape right now. It seems that if the classes were a little more balanced, more individuals would have what they needed just as the Edwardian maid wanted. Hopefully, whoever is elected will have a plan to jump-start it.
Nancy, you talked about how Minny didn’t care about voting, she only cared about the future treatment of her daughters. This line breaks my heart. It’s only natural to want something better for your children. It must have been so painful for all those mothers to know their children would not be treated any better. In the late 19th century, Italian immigrants were treated as shamelessly as many other minority groups. I wonder if my great-great grandparents felt as Minny did for their children. In addition, the Chinese were terribly discriminated against in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. If these racial beliefs were still in practice today, Franklin and I and any future offspring would be in a terrible position! I would be feeling the same way as Minny.
I also have not watched this movie nor any of the movies of any of our previous novels. But I think I may rectify that situation, maybe this weekend.
I’m sorry it has taken so long for my response. “Memoirs” was very good so if you ladies would like to read it, I’ll happily read it again. I also suggest the following books:
Honolulu by Alan Brennert
The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Nancy, have fun with Gracie! Sue, I like forward to starting ‘Kevin’ since you seem to be so engrossed in it already!
Best Wishes,
Katie