I feel like I need to start with a list of facts. I first read this book a year ago. I have a terrible memory, so I felt like I needed to read it again and I just finished it. I haven't seen the movie yet. And I recently read a couple of articles about the story.
I read the articles before I reread the book. The articles suggested that the story made the white person the crux of the changes. That, not blatantly, but subtly, many movies and books set in the era of civil rights in the south suggest that whites were necessary for the advancement of civil rights.
So I started off with a bit of a bias. Maybe I should have reacted differently to the book the first time I read it? Maybe I was reading from my white perspective and missing the way the story was slanted?
But I changed my mind.
Yes, Skeeter is white. Yes, without her interactions with Elaine Stein in New York, there would not have been a book. Yes, Skeeter starts off with only her own interests in mind. She wants a job in the publishing industry. This seems like an idea a New York publisher likes. She went after it. For herself. Even Minnie bemoans the fact that a white woman is the driving force behind this book.
But that was a different Skeeter than the one that emerged. Aren't we all thankful we've shed our slightly-too-small skins and grown into different and better people? Isn't Aibileen as much the author of the book as Skeeter?
I also started the book thinking, what do I have in common with these women? In our other selections, I've felt that, despite the differences in age, culture, experience, I could quickly connect with something I saw in the female characters. Friendship, motherhood, fear of aging.
At first, I couldn't find that. I didn't grow up in the South. I was neither a maid nor had a maid. The Civil Rights movement has always been a history topic to me. I've never had to call up the kind of courage it took to go against such a strong set of cultural norms.
And then I read: Wasn't that what the point of the book? For women to realize, We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought.
Isn't that the point for not just women, but people? To find our commonality. To step over lines and embrace the image of Christ we find in everyone?
There are so many things in this book we could talk about. I'd love you to all come over and have a cup of coffee while the kids play. We could fill hours, I expect.
One last thing from me, and then I can't wait to hear what you have to say.
Minnie reflects at one point on all the ways that the cause of civil rights is being taken up around her. She knows that she could participate in sit-ins or marches or boycotts. But she purposefully chooses to tell her story as her act of civil rights. Because, she says, what is important to her is how her daughters are going to be treated by white women.
It's so easy for me to look around at the good other people are doing and then feel guilty about not doing those things too. But the truth is, it's a powerful thing to know yourself. To know what is important to you and then do something about that. Guilt separates us from other people because it leads to resentment and jealousy. But to be confident in what we do and what we value, it seems like that frees us to encourage.
What do you want to talk about?
Oh, ladies, I do try not to be the first to comment but I can only hold back for so long!
ReplyDeleteFirst, the movie was good:) It was surprisingly faithful to the book and the casting was just about PERFECT! And I'm picky when it comes to movies being made into books.
Honestly, I had forgotten that this was the first Friday of the month when I posted Thursday's MLK post. When I saw Amanda's post I was thrilled with the direction she took the discussion and that Dr. King's sermon, delivered in the era of the Civil Rights Movement as well, colored in more background. Perhaps I should address you directly, Amanda, instead of talking about you in the third person.
We all have something to do. And give. The character in the book that comes to mind is Celia Foote. Poor Celia wants so badly to be a mom, and to be friends with Hilly & Co. She is afraid that Johnny will be disappointed in her. Her brokenness, however, allows her to love Minnie, and receive strength from her unconventional friendship with Minnie. She ends up learning to live with who she is, and she ends up finding a sort of peace in what she is. Sometimes the things we want to change about ourselves end up being things we just need to learn how to use to benefit ourselves and others. She turned out to be one of the most honest, lovable characters in the book.
As far as the criticism about Skeeter the white girl being an agent of change, in my limited ability to do so, I can see why there is complaint about whites being necessary to change things, as if the black community is not capable by themselves.
On another note, though, I think it is important to note that real, sustainable change happens when members of the dominant position make waves to change things with members of a minority group. The dominant group, by definition, has power that minority groups do not in society, and they SHOULD use that power to equalize the situation. They have it, whether anyone likes it or wants to acknowledge it. And if the minority groups can access that power and find advocates there, they have more of an audience to hear their voices. In the early days of the Women's Rights Movement, men helped advance women's cause in ways that women would not have been able to do alone. Of course, women suffered betrayal when these men, not as dedicated to the cause, didn't fight as hard or softened or turned on their position. And unfortunately this happens anytime members of dominant groups join forces with minority group members. But I don't think the pairing of the two should be abandoned. I think it is always a good thing when people across categories reach across a divide in effort to accomplish a common goal, or better yet, to understand one another in friendship.
I think that's probably enough from me for now:)