The Help

This is a long-overdue post, and I deeply apologise that I've become so lazy with my blogging. Reasons: revision, tests, GCSEs, revision, READING, revision, etc. WARNING: there will be many, many spoilers in this next blog...

Emma Stone as Skeeter

So, The Help. An utterly fantastic book with gorgeous characters (and some mean ones too), a great plot and a message that rings loud and clear. The message of the book was one of its defining features; the fact that black people had to fight to get equal rights in America throughout the '50s and '60s tells you something about the functionality of American democracy... It makes one realise the hardships that people had to go through, and not only black people, but also white people who supported the Civil Rights movement, and women too. The moment when Skeeter is dumped by her boyfriend Stewart simply for writing the book is particularly poignant and illustrative of how narrow-minded people used to be. Skeeter also comments on the fact that not many of her female classmates actually finished college, as they all went off to be married or to have a baby; this was, really, the height of feminine achievement in the 1950s. To marry and to be the perfect housewife and homemaker was every woman's dream and aspiration. We can really appreciate, then, how much times have changed.

My favourite characters were definitely Minny and Miss Celia Foote. Just watching how their relationship progresses throughout the book is a hilarious venture. Celia's naivete in terms of hiring a maid and housekeeping is particularly funny, as we see how Minny copes with all of Celia's domestic failings. And who could ever forget Minny's crowning moment with the pie? I shan't reveal exactly what happens, but let's just say that Miss Hilly bit off more than she could chew...

Overall, amazing book, and amazing film, with Emma Stone (who I have a slight girl crush on), go and watch it if you haven't already! Next I'll be reading critically acclaimed The Passage, by Justin Cronin, so look out for more updates!