Okay, I've been sick, so this might not make much sense. I apologize in advance.
1. Who was your favorite character? Why?
I liked Aibileen and Skeeter the best. They were the most real to me and the most likable.
2. What do you think motivated Hilly? On the one hand she is terribly cruel to Aibileen and her own help, as well as to Skeeter once she realizes that she can’t control her. Yet she’s a wonderful mother. Do you think that one can be a good mother but, at the same time, a deeply flawed person?
I think Hilly was motivated by her desire to control everyone and anything she could. She treated her children lovingly, because they were her children and listened to her. She was cruel to those she thought were beneath her and those who openly disagreed with her. I think someone can be a good mother and still be a horrible human being. Just like someone can be a wonderful human being and a lousy mother.
3. Like Hilly, Skeeter’s mother is a prime example of someone deeply flawed yet somewhat sympathetic. She seems to care for Skeeter— and she also seems to have very real feelings for Constantine. Yet the ultimatum she gives to Constantine is untenable; and most of her interaction with Skeeter is critical. Do you think Skeeter’s mother is a sympathetic or unsympathetic character? Why?
I don’t really like Skeeter’s mother. Overly critical mothers have always rubbed me the wrong way. If you can’t say anything nice to your daughter, don’t open your mouth. This is your child; there must be some thing you can say about her that is positive and won’t make her question every little thing she does, because she doesn’t want to offend or upset or have to deal with you.
4. How much of a person’s character would you say is shaped by the times in which they live?
I think it depends on the person. Some people are more likely to try new things, think in new ways and push against the establishment, while others are more than happy to follow the lead and traditions of those in their family or community.
5. Did it bother you that Skeeter is willing to overlook so many of Stuart’s faults so that she can get married, and that it’s not until he literally gets up and walks away that the engagement falls apart?
Not really. During many parts of history, a woman is nothing until she’s married. Many women have overlooked major faults to be married. They do what they think is right.
6. Do you believe that Minny was justified in her distrust of white people?
I think Minny had very valid reasons for distrusting white people. Very few white people were ever kind to her, but at the same time, I think she was doing her children a disservice by passing on such negative thoughts. Not all white people were evil and yet her daughter had learned a serious hatred towards them.
7. Do you think that had Aibileen stayed working for Miss Elizabeth, that Mae Mobley would have grown up to be racist like her mother? Do you think racism is inherent, or taught?
I think it’s a possibility. While Mae Mobley loved Aibileen as a child, she would grow up watching her mother treating Aibileen with indifference and as beneath her. If Aibileen wasn’t black, Mae Mobley may have just assumed it was how you treat a maid, but the only maids she knew were black. I think racism is taught. I also think it’s part of human nature; the part of human nature that likes to categorize and classify things. Not necessarily the part of human nature that is evil, suspicious or mean. Humans like to classify things, even ourselves. It’s what makes us different and shows us we’re the same.
8. From the perspective of a twenty-first century reader, the hairshellac system that Skeeter undergoes seems ludicrous. Yet women still alter their looks in rather peculiar ways as the definition of “beauty” changes with the times. Looking back on your past, what’s the most ridiculous beauty regimen you ever underwent?
Honestly, I just read about a Brazilian blowout that takes 3 hours and supposedly lasts weeks. So, it doesn’t seem that ludicrous. I have sat for hours to get the most hideous perm that fell out about a week later. I also sit in my bathroom with my head covered in foul-smelling goo because I feel like changing its color again. These don’t really seem all that ridiculous to me, but then again, I’ve never spent 5 hours getting my haircut.
9. The author manages to paint Aibileen with a quiet grace and an aura of wisdom about her. How do you think she does this?
I think she pulls from the women she’s known in her life – her own maid, maybe her mother, a mentor, any woman who dealt with a situation that was bigger than herself and survived.
10. Do you think there are still vestiges of racism in relationships where people of color work for people who are white?
Yes, I also think there are still vestiges of racism in relationships where white people work for those of color. It goes both ways. There are hurt feelings, family stories and pop culture feeding into these feelings of resentment. It’s not right. Everyone talks of acceptance and so few are able to really push away what they’ve been taught.
11. What did you think about Minny’s pie for Miss Hilly? Would you have gone as far as Minny did for revenge?
I thought Minny’s pie was disgusting. It’s kinda funny, but it’s a whole lot gross. I’m not really big on revenge, but I would have had to do something to Miss Hilly, if she had ever treated me like that.
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