The Help, Week 3

Still this layout.

DAILY QUESTIONS 

CHAPTER 17 

Q1. Why is Miss Celia so secretive about what she does in the bedroom upstairs? 

She is taking some home-brew potions made by some Native American quack in order to keep her pregnancy going -- she has a history of miscarriage. Obviously she does not want anyone to find out. 

Q2. What happens after the dinner at the Senator's house? 

Skeeter and Stuart decide to take a break. Or more precisely speaking, Stuart decides to dump Skeeter. 

A COUPLE OF THOUGHTS 

Minny. Well, in the first week, I wrote that I thought Minny was going to be an interesting character because of her personality, being sassy and all. I was mistaken. There are not as many Minny chapters as other two characters, and in the already scarce ones, such personality does not get sufficiently portrayed. But I'm willing to overlook this, for it really matters not. What I did take great issue with is that the story stopped making sense at one point. Let me elaborate. The writer has teased way too much about the mystery of what Celia is doing upstairs to an extend that I no longer care, a failed device of foreshadowing. But when it is finally revealed, Minny thinks that Celia is an alcoholic. I laughed, and threw my Kindle away (onto my bed, of course, I didn’t want to break it.) Both of Minny's father and husband are chronic drunkards, so I'd say she is pretty experienced in the drinking department. So when Miss Celia gets into the kitchen, and if she has been abusing, Minny should be able to tell, or smell booze on her. Hence, the fact that Celia is only drinking some potions in whiskey bottles and that Minny thinks her boss has been drinking alcohol simply do not add up. It's okay for writers to be fools, but if they think their readers are as moronic, they are even bigger retards. 

CHAPTER 25. Up until Chapter 24, the book is in first person point of view. A great technique, as I wrote in the first week. Then, Chapter 25, named The Benefit, changes into third person, an omniscient point of view. Before this, I have always known who is telling the story. And this habit leads me to ask the same question for this chapter: who the heck is telling the story. When a story is told in first person, it is believable, especially in terms of the character's internal monologues. However, when a person's thoughts are presented through the eye of an omniscient narrator, such authenticity is compromised. Why not try to tell it from Hilly's perspective? She stands on the podium, so she has a pretty good view of the event and the crowd.