The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Kathryn Stockett has been very surprised by the success of her first novel, The Help. She began writing it after 9/11, when she was feeling homesick for her friends and family in Mississippi.

She has been criticized by some because her black characters are written with a southern dialect, but her white characters are not. She tells Katie Couric in an interview that, though she didn't always get it right, she tried to recreate the language from her childhood. She said that the women of her mother's generation spoke beautifully.

The cover on the British edition.

Do any of you remember when we tried to figure out who we thought should play the different characters in These Is My Words?

Well, the movie adaptation of The Help is being filmed right now in Mississippi.

It's always interesting to see how a book is "interpreted" by the actors, directors and crew.

Here is a photo of a yoga studio

which has been transformed into a gas station.

I'll be sure to watch for it in the movie.

And here is some of the cast:

Emma Stone plays Skeeter.

Bryce Dallas Howard plays Hilly.

She is the daughter of Ron Howard (Opie, Richie Cunningham, director), but some of you might know her better as Victoria in Eclipse.

Viola Davis plays Aibilene.

Octavia Spencer plays Minny.

Cicely Tyson and Sissy Spacek are also in the cast.

As you read, here are some questions provided by the publisher for you to consider:

1. Who was your favorite character? Why?

2. What do you think motivated Hilly? On the one hand she is terribly cruel to Aibileen and her own help, as well as to Skeeter once she realizes that she can’t control her. Yet she’s a wonderful mother. Do you think that one can be a good mother but, at the same time, a deeply flawed person?

3. Like Hilly, Skeeter’s mother is a prime example of someone deeply flawed yet somewhat sympathetic. She seems to care for Skeeter— and she also seems to have very real feelings for Constantine. Yet the ultimatum she gives to Constantine is untenable; and most of her interaction with Skeeter is critical. Do you think Skeeter’s mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character? Why?

4. How much of a person’s character would you say is shaped by the times in which they live?

5. Did it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart’s faults so that she can get married, and that it’s not until he literally gets up and walks away that the engagement falls apart?

6. Do you believe that Minny was justified in her distrust of white people?

7. Do you think that had Aibileen stayed working for Miss Elizabeth, that Mae Mobley would have grown up to be racist like her mother? Do you think racism is inherent, or taught?

8. From the perspective of a twenty-first century reader, the hairshellac system that Skeeter undergoes seems ludicrous. Yet women still alter their looks in rather peculiar ways as the definition of “beauty” changes with the times. Looking back on your past, what’s the most ridiculous beauty regimen you ever underwent?

9. The author manages to paint Aibileen with a quiet grace and an aura of wisdom about her. How do you think she does this?

10. Do you think there are still vestiges of racism in relationships where people of color work for people who are white?

11. What did you think about Minny’s pie for Miss Hilly? Would you have gone as far as Minny did for revenge?