Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Maid's Tale: Kathryn Stockett Examines Slavery and Racism in America's Deep South

Jessamy Calkin of the UK Telegraph writes, "The maid's tale: Kathryn Stockett examines slavery and racism in America's Deep South." As a [white] child in America’s Deep South in the 1970s, Kathryn Stockett was not really aware of the racial divides around her. Now she has written a novel about the community in 1960s Mississippi from the point of view of the black servants.

The British cover to Kathryn Stockett’s novel The Help – about the experiences of black maids in Mississippi in the early 1960s – is a period photograph of a little white girl in a pushchair flanked by two black women in starched white uniforms – the 'help’ of the book’s title.

The photograph, which was found in the National Congress archives, was deemed too controversial to be used on the American cover. The spectre of racism in the South is still raw and political correctness works overtime.

When Stockett was first shown the photograph, which was inscribed Port Gibson, Mississippi, she sent it to a friend of hers, who, in turn, forwarded it to his mother. Back came the reply, 'Why, that’s just little Jane Crisler Wince on the corner of Church Street – she had two maids – her family owns the local paper…’ Stockett was thrilled with this information. 'That the whole South is just one small town, and we pass each other in the grocery store every day is a myth I love to perpetuate,’ she says.The Help took five years to write, got at least 45 rejection letters from agents, and when finally published went straight into the American bestseller lists. It has sold a quarter of a million copies so far in the US, and is still selling briskly.

The book is set in Jackson, Mississippi, just before the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. There are three narrators: the wise and serene Aibileen, who works for the Leefolt household, bringing up their little daughter Mae Mobley; Minny, Aibileen’s feisty friend, the best cook in town, who is prone to losing her job because of her big mouth; and tall, skinny Miss Skeeter, so called because of her resemblance to a mosquito when she was a baby, a white Southern belle with ambitions to be a writer.

Skeeter is disturbed when she hears her friends in the Junior League (a sort of American women’s institute that does charitable works) discussing their latest project, the Home Help Sanitation Initiative, which decrees that all domestic help should have separate lavatories outside the house, in order not to spread disease.

Skeeter decides to cross the divide and write a book, based on the experiences of the maids, an anonymous oral history, but most are too frightened to take part – this was a time when domestic help could be fired at the drop of a hat, when one word from a powerful white employer could put them in jail for 'stealing’, when a young gardener was beaten nearly to death for using the wrong lavatory at the golf club. The endemic racism that the book describes is so casual in its cruelty and indifference that it is profoundly shocking to realise that the time it describes was only 45 years ago.

It’s a risky thing to do – being white and well off – to write in a black voice, especially writing in the vernacular. The dialect Stockett employs is like another language; it is a clever act of ventriloquism, which draws you completely into a world of okra and fried chicken and peach cobbler, but a world with menacing undertones. It is history on the cusp of change, and Stockett has captured the unique complexities of the relationships between white women who will entrust the upbringing of their babies to someone with whom they will not share a bathroom. In the book Aibileen always leaves the families she works for as soon as the child she’s looking after starts to see her in a different light.'I want to stop that moment from coming – and it come in ever white child’s life – when they start to think that coloured folks ain’t as good as whites.’ (source: UK Telegraph, by Jessamy Calkin)

Warwick's Books Presents Kathryn Stockett

16 comments:

  1. Hi. I'm sorry to bother you but I ran across your web site and noticed you happen to be using the exact same template as me. The only problem is on my website, I'm unablе to gеt the ԁesign anԁ style looking like уours.
    Would you mind contacting me at: mаriamгalston@gаwab.
    cοm so I can get this figurеd out. Βy the way I've bookmarked your site: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6971823835434059276&postID=8192570154300223900 and will certainly be visiting often. Thank you!

    http://www.lifechat.com/i80equipment
    My weblog :: buy used bucket trucks

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi there! I could have ѕworn I've been to this blog before but after looking at a few of the articles I realized it's
    new to me. Anywayѕ, I'm certainly pleased I came across it and I'll be bookmarking it and checking bаck
    frequently!

    My web-sitе ... Stunning Green Egg There Are Many Baby Back Salmon In Video Blogs
    Review my web site - big green egg manual

    ReplyDelete
  3. Eхcellent post. Keep ωriting suсh kinԁ οf іnfo on your
    page. Im rеally imρresseԁ by іt.


    Hey there, You have performed an eхcellent jοb.
    Ι'll certainly digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I'm suгe theу'll be benefited from this web site.

    Also visit my blog post: dallas car insurance
    Here is my weblog :: dallas auto insurance

    ReplyDelete
  4. You could certainly see your skills in the article you write.
    The world hopes for even more passionate writers like you who
    aren't afraid to say how they believe. All the time go after your heart.

    My website :: zöliakie

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello to all, how is everything, I think every one is getting more
    from this website, and your views are fastidious for new visitors.


    Visit my web page: brot low carb
    My page - Low Carb Rezept

    ReplyDelete
  6. Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to
    say that I have truly enjoyed browsing your blog posts.
    After all I will be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again soon!


    my web site - paläodiät

    ReplyDelete
  7. Howdy fantastiс webѕite! Does running а blog suсh as thіs гequіre a lot
    of woгk? Ӏ've absolutely no knowledge of programming but I had been hoping to start my own blog soon. Anyways, if you have any recommendations or techniques for new blog owners please share. I know this is off topic however I simply wanted to ask. Thank you!

    Feel free to surf to my web-site: Make Money Buying And Selling Cars

    ReplyDelete
  8. Let me introduce you all to this wonderful product named http:
    //www.sharecash-bypass.tk Ubers AIO Downloader.
    You guys might be thinking that what this tool is doing on a Sharecash Downloader website and that this is all
    different, well, but no. After successfully running Sharecash Downloader
    of mine for 2-3 months, I decided to make something more unique
    and useful to you guys, so I came up with my AIO Downloader.
    The speciality of this downloader is that it downloads almost from all
    file-hosters along with Sharecash, Fileace and Dengee.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This program is intended to recover lost passwords for RAR/WinRAR archives of versions 2.
    xx and 3.xx. http://www.passwordrecoveryforrar.

    tk The free professional solution for recovering lost
    passwords to RAR and WinRAR archives.

    Hi, just wanted to mention, I liked this article.
    It was helpful. Keep on posting!

    Also visit my blog post; RAR Password Revovery

    ReplyDelete
  10. Free PDF Password Remover Tools http://www.pdfpasswordremover.
    tk - PDF Unlocker - Unlock Any Secured PDF File For Free. The best
    PDF Password Removal Software For Free Download

    Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to mention that I have
    really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts.

    After all I will be subscribing for your feed and I'm hoping you write again very soon!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Get the ultimate Dragonvale Breeding Guide Fore Free. Generate unlimited Dragonvale gems and breed all
    secret dragons http://www.dragonvale-cheats.tk/ . Inclusive the Dragonvale Sandbox Tools
    and the Dragonvale Breeding Simulator !

    Hmm it appears like your website ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I'll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I'm thoroughly enjoying your blog.
    I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I'm still new to everything. Do you have any tips and hints for inexperienced blog writers? I'd certainly appreciate it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hiya! I just wish to give an enormous thumbs up for the good
    info you might have right here on this post. I shall be coming back to your weblog for
    extra soon.

    My webpage - seoul subway app 下潬seoul subway application

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks for the blog loaded with so many information. Stopping by your blog helped me to get what I was looking for. Black Hat Python PDF

    ReplyDelete