The Help

Are you a Hilly or a Skeeter?

This book needs to be in the BBC Top 100 books, so get on it BBC. Truth is that I know that I am behind the times. This book has already been turned into a movie (a large honor placed on a book now days!) I had been told to read this book by many people but I was in the middle of my list and could not be disturbed. Well it was worth the break and I am really glad that I did it.

So back to the original question, are you a Hilly or a Skeeter? I hope that I would have been just like Skeeter but the truth is, would I have that much guts? I am nowhere near the level of Aibileen or Minny, I definatly would not have been able to do what they did. I struggle to be comfortable with the people around me. They put their story out at one of the most dangerous time for a maid to do so.

Nature vs Nurture. Is Skeeter who she is because of Constentine? Skeeter was raised by her and she grew up to become someone who could give up what she thought she wanted in order to serve the greater good. I have hope for Mae Mobley, becuase of Aibileen she could have respect for all people, not just the ones that have the same skin color as her. She loved Aibileen, and her mother didn't show her any attention. That may have made a bigger difference in Mae Mobley's life then any novel could have done. That love and that bond will hopefully last for a very long time.

I am not going to tell a lot about what happens in the story becuase I honestly want you to go out and read it if you have not already.

My perfect pairing for this book is in a classroom while you should be grading but cannot put the book down. To be honest that is where I read a good amount of this book. Confession complete.

The purpose of the book that was written by Minny, Aibileen, and Skeeter was to show that deep down we are all the same. There isn't a lot that separates us and people. It doesn't matter about the color of your skin or where you come from. Deep down, we are all the same. That is a message that can go beyond the story written in this novel, or even the message this novel gives it's reader. Deep down we all have our own joys, our own pain and our own happiness.

So the choice is ours, be a Hilly? A woman who is so afraid of others that she feels she must control everything? Who won't open her eyes to the wonderful things happening around her? Or will you be Skeeter, Aibileen or Minny? Will you stand up and fight for what is right, even if it means losing sometimes? Will I? It is a choice that we all make every day.

Next up is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Return to Reading

      Whew, it has been a crazy month. Taking on Anna and starting school again. I had honestly forgotten how much work it is to start school and how much time it takes and how engrossed I can become in my students. Last year didn't really feel like my first year of teaching. Sure I had some bumps in the road but this year seems a whole lot bumpier. I can't seem to get my feet underneath me. So I kept trying, I kept staying late and getting things done but no matter what, my list kept growing and growing. It has been getting to the point where all I do it go to school, then come home and do nothing. I am also taking classes so any spare time I have now is spent on that. It was pretty bleak!

      However, I have now come to the realization that I need to do what I like too. I was telling my brother that he needed to take time for himself and then the very next day, I went to school at 7 and left a little after 6. Take your own advice Mrs. P. So I am. Back to blogging and more importantly, back to biking and reading!

      Well on to Anna, I had read it a long time ago but I had forgotten a lot about what happened. It was really interesting to go back and read it again. I read it while I was in college and single, now I am in Graduate school and married. It is amazing how much a story can change based on the mindset of the person who is reading it. I liked it when I had first read it and now I still like it, just for different reasons.

      First of all, there is a theme, what happens when passion dies and you actually have to face living and being with each other. In some cases, a friendship will form and you will still compliment each other. In other cases, passion simply dies and you are left hating and resenting each other. Vroskey and Anna are carried away by their passion for each other, but in the end are left progressivly hating each other day by day, until one cannot stand it anymore. Pretty bleak outlook on life and love, but hey, there it is!

      As I was doing my normal search for pictures I saw that Keira Knightenly is going to play Anna in a new film adaptation. The same person that directed Attonement is going to direct this one. Jude Law looks like he may play Vronsky. Um, ok, I guess no one else has read the book. Anna is older than Vronsky, by not a little. Can Keira look old enough and can Jude look young enough? (oh who am I kidding, I love him) I always thought that Angelina Jolie would be a good Anna, but I got outvoted, darn!

      I love this novel. I like it even more now. So many other romantic novels focus on the chase and the winning of the girl or guy. This novel has this as well, in the story between Kitty and Levin. But it also tells an important part. The fighting and the changing that a person must do after they get married and give themselves to each other. As a newlywed, I really liked that. I can relate to it, the movies hardly ever tell you that after you get the guy, there is still a lot of work to do!

      I was going to read Pillars of the Earth now, since I have read Anna and can cross it off my list. I could not get into it. I kept drifting off and thinking about something else then I would realize that I had no idea what was happening. So then I would have to go back and re-read. I decided to go rogue and read something not on the list! (gasp, sigh!)

      On to The Help!