The Help

The Help was a novel published in 2009. However, like many others, I didn’t notice it until the film adaptation became a major hit in 2011.

The story took place in the 1960s. At that time, racial discrimination was rampant in the States even though the Civil Right Movement had been gradually catching public attention. Black women used to work as housemaids for white families. The housemaids often raised white kids only to be looked down on after they grew up. While the housemaids did all the housework, they were not fairly treated and had to face distrust of the entire society. Although the protagonist, Skeeter was a wealthy white girl, she empathized with the black. She decided to write a book about the maids to show the white that they should pay more attention to equal rights. The story was mainly about how Skeeter got to know more about the difficulties that the black faced as she worked on the book, which deeply impacted the society when published.

Many of the issues raised in the book still exist in today’s world. In Taiwan, we see lots of children raised by housemaids from Southeast Asia. However, the society as a whole is simply not mature enough to treat these helpers from abroad as equal. We have been relying more and more on their assistance without paying them the most basic reward --- respect.

I read the book before I saw the movie. Both of them are good and provide food for thoughts. I hope you enjoy them too.

Trailer