Host March 2011: Sarah (with fiance Steve)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Summary
This novel is set in 1962 in Jackson, Mississippi at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Skeeter, a young wannabe journalist, has just graduated from college and moves back home where her family and friends insist that her finding a husband is all that matters. She becomes intrigued by the lives of black maids, partly due to the disappearance of the one who all but raised her. She begins to enlist the help of her friends’ maids to write a book about themselves from their perspective. Skeeter is forced to interview the maids in secret, although that still puts her and them in danger as blacks are beaten or murdered by white men for various insolences - and if they are caught - the same could happen to them. The maids cooperate (even though they are terrified to do so) as it is the first time they have had a voice in anything. The book describes how hard the maids worked and how frequently they existed in a life or death environment. Not only were their jobs to cook and clean, often the maids raised the white women’s children - oftentimes the white children loved their black nanny more than their own mother
Summary
This novel is set in 1962 in Jackson, Mississippi at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Skeeter, a young wannabe journalist, has just graduated from college and moves back home where her family and friends insist that her finding a husband is all that matters. She becomes intrigued by the lives of black maids, partly due to the disappearance of the one who all but raised her. She begins to enlist the help of her friends’ maids to write a book about themselves from their perspective. Skeeter is forced to interview the maids in secret, although that still puts her and them in danger as blacks are beaten or murdered by white men for various insolences - and if they are caught - the same could happen to them. The maids cooperate (even though they are terrified to do so) as it is the first time they have had a voice in anything. The book describes how hard the maids worked and how frequently they existed in a life or death environment. Not only were their jobs to cook and clean, often the maids raised the white women’s children - oftentimes the white children loved their black nanny more than their own mother
Discussion
-We all really enjoyed this novel and the perspective it gave us on the white women and their relationships with their black maids in the early 1960s in the South. This was a time where the white families didn’t know any different, this was their way of life and how they themselves were raised.
-It was unimaginable to us the fear that blacks often felt when doing something that might not be acceptable to their white employers such as using the bathroom inside the house rather than using the bathroom built for the black help outside the house. “The help” basically lived in a regime of fear. It was not uncommon for the white women to use threats and lies to secure and exercise power over their black maids. Being employed was an absolute necessity for all black men and women during this time and era as they were paid very little and it took both parents’ incomes to raise a family in what they often lived in - nothing more than a shack with partial dirt flooring.
-The author did a wonderful job developing the various personalities of the maids. Aibleen who writes prayers to God eventually becomes the impetus for the book getting written, and Minnie, who has a difficult time keeping jobs because of her funny but blunt comments to her white employers, are just two of the many fascinating characters in this book.
-There were some issues that we felt were not closed - such as whatever happened to the main character when she moved to New York and whether or not the maids ever made enough money from the book to break out of the never ending cycle of them becoming maids.
-We all really enjoyed this novel and the perspective it gave us on the white women and their relationships with their black maids in the early 1960s in the South. This was a time where the white families didn’t know any different, this was their way of life and how they themselves were raised.
-It was unimaginable to us the fear that blacks often felt when doing something that might not be acceptable to their white employers such as using the bathroom inside the house rather than using the bathroom built for the black help outside the house. “The help” basically lived in a regime of fear. It was not uncommon for the white women to use threats and lies to secure and exercise power over their black maids. Being employed was an absolute necessity for all black men and women during this time and era as they were paid very little and it took both parents’ incomes to raise a family in what they often lived in - nothing more than a shack with partial dirt flooring.
-The author did a wonderful job developing the various personalities of the maids. Aibleen who writes prayers to God eventually becomes the impetus for the book getting written, and Minnie, who has a difficult time keeping jobs because of her funny but blunt comments to her white employers, are just two of the many fascinating characters in this book.
-There were some issues that we felt were not closed - such as whatever happened to the main character when she moved to New York and whether or not the maids ever made enough money from the book to break out of the never ending cycle of them becoming maids.
Ingredients
-1 cup sour cream
-1 cup real mayonnaise
-1 tablespoon grated onion
-1 tablespoon (or more to taste) dill weed
-1 tablespoon parsley flakes
-1 tablespoon Beau Monde seasoning
Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for at least two to three hours. This dip can be served with vegetables, crackers, or chips.
-1 cup sour cream
-1 cup real mayonnaise
-1 tablespoon grated onion
-1 tablespoon (or more to taste) dill weed
-1 tablespoon parsley flakes
-1 tablespoon Beau Monde seasoning
Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for at least two to three hours. This dip can be served with vegetables, crackers, or chips.
Drain and dry desired number of cans of chickpeas. Mix about two tablespoons olive oil with your favorite seasonings such as garlic and salt or a mixture of Indian spices in a one quart freezer bag. Coat chickpeas and lay in a single layer on a pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until crisp on the outside.
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