One-liner sentimentality is what you should expect if you read The Help.
There were certainly moments that moved and shocked me, but overall I wasn’t impressed with The Help, issues with historical accuracy and race portrayals aside.
The problem lies with how fragmented the novel is. It switches from the perspectives of three women—Skeeter, Minny, and Aibileen—and even though their storylines technically overlap like they should in a good novel, the ending falls short somehow. Not satisfying enough in my opinion.
I appreciated the relationship between Aibileen and Mae Mobley the most; I loved the way she made up simple stories to teach Mae the lack of difference between white and black people. For example, “Martian Luther King” was never liked because he was “green.” That the novel begins with a poignant picture of 1-year-old (or is it 2?) Mae Mobley’s pain and neglect makes it all that more memorable. As far as beginnings go, it was great.
I mostly didn’t enjoy reading from Skeeter’s perspective, but I felt that her ill-fated and short-lived on and off relationship with Stuart had just the right amount of initial passion and excitement that any new flame should have. Though I did feel robbed of a potential sex scene between them, the novel just didn’t need it.
What the novel could have benefited from was a little bit more attention to Minny and Leroy’s relationship. I was surprised (in a bad way) when I realized that Leroy was an abusive husband. It’s as if the editors decided that they needed something else to justify Minny’s sudden character development where she realizes she can be someone if she leaves Leroy.
Celia’s bathroom floor mess had my jaw drop. But that was about it. I suppose that this event was necessary in order to make readers truly believe that Minny’s job was secure with the Footes. Celia was fun to read about, but that’s not necessarily a good thing considering the novel was supposed to be about three other women.
Oh, and Minny’s shit pie was… well, funny, if not a little over the top—definitely an interesting way to get back at Hilly, the character we’re supposed to abhor. I actually thought Hilly was quite tame though. She could have been a little bit more witchy. Compared to Bellatrix Lestrange she’s nothing.
An example of a carefully placed and plotted passage:
That night, after Stuart has left, I wander from room to room, dry-mouthed, cold. Cold is what I’d prayed for when Stuart left me the first time. Cold is what I got.
This refers to earlier in the novel when Skeeter was dying in the heat and wanted nothing more but to crank the air conditioning to the highest setting. But this of course blew the fuse. The imagery and craft was spot on for that scene.
Other touching elements in the novel include the signed copy of the book that was given to Skeeter from members of the community, and Louvenia’s letter to Skeeter from prison. The latter was genuinely surprising and well done. The former kind of predictable.
2/5
