I just finished reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. There are so many things right about this book. In fact, it does its job so well, that I need to rant a little because one of the characters has me so upset.
Hilly Holbrook is the main antagonist in the story. The author has done her job well with this portrait, painting Hilly as a loving mother who truly believes that the races of the world should be segregated and that the status quo of the 1960's social order should be left intact. She wields her social power with the ruthlessness of a cudgel yet the precision of a scalpel to achieve her objectives. No mere mustache twirler, Hilly illustrates the devastating power of gossip and rumor. She holds the threat of societal exclusion and exile over the heads of Jackson, Mississippi and the county around it. With a few words, Hilly affects the employment and, therefore, survival of entire families. Her love for her own children keeps her from being cliché, but I couldn't help feeling that I wanted to extinguish her existence. I cannot abide malice in people.
Luckily, The Help indirectly offers an antidote to the poison of malicious words. Gossip and rumor are both creatures of the dark. They cannot suffer the light of truth, especially when skillfully employed to leave no dim corners for their survival. Although it is a double-edged sword, the truth does indeed set people free whether they want that freedom or not.
Transparency is a rare commodity these days. It was nowhere to be found in Washington D.C., both sides of the debt debate posturing and drawing lines in the sand, endangering us all with their stubborn refusal to listen or compromise. Even in supposed places of light and learning, like Idaho State University, it is difficult to find lines of clear sight left unobscured by secrecy and "spin." I'm tired of the bullies. I wish other people were tired of them, too. Tired enough to do like the colored maids did in The Help, swallowing their fear and putting their lives on the line to shine the light of truth on the cancerous veil of misdirection and outright falsehood. It's time to rise up against the oppressors, folks! It's time we stopped allowing ourselves to be divided by false lines. It's time we stopped believing that there isn't enough of what we need to go around, allowing our fear to spawn greed and selfishness. Heal us, Lord, and make us whole...because it's apparent after thousands of years of human history that we can't do it on our own. (There. I warned you it would be a rant.)
Transparency is a rare commodity these days. It was nowhere to be found in Washington D.C., both sides of the debt debate posturing and drawing lines in the sand, endangering us all with their stubborn refusal to listen or compromise. Even in supposed places of light and learning, like Idaho State University, it is difficult to find lines of clear sight left unobscured by secrecy and "spin." I'm tired of the bullies. I wish other people were tired of them, too. Tired enough to do like the colored maids did in The Help, swallowing their fear and putting their lives on the line to shine the light of truth on the cancerous veil of misdirection and outright falsehood. It's time to rise up against the oppressors, folks! It's time we stopped allowing ourselves to be divided by false lines. It's time we stopped believing that there isn't enough of what we need to go around, allowing our fear to spawn greed and selfishness. Heal us, Lord, and make us whole...because it's apparent after thousands of years of human history that we can't do it on our own. (There. I warned you it would be a rant.)
