Review of "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

I can’t get The Help by Kathryn Stockett out of my head! I feel like I sat there, in Aibileen’s kitchen with Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter listening to their stories. Throughout the entire book, I felt heartache, joy, fear, and every other imaginable emotion going through these women’s journey. Never have I been so caught up in a fiction novel. History has never been a strong point for me. Reading this book though opened my eyes to the way things were during the 1960’s. It’s hard to imagine that races were so segregated less than 50 years ago. My mother and father witnessed all these events. At least half of our population witnessed, and lived through these events. Being born in the early 1980’s, there is, and never was, anything strange about drinking from the same fountain, using the same restroom, eating at the same table, or any performing any other daily functions with someone of a different race. It just doesn’t matter. Like Aibileen tries to teach Mae Mobley, we’re just people.

The end of this story was very stressful for me. I kept waiting for someone to hurt, even kill, Minny or Aibileen. Every time they got nervous or suspicious, I’d clench my jaw and read as fast as I could to make sure they were okay.  I was so proud of Minny when she finally took a stand for herself and left Leroy. That was brave, just like she was throughout the entire story. Minny is one of those interesting characters that seem harsh and crude all the time but she turned out to be a pretty sweet person.

The interaction Aibileen has with Mae Mobley is so loving and sincere. I was so nervous for Mae Mobley at the end. The way Stockett describes her as “scary hot” made me wonder if her mother would know what to do for her. Mrs. Leefolt has spent her daughter’s first four years completely ignoring her. How is she going to know how to tend to a sick child? By four years old, a mama should know what’s going on with her child. Mrs. Leefolt, more than likely, doesn’t.

Mrs. Hilly really got to me. I guess it would be hard to keep up her appearances like she did. Always in people’s business is probably a stressful life to lead. How does one person obtain so many people’s approval? How does she keep friends and why is everyone so afraid of her? I understand the maids being scared, she held their future, their jobs but the white girls who are in the same social class, how can they stand to be her puppets?

There is so much more that could be discussed from this book but I would be writing for days. It was truly an incredible novel. Stockett does an amazing job portraying the characters, the reader feels like they know each character. She also describes their emotions and trials in such a way that when they hurts, so does the reader; when they laugh, so does the reader; when they cry, so does the reader (at least I did); and when they are afraid, so is the reader.

Review of "The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Ernest Hemingway

“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” by Ernest Hemingway was fairly hard to follow. It felt like I picked up a novel, opened it to middle of the last chapter and began reading. The couple in this story had an awful relationship. The more I read, the worse their problems got. At first it seemed as if they just didn’t get along, perhaps just having a spat like every couple does. Then Hemingway reveals that they have been close to breaking up before but Margo, the wife can’t find anyone as wealthy as her husband, Macomber, and he can’t find anyone prettier. They are at a point in their lives where they both feel stuck with one another. As the reader, it’s obvious how detrimental their problems are when Macomber has been laying in his tent thinking about the lion incident and his wife comes in. It is the middle of the night and Hemingway makes it very obvious to the reader where she was. The fact that she was with the professional hunter, Wilson, is once again obvious when she kisses him on the mouth the next morning right in front of her husband.  

Their relationship is sad yet amusing. The way Macomber and Margo talk to one another is very sarcastic. When Margo calls her husband “darling” the reader can almost hear the sarcasm in her voice. Almost every sentence they say to one another is overly dramatic.

The ending of this story is so tragic. Macomber finally reaches a major turning point in his life; he overcomes fear, when his wife “accidentally” shoots him. It’s hard to believe that her killing her husband is an accident as she claims with their wild history together. Wilson doesn’t seem to believe Margo accidentally killed Macomber either. There was some foreshadowing to this moment. Hemingway makes a point to mention the gun sitting on the seat next to Margo before the men go out after the buffalo.

Review of "The Cask if Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe

“The Cask of Amontillado” is very odd. I believe it is about two men that do not get along except they both love wine. This story is told in the first-person. Therefore, his own name is not mentioned. The narrator’s enemy is Fortunato, a wealthy, sickly man. The narrator tells Fortunato that he has Amontillado, apparently a wonderful wine, in his vault. The men leave together and the narrator gives wine to Fortunato along the way to the deepest part of his vault. I’m assuming the vault is his wine cellar/tomb. Seems like a creepy way to store wine. I would prefer to have two separate sections if it was necessary to have both.

The men finally reach the deepest part of the vault where the narrator chains the now drunk Fortunato to the wall. There is no struggle. Fortunato is drunk enough to believe that the Amontillado is close by and somehow he is going to get it, even being chained up. The narrator begins to build a wall and close Fortunato into the vault. After a couple layers of masonry being laid, Fortunato finally begins to realize what is happening to him.

This story is hard to follow along with, mostly because of when it was written. The language and descriptions we presently use are no longer worded like this story. It really takes some time and thought to figure out what is going on. I wonder if Fortunato realized how little the narrator liked him. If so, why would he go into the narrator’s vault with him? Why would he associate with him at all? Was wine that important to him? Fortunato would have been much better off if he would have declined the invitation and enjoyed the wine he already probably had. He was a rich man and could more than likely afford whatever he wanted. The narrator knew exactly how to get to Fortunato too. He lured him in with a wonderful wine, got the man drunk, and kept telling him to go back because of his cough. Fortunato seems to be like most of the men I know, if their “manliness” is challenged, they will not back down no matter what. Fortunato needed to learn how to say no.

Review of "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" by D.H. Lawrence

“The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” was a dark romantic story. There are several grown-up children who have recently lost their father but gained his debt. They are losing his estate which seems to bother most of them. The daughter, Mabel, is the most distraught. She keeps very quiet over breakfast while they are discussing their plans for the future. Mabel has lived in that home her entire life and seems to be afraid of the future. Her happy place is visiting her mother’s grave. As odd as it seems, it’s where she feels the most alive. I believe Mabel is looking toward her future with her mother even though that means death. She is most content in the graveyard. Mabel isn’t handling all of these changes very well.



It amazes me that all of these events occur in one day: she has breakfast with her brothers, visits her mother’s grave, attempts to commit suicide, and falls in love. That wouldn’t seem like too much except for the falling in love part. That normally takes time, at least it should. If it doesn’t then it takes time for most people to come to terms with love and be able to confess it. The doctor, Jack, whom Mabel falls in love with, appears to have some sense about him but no control over his feelings. He’s terrified to admit that he loves Mabel but he does anyway. I understand his emotion, it is overwhelming and exciting when someone comes to the realization that it’s really love. Love evokes feelings that are unimaginable and amazing.


The ending of the story left me confused, especially when she says “I feel I’m horrible to you.” How is she horrible to him? They’ve had one day together. Mabel seems to have some self-esteem, possibly mental issues she needs to deal with. Maybe a doctor is just what she needs on a daily basis.

Review of "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid

I enjoyed reading “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid. Some of the guidelines the mother gives to the daughter are important for her to become a decent lady in the future. She is a little harsh when she is instructing her daughter on how to hem a dress “to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming”. I assumed these guidelines were given to the daughter throughout her entire life. Telling a young child that she’s intent on becoming a slut is not a great way to approach that subject. If I were to tell my child not to become a slut, I would first have to explain what a slut is. That is definitely not going to happen, not a conversation I’d like to have any time soon! Even if the child was old enough to know what that meant, then it would probably be rough on her self esteem.



As a mother, I am constantly instructing my children on how to do things, when to do them, why to do it a certain way, etc. This story connects with my motherly side. I have 2 boys, so the instructions are quite a bit different but they still exist on a daily basis, especially with my 5 year old. If I’m not instructing, he’s asking.


The story dates itself with some of the instructions the mother gives. Present day, the woman of the house typically works a full-time job, and does not have time for the same things women used to do such as sewing, baking, ironing, etc. I was fortunate to have a mother who taught me all those things but I sew only if a button falls off, usually 6 months later; I bake at Christmas only, sometimes birthdays; I iron if I really have to, like when the dryer won’t take out the bad wrinkles. Things have changed since this young girl was being “trained” by her mother.


The lessons the mother is teaching the daughter are all valuable, necessary life lessons that she will find useful in adulthood. I’m thankful that my mother provided me with the knowledge that she has, as will this young girl.

Review of "Barn Burning" by William Faulkner

Sarty Snopes has some tough decisions to make for just being a child. He is faced with the choice of standing up for his immoral father or standing up for what he knows and believes to be right. Sarty’s father, Abner, has a terrible way to get revenge on those that have life better than he does. He burns down their barns. Abner does not own his own land. He works the land of others and must share his crops. It appears that he attempts to get himself into situations where he feels like revenge is necessary. For example, Abner barges into de Spain’s home with his nasty boots even after the house person requests he wipe his feet. When de Spain brings the rug for him to clean, he suddenly feels like he has grounds for revenge. To me, it seems totally opposite, that de Spain should be looking for revenge. I really have a problem with people such as Abner. No one owes him anything. Life for him is what it is. It’s possible that he could eventually move up the societal ladder, very slowly if at all but he needs to grasp reality. He is not a land owner, he is at the bottom of society, and there is absolutely no reason he needs to be setting peoples barns on fire. As far as the reader can tell, de Spain has done nothing to Abner.



I compared this story to current day society in some aspects. Abner felt like the higher society people owed him something. Some of these people were born into their lifestyles while others worked their way up. I kept thinking of the Earned Income Credit that the government offers low-income taxpayers. Abner would have loved this; redistribution of wealth. Put the wealthy, many who have worked their entire life for what they have, in a higher tax bracket and give it to the poor. To me this doesn’t completely make sense. I understand helping people out but there are so many people who are like Abner and feel that society owes them something. He had a house, food, family, and a farm, although not his, it sustained him and his family. If he were a nicer man, he could have had more. Perhaps the landowners would have hired him for odd jobs. Eventually he could have saved up and bought his own small piece of land. Abner could have stayed in one location and not had to have run away every time his temper got out of control.


The ending of “Barn Burning” is so tragic. My heart ached for Sarty. He was attempting to do the right thing and got his father and brother killed. That’s a tough decision for a child and he will be questioning it forever. Perhaps he will have a huge struggle with what is right and wrong in the future.


Overall, this was an interesting read. It gives the reader a lot to think about.

Review of "Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor

I don’t know where to begin after reading this story. This was written when segregation was still very common but it was amazing to me at how prejudice Mrs. Turpin was written to be. She is a hypocrite. She claims to be a good Christian woman who would do anything for anyone, except blacks and white trash. Mrs. Turpin thinks about societal classes way too much. She has a place for almost everyone, the “niggers” and white-trash are her lowest on her societal list. I also can’t imagine sitting in a place as common as the doctor’s office and listening or being involved in a conversation similar to the one held in this story. It was great when the girl threw the book at Mrs. Turpin. It’s also a good example of symbolism. Mrs. Turpin is very judgmental but according to Christianity, God is the only one who can judge. Similarly, when someone is in court and gets a guilty verdict it is said that “they had the book thrown at them”. It just happened literally to Mrs. Turpin.



I was amazed that people actually had conversations similar to this not so long ago. It would be incredibly awkward to be sitting with a large group of strangers discussing the low class members of society, especially when someone fits the stereotype within the room. I was a little surprised that Mrs. Turpin and the trashy girl didn’t get into an argument. Mrs. Turpin was blatantly rude to her. This story is a great way to see what strides have been taken in America to overcome racism. In the history of America, 40 years is a short time, and a lot has been accomplished.


The ending was a little hard to comprehend. It seems as if Mrs. Turpin has an epiphany about the meaning of what the girl said to her earlier in the day. She finally realizes that the low-class people on her societal scale are still people and everyone has the same two possible destinations.

Review of "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor

“Good Country People” is actually about a liar who pretends to be a “good country” person. The characters include Joy, who has changed her name to Hulga, has a fake leg, and a PhD; Mrs. Hopewell, Joy’s mother; Mrs. Freeman, Mrs. Hopewell’s farm keeper’s wife; and Manly Pointer, a fake Bible salesman. Even though the story begins with Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Hopewell going through their morning gossip routine, the story is actually based on Joy. I believe the author uses Mrs. Hopewell to portray Joy’s character to the reader. Mrs. Hopewell appears to be a well-to-do woman who is very proper and likes to gossip. Joy is the complete opposite. She is a rough woman with an ugly personality. It seems like her goal in life is to annoy her mother and everyone around her who isn’t educated to the same level as she is. Joy also has a heart problem which seems to be her common bond the one time she lets her guard down and shouldn’t have.



When Manly Pointer, the sweet, young Bible salesman comes to Mrs. Hopewell’s house, she is polite and tries to get him to leave, nicely. Her efforts do not work so she gets Joy to run him off. Mr. Pointer tells her that he has a heart problem, which seems to be exactly the same as Joy’s. There is an instant connection between them, not the typical love story romance, but Joy is actually as decent as she can be. She even invites him to stay for dinner and agrees to walk with him the next day. Mr. Pointer asks Joy several times where her leg is connected at. She seems to take this as a vulgar question and gets fairly ill with him. It was really amusing that he charmed her so much that she finally showed her leg to him, even how to take it off. I wish I could have seen Joy’s expression when Mr. Pointer confesses to being a crook. In a way I was glad he took her leg and left her stranded. There’s a golden rule that she didn’t follow, “Do unto others as you would want done unto you” which came back to bite her. I wonder how she got home. Did she have to wait in the barn until someone found her? Was she skilled enough to make it home on her own? Also, what does Many Pointer do with all these random fake parts? That’s pretty twisted.

Review of "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor

This is my favorite story from this semester that we have read thus far. The grandmother reminded me so much of one of my family members that I actually felt guilty for thinking that when the Misfit shot her. The Grandmother had an opinion on everything and was going to share it no matter what. She did not want to go on vacation to Florida, instead to Tennessee to visit family. Her main reasoning with her son, Bailey, and his family was because the Misfit, an escaped convict, was on the loose and the authorities presumed him heading towards Florida. The Grandmother mentions this several times throughout the story, possibly foreshadowing that they would actually encounter him. It’s ironic that she is so dead-set on going to Florida since the Misfit is there but then she’s the one who gets the family in the situation where they encounter him.



The protagonist in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is the Grandmother. She is the main character; however, with how opinionated and how much she talked, no one else would have been able to be the main character. She wouldn’t have allowed that. The antagonist is the Misfit, an escaped convict. He travels with two other men, Bobby Lee and Hiram.


There are two crises back-to-back within the story. The first one is when they have the car wreck due to the grandmother’s ignorance, and cat. The wreck leads to the second crisis which is the family’s encounter with the Misfit and his crew. The family thinks help has arrived, and it possibly has, until the grandmother opened her mouth about recognizing the Misfit. I believe Bailey and his wife had already recognized him but they were smart enough to keep quiet about it.


When the family stops for dinner at the little Barbeque joint, I believe the owner, Red Sam, had already been taken by the Misfit. Red Sam mentioned how the Misfit, if in that area would probably come rob him if he heard Red Sam had “two cents in the cash register”. What Red Sam doesn’t realize is that the two boys he gave gas to on credit were probably the boys working with the Misfit. In one way the Misfit had already robbed him.


The Grandmother is a clear illustration of dramatic irony. Several times I thought about how much better the family’s situation would be if she would not talk so much and be so opinionated. This is the case even before the run-in with the Misfit. Bailey, I’m sure, was probably a bundle of stress. How could he not be? There had to have been major tension growing between them. The obvious dramatic irony is when the Grandmother keeps talking to the Misfit. Their situation may have stayed the same but I think if they acted like they didn’t recognize the Misfit, it may have been okay. He may have helped them fix their car and go on.


It was surprising that the Misfit had the family shot before the Grandmother, especially after what he says in the end about her being a good woman. I would have expected her to go first.


As sad as this story should have been, I found it rather amusing, even comical. The interactions between the grandmother and her grandchildren, who are brats, were great. The children said things to her that I was thinking; for example, John Wesley tells her “If you don’t want to go to Florida, why dontcha stay at home?” then June Star points out that the Grandmother wouldn’t stay home because she’s “afraid she’d miss something” which is absolutely true. It was especially funny when they had the accident and June Star was disappointed that no one had died “as the grandmother limped out of the car.” It’s bad when a child is annoyed with a grandparent.


Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The comical aspect, turn of events, and the surprises really kept my interest.