the help

This is my final post for this semester, but it is not the last time I will be reading this book! I am completely caught up in the plot, and need to read this book in its entirety so I can watch the movie!
These last couple chapters were told by Aibileen and then by Miss. Skeeter.  The main happenings were that Miss Skeeter had posed the idea for her book to Aibileen, without knowing, on the day of her sons death anniversary. Aibileen denies, but after a few days, she agrees to be interviewed on what it is like to work for a white woman in Jackson, Mississippi. There was a lot of drama for Aibileen, because she had been trying to potty train the little girl- whose mama wouldnt show her how it was done- and she showed her herself, in her own bathroom... when the little girl went potty in the garage potty, her mother was horrified and I thought for sure she would have been fired for that. But somehow she was able to keep her job.
Miss Skeeter finally met the boy that her friend was trying to hook her up with, he was a good looking man, but that was all he had going for him. He turned out to be a drunk, and was looking at other women while on the date with her. She did, however, give him a piece of her mind. I thought that scene was pretty funny, because back then, women were not supposed to talk like that, especially to a man!!!

Overall, in this semester of reading, I have read some really good books. I would love to continue reading even after this semester is through! Hopefully I will be able to finish this book over the break that is coming up!

The help

These next two chapters were told from the point of view of Miss Skeeter, a white lady in her early twenties, who just graduated from college and moved back in with her parents on their cotton farm. Skeeter's mother was very unhappy with her because she graduated college with a degree- rather than a husband. Skeeter is not the prettiest girl, right at 6 feet tall and she has wiry hair. She has goals for herself, goals that do not require her to have a husband. She wants to be a writer, and after being hounded by her mother to find a job where she could meet a husband, Skeeter found a job working at a local newspaper- writing a column answering readers questions about cleaning... Naturally, since she doesnt clean at all, she does not know much. But she is willing to meet with a friends maid, Aibileen, and have her answer the questions while Skeeter writes down all of the information and submits it to the paper.
While Skeeter is there talking with Aibileen, she asks her questions about her old maid, the one that raised her, Constantine. Skeeter was told by her mother that while Skeeter was in college, Constantine moved back home to Chicago to be with her sick sister, but Aibileen told a whole different story. After piecing together pieces of the pages, it turns out that Constantine was half white (which was why her eyes were light brown, and she had some patches of skin that were not as dark as others). Her mother was black, but her father was white. He would come spend weekends with her, and all she remembered was his love. Aibileen told Skeeter that her mother had fired Constantine because her daughter came to see her. Her daughter had gotten the white gene from Constantine, and could not stay with Constantine because of it. Aibileen did not want to say much more, but it was enough for Skeeter.
Aibileen and Skeeter also discussed Aibileen's son, who nobody really knew about. He had died 2 years prior, and Aibileen did not want to talk too much about him either. However, she did tell Skeeter that her son wanted to be a writer too.He had written 50 pages already of a book about what it was like to live as a black man working for a white family.  Before he died, he had left his book with a girl he knew, and nobody had seen it since. At the end of the chapter, Skeeter mentions how she cant get this thought out of her head, and it makes me think she is thinking about his book... Guess I will have to see in the next few chapters!!!

The Help

Chapters 3&4 were told by Minnie. She is the outspoken maid. She wound up getting the job that Aibileen had referred her to, but there were some challenges. Ms Cillia was her boss, and was extremely lazy. She laid in bed a majority of the day, and by the looks of her house, she never did any cleaning. Cillia did not know how to cook anything. She had hired Minnie to teach her how to cook, and to clean up the house. Catch? Her husband was not to know. He thought that since she was home during the day with no kids, she should clean the house. She did, however, agree to tell him about it after 4 months of Minnie working there. Minnie was constantly worried that Cillia's husband would come home during the day, although Cillia assured her that he would not. Every day for two weeks, Minnie cleaned every inch of the house; and every day, Cillia would come down to the kitchen for a cooking lesson. She wanted to learn how to cook for her husband properly. Cillia was constantly asking Minnie to not do everything perfectly, becuase she had to make it believable, her husband had to believe that she could have possibly done these things on her own.
One afternoon, Cillia was upstairs as usual, and Minnie was peeling peaches in the sink. She was not paying attention to the gravel driveway. Suddenly she saw him walking up, and Minnie ran to tell Cillia that her husband was home. Minnie ran to the guest bathroom to hide, and was uncertain of what would happen next. This is where the chapters end, and I am anxious to see what happens with Miss Cillia and her husband, if he meets Minnie sooner than anticipated; and if Cillia admits to what is going on- or if she denies and claims Minnie to be a burgler...

The Help

I have heard many good things about this book, and was very anxious to begin reading it. Since I like to read for detail and not for speed, I am a quite slow reader. I usually have to check out a book from the library twice just so that I can finish it! This time, I went ahead and made the purchase, figuring I could pass it on to someone else to enjoy when I am finished!
The first 2 chapters is all I have completed thus far. It begins being told by "the help" named Aibileen. She is an older black lady who works for a small southern family. The family consists of one child (toddler years), and parents of whom are in their early twenties. Aibileen's responsibilities are endless. She is a second mother to the child, and still has all of the household duties. The mother stays home all day, but does not do anything except make plans to be with her friends. The main topic being addressed in these chapters is introduced in chapter one; the bathroom. Brunch was being held at the house one day, and Aibileen overheard the ladies discussing where the help uses the bathroom. When it was discovered that she used the guest bathroom, the other ladies were disgusted- knowing that they shared a bathroom with a black lady was completely unacceptable. They convinced the lady, who was supposed to convince her husband to have an extra bathroom built away from the house in the garage- that it would raise the value of their home. The next day the work began on the new bathroom. Since Aibileen was raised to know how to react to being insulted, she didn't bat an eye when she was told to use the outside bathroom from now on.
Aibileen lives outside of town and rides the bus to get home every night. She has a particular friend, Minnie, who is fairly outspoken, and does not take anything from her boss (granted her boss is deaf- so its ok). Her bosses children put her into a home, and that left Minnie out of a job. The children bragged that they had fired her for stealing silver from the house, when she had done no such thing, so finding a new job was near impossible. Aibileen was able to talk with one of her bosses white friends, and told her all about Minnies wonderful skills around the house, especially cooking. Since the lady did not know much about anything, she immediately wanted to hire Minnie.
The next chapter I believe is going to be told by Minnie, so I cant wait to see what happens next!