The Help by Kathryn StockettMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book. It made me realize that it's often really easy to get caught up in what every one else thinks, what everyone else believes to be true... and that's it's often hard to get people to think in another way when they've already decided how things should be. It made me realize that you should NEVER give up on standing up for what's right - regardless of if that's going to make you a social outcast. The people who help mankind progress forward are those who are constantly questioning what's right...letting love guide them versus conformity. Skeeter, one of the girls in the book - was one of those people that I admire... always pushing the envelope of what is socially acceptable. She didn't care what others thought of her, she still knew that it wasn't right to treat others differently because of their skin color or sex... she still knew that even though she was a woman - she could be somebody... she could be whatever she wanted to be!
Favorite quotes from the book:
1) "Cause that's the way prayer do. It's like electricity, it keeps things going."
2) "See, I think if God had intended for white people and colored people to be this close together for so much of the day, he would've made us color-blind."
3) - When the women are telling their stories... "Angry stories come out, of white men who've tried to touch them. Winnie said she was forced over and over. Cleontine said she fought until his face bled and he never tried again. But the dichotomy of love and disdain living side-by-side is what surprises me. Most [of the maids:] are invited to attend the white children's weddings, but only if they're in their uniforms. These things I know already, yet hearing them from colored mouths, it is as if I am hearing them for the first time."
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