The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I read The Help in three days, and really enjoyed it. It's made me rethink some of my attitudes about people and the lines that are drawn between them: class lines, professional lines, religious lines, even color lines. Last year I made a resolution to read books with a message, instead of the classic fantasy/science fiction fluff that has been my standard fare ever since I read the series The Chronicles of Prydain, in elementary school.

I enjoy books that make me sit and think for a while afterwards, then re-examine myself and try to see how this story has become a part of me. Unfortunately, the feeling doesn't ever last; if I do anything, it is in the first flush after reading. I think, though, that the message in the book becomes a part of me. Even if I don't become an activist, or give all my money to homeless shelters, I am a better person for having internalized an important message. I am a better person for listening, and I believe that the lessons learned express themselves in my actions and words.

The person I feel the most for in The Help is Minny. I am so frustrated by the stories I read of women trapped in marriages, women that are beaten down physically, mentally, and spiritually. I am sickened by tales of abuse and exploitation. I am filled with indignation when I read or hear justifications, rationalizations, excuses, and all too often from the victims themselves. And I am terrified that one day I will find out my wife feels trapped, unable to be herself, unsure even of who she is or what she could become.

Minny is trapped, but the irony of the situation is that the trap appears better than freedom, both to her and to her neighbors. Even I, the Reader, found myself thinking, "Well, at least she has a husband, at least he hasn't left her, at least all of her children have the same daddy." As if all of that justified the beatings, the shame, the fear. I hope that Minny, more than anyone else, escapes any repercussions for telling her story.