Life In Paris, In The 1920’s
By: Malia Bence
Despite the French victory as part of the Allied Powers of World War I, their victory cost them great losses, which then affected the French morale. France, as well as the rest of the world’s countries, entered the “great war” with extreme enthusiasm and views of what the war would be like that consisted of the thought that, the men who served were honorable, brave, and great and the attitude of the people as a whole was similar and they headed strait into the war joyously and excited.
The truth of war was painful and hard to cope with. Their falsely ecstatic mindsets were soon crushed as many of the young soldiers began to return home with serious mental disturbances, injuries or did not return home at all. In the 1920’s the citizens of Paris and the world felt betrayed by their governments and with the experiences of death developed a new morale in which they took on the view of life is too short and began to go out and party more and enjoy the lives that they had. The people of Paris wanted the First World War to be the “der de ders” or the “last of the last” and adopted an anti-war mentality as well.
The main difference in Paris in the 1920’s was the change in the people’s habits and their demand for personal freedom. The people were more lively and full of exhilaration; their behavior was unbridled and exuberant as they transitioned into what seemed to be a carefree time in history. Paris in the 1920’s was a wick for people coming from all places around the globe. Influences came from places such as the United States as expatriate American writers flocked from their hometown to soak up the jubilance of Paris as they wrote and debuted their great pieces of literature. Just a few of these great writers of 1920’s Paris were Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Earnest Hemmingway all of which who were also main figures that were part of the “Lost Generation”. The Lost Generation was a group of American writers who gave themselves and even technically their entire generation this title because it defined a sense of moral loss or aimlessness apparent in literary figures during the 1920s. During this time period, Paris was also receiving great influxes of immigration from Italy and Poland.
The 1920’s were a time when the Parisians adopted a more modern lifestyle. For example, it was a time of feminine emancipation. Because most women were alone during ww1, they gained a new status in society and had to take on more responsibilities so as a result, they became more independent after the war. They learned to live in accordance to their aspirations. Some of the more famous women who endorsed and helped move this change forward were, Gertrude Stein, Coco Chanel, and Kiki of Montparnasse.
Along with the rise of independence for women and the Parisians new modern lifestyle came Lesbianism. During the 1920s, opting out of the heterosexual contract and traditional womanly roles was a fundamental condition of artistic identity and professional achievement. Paris was a popular place for lesbians during the 1920’s because France’s Napoleonic Code, which did not criminalize homosexual practices in private between consenting adults (male or female), licensed a way of life that would have been unthinkable in the US. Paris was also very cultured and had a growing population of homosexual men since in the previous years, which drew lesbians to the city.
During the 1920’s in Paris, people knew how to have fun and this was amplified by the fact that the middle class could finally have access to leisure the same as wealthy people. During this time period, people often went out. They would commonly go to music-hall shows (especially the reviews, like Josephine Baker’s who was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in Paris, France). People would also go to Operettas (which were lighter operas in both humor and topic), theatres, and circuses. Another thing that they would like to do was go to the cinema, which was becoming more and more popular at the time.
The consumption emerged during this period with the success of department stores and the institution of correspondence catalogues. The Parisians also began to have a different view on money and the "nouveaux riches", (which were the people who had just become wealthy thanks to the aftermath of the inflation that happened after the First World War). Technologically wise, the TSF (Téléphonie Sans Fil) was created and allowed the society to benefit from the radio at home. In the 1920’s, the car industry was in full development and it completely changed the means of transportation not only for those who lived in Paris, but for the world as well. During this time period it was seen as a symbol of modernity and elegance.
Paris was a watershed of culture during the 1920’s. André Breton introduced the surrealism, which was a literary movement that attracted numerous writers to Paris. Jazz was very fashionable at luxurious parties for the Parisian elite and this contributed to the title that the 1920’s earned, “the jazz age”. This title was more popularly used for the 1920’s in America but still technically used as a title for the time when the introduction of jazz which added to the result of a new cultural movement in not only the United States but in France and England as well.
A new conception of the aestheticism also emerged. It had some impact not only on the painting, sculpture, and design (for example the artistic movement called “Art Deco”), but also on the appearance and more particularly on fashion.
Fashion in Paris in the 1920’s had a huge impact on the world. With the changing overall attitude and blending of gender roles in Paris came a huge shift in the fashion of the people as well. Bouffant hairstyles became short, flat bobs which Coco Chanel popularized, and long, evening gowns became short, above the knee, flapper or “garconne” dresses. The cloche was a type of hat that became very popular in Paris during the 1920’s.
Coco Chanel was one of the most influential fashion icons ever and she made her fashion debut in the 1920’s in Paris. She popularized the use of jersey knit for women’s clothing and the “little black dress”. She elevated the status of both costume jewelry and knitwear and she helped popularize women’s style, shifting from womanly figures with corsets to thin, board-like figures with loose men’s-style clothing. Another important designer was Jean Patou. He also made a huge impact on the fashion world because he used women’s dress fabrics in order to invent the men’s tie. A major reason for the shift in style in the 1920’s was because of the woman’s shift in traditional roles and expectations after the First World War. Women were not only looked upon as a housewife anymore, but as an active and independent woman. They wanted to feel more feminine and like being involved in fashion. The 1920’s were a new opportunity for women to taste a new freedom, which was shown through them cutting their hair, wearing makeup and perfume, smoking in public, and wearing high heels and bare legs which was newly popular at the time as well.
The First World War produced an economic outcome disastrous for all parties, not just for the German losers. The heavy war compensations imposed upon Germany not only were insufficient to fuel French economic recovery, they greatly damaged a Germany which might have become France's leading trade and industrial development partner, thereby seriously damaging France as well. This contributed to the economic crisis of 1929, which had a social and political impact that put an end to this period of lack of concern and “joie de vivre”. On top of the economic issues that lead to the downfall of the jazz age, the French feared the tensions increasing between the states and the rise of the nationalism might lead to another war that no one wanted to happen.
"Coco" Chanel was born in 1883 as Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel. Her mother was unwed when she had both her and her sister and when her mother died in 1895; their father sent twelve-year-old Chanel and her sister to an orphanage. Because Chanel had learned to sew when she was six, she soon got a job as a seamstress and set her life into a forward motion. Later on in her life she made a huge impact on the fashion world and she also partook in the 1920's Paris cafe culture just like Earnest Hemmingway and the rest of the lost generation did as I learned in the other novels I have read on the topic.
This book was especially interesting to me not only because it had to do with my topic of Paris in the 1920's, but also it was all about fashion, which has been a love of mine since I was in fifth grade. I have always found fashion to be extremely interesting and enjoyable to partake in, but I have always been especially interested in Coco Chanel and her fashions in particular. I love her proper yet laid back style of clothing and bags and I particularly love her costume jewelry that she pioneered the use of in fashion. This book taught me many things about Chanel that I had not previously known about such as how she had many affairs throughout her career and lifetime, that she was not born as, "Coco" Chanel but as Gabrielle Chanel and got the name "Coco" from being a cabaret dancer, and that she was a Nazi Agent spy for Germany while she was in Paris.
From reading this book, I also learned about how Coco Chanel revolutionized fashion for women in the 1920's and her effects have lasted into today’s world. She was responsible for several elements of fashion that are still in use and are recognized in today's fashion world such as the suntan, the "little black dress", the Chanel suit, and costume jewelry. I learned how before Chanel, being tan was something that labeled you as being an unfortunate laborer who was doomed to a life of unsheltered difficult work. Chanel made sunbathing fashionable. Chanel was also the creator of the "little black dress" which she created with the idea that it was a simple garment that you could then pair with several accessories such as jewelry, belts, hats, scarves, etc. The Chanel suit was made of wool jersey, which jersey was a huge deal being used in women’s clothing and it soon became the image of women’s casual expensive clothing. Finally, Chanel was the person who first brought costume jewelry into popularity especially since she herself wore it all of the time.
Before reading Chanel I had no idea that Chanel was once a Nazi spy for Germany. Chanel first had to formulate a strategy and then she and her superior came up with a plan to press England to end hostilities with Germany. Chanel's SS master, Schellenberg said that she was “a person who knew Churchill sufficiently to undertake political negotiations with him.” This mission was called, "Operation Modellhut" and after the war Chanel was even able to escape being persecuted for her crimes of being a spy because the rumor was that Churchill had her set free because of their relationship.
Overall, I enjoyed Chanel by Edmond Charles-Roux very much. It combined my interest in France and in fashion into one book while still accomplishing the task of providing me with a complete understanding of what it was like in Paris in the 1920's. I would recommend this book, however I would only recommend it to someone who also holds an interest in fashion because if I were not interested in fashion at all I would not have enjoyed this book because it would hold no meaning to me. However, to the right audience, this book was a very interesting and educational book to read.
Comparing The Paris Wife By: Paula McClain and The Sun Also Rises By: Earnest Hemmingway
Both The Paris Wife and The Sun Also Rises provide a perspective of what it was like for Earnest Hemmingway and his wife at the time to be living in Paris during the 1920's. I purposely chose to read both of these books sequentially because I knew that they would provide a thorough and interesting picture of the topic that I chose considering one was written from the perspective of Hemmingway and the other was written from the perspective of his wife.
One aspect of their live that was clearly portrayed in both books was how they would regularly attend bull fights. In the book written from the wife’s perspective, the bullfights are portrayed simplistically and stated matter-of-fact without any kind of canalization of them at all. In Hemmingway’s book, he thinks far more in depth about the bull fights and describes in a more romantic way what happens and the meaning of it all. There is a scene in the book where the wife is handed the ear of a bull by the matador as a small sign of affection which from her perspective, she thinks nothing of, but when this scene is portrayed in Hemmingway’s novel, which follows his real life very closely, it is described more dramatically in a way that it sounds almost as though Hemmingway is over-exaggerating or making a big deal out of what really happened according to the wife.
Throughout both novels, both from the wife’s and Hemmingway’s perspective’s they reference meetings with their friends which consisted of the other members of “the lost generation”. The lost generation was a group of writers during the 1920’s that consisted of authors such as Earnest Hemmingway, Gertrude Stein, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Others who were the lost generation were, John Dos Passos, Sherwood Anderson, Kay Boyle, Hart Crane, Ford Maddox Ford and Zelda Fitzgerald. The term is suiting because it was during a time when the adopted idea that was held that if you do good things, good things would come of it had been completely crushed after young soldiers who had gone away to war were either coming back handicapped or not coming back at all so this generation was therefore “lost”.
Both novels also gave a very descriptive account of what the café culture was like in Paris in the 1920’s. Cafes are and have been for many years, not just a place to eat and drink but also a cultural place. People (such as Hemmingway) would do their work, have their meetings, write, or simply socialize in the cafes of Paris. As mentioned in The Paris Wife people also lived above the many cafes in Paris and would simply walk downstairs for a nice meal of place to relax and socialize.
The food that they described they ate in both novels was a large part of the Parisian culture in the 1920’s. For example, in The Paris Wife, there is a part when Earnest Hemingway rushed home to describe to Hadley that he had just had "the best fish he'd ever eaten" which was described in the book as being a, "perfectly crisped river trout stuffed with fried ham and onions" and that he was taking her to that cafe to try it right then. Hemmingway’s writing includes several references to food as well. It portraits a Parisians life during the 1920’s to revolve around café life and eating and drinking.
After reading both of the novels, The Paris Wife by: Paula Mclain and The Sun Also Rises by: Earnest Hemmingway several similarities came to my attention, but one main question also surfaced. After reading these two novels I began to wonder if Hadley Richardson (Earnest Hemmingway’s wife at the time of writing The Sun Also Rises) ever read The Sun Also Rises and if she therefore knew that it was about her and Hemmingway’s life together in Paris. It was clear to me after reading both books that the story of The Paris Wife was almost exactly similar to Hemmingway’s The Sun Also Rises, which is supposedly fiction.
Both novels provided me with a better understanding of what it would have been like to live in Paris during the 1920’s. They each described how life was for Earnest Hemmingway and his wife Hadley Richardson during the historical time period, rich with culture especially literature in Paris.
The Crazy Years: Paris In the Twenties....By: William Wiser
After reading two books already that focused on Earnest Hemingway’s time in Paris in the 1920’s, I wanted to read a novel that had a more broad focus that described the other well-known icons from the era and their time spent in Paris.
The Crazy Years, Paris In the Twenties by William Wiser is a fountain of knowledge about Paris and it’s icons during the 1920’s. It achieves the goal of giving the reader a broad, in depth understanding of what life was like living in Paris, France in the twenties while still providing important facts about members of the “lost generation, and maintaining a story line for the reader to enjoy.
The Crazy Years touched on the subject of bisexuality and lesbianism during the Paris 1920s as well. Because of France’s Napoleonic Code, which did not “criminalize homosexual practices” when they were private, licensed this way of life. This and the fact that Paris was a populous city with everything to do was what formed Paris in the 1920’s into being a place for bisexuality and lesbianism to flourish.
There were historical images dispersed throughout this novel. This was very useful to me as I was reading because it added yet another element to describing vividly what Paris was like during the time period. The photos were sometimes of famous pieces of art that were relevant or were first created during the time, and sometimes the photos were of relevant people or places in Paris as well.
While this book by itself was extremely informative and useful, I felt that virtually all the tales of alcoholism and artistic squabbles that were in the book, I had read before in the other two books so the new information I was gaining was not very much. However I would recommend this book to someone who was maybe looking for his or her first 1920’s Paris-focused book to read.
I strategically chose to read this book in hopes that not only would I enjoy it, but also that it may provide an additional perspective that could prove useful after reading, "The Paris Wife" written by Paula McLain about Hemingway's first wife's life with Earnest. The Paris Wife was set during the time period when Hemingway wrote this book, The Sun Also Rises.
One of the first things that I noticed about the book was the title. Right away, I wondered what it meant or the relevance it held in relation to the books story line. This lead me to take it upon myself to research and find out just what the deeper meaning of the title is. What I found was that the title of, The Sun Also Rises was very strategic. The meaning behind it is that the title suggests an importance of time and main idea with many "cycles". At the same time is has a sort of upbeat or hopeful feeling to it because of its reference to the "sun rising" and in synonymy, new beginnings rather than endings.
These "cycling" themes were shown through for example one of the most prevalent themes, which were the bullfights. Bull Fights were almost constantly being described or mentioned throughout the story line. Also, whenever bullfights would be described in the book in some way, it was almost always a precursor to something else that would soon be occurring in the story. For example, the killing of the steer by the bull at the start of the fiesta seemed as though it was a clue or a sign of Mike’s later attack on Cohn.
There were definitely many connections and similarities between The Sun Also Rises by Earnest Hemingway and The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, which described the life Earnest Hemingway, was living during the time that he wrote this book. The relationships between the characters in this novel reflected those of the members of "the lost generation". Another connection that is shown in this book is when the main female character, Brett, is given the ear of a slain bull by the handsome matador who killed it and with whom she would later have an affair with. This exact event happened (without the affair) to Earnest Hemmingway’s wife in real life.
Overall, I enjoyed this book however I did not quite enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed reading the Paris Wife. I did however thoroughly enjoy reading about what it was like to live in Paris for a sizable amount of time, which was included in both of the novels. In the end, despite not having enjoyed it quite as much as the Paris Wife, I would still recommend it to someone who is interested in any form of Parisian culture, just maybe not quite as enthusiastically.
1919- Sherwood Anderson published his most well known book to this day called, Winesburg, Ohio and he was influenced by other well known 1920’s writers such as Earnest Hemmingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and more.
1920- John Dos Pasos (who was considered to be part of the Lost Generation)
published his first book which was titled, One Man's Initiation: 1917. Although he was technically American and lived in the United States, he traveled to Europe often during the twenties.
Early 1920’s- Ford Madox Ford was a novelist, poet, critic and editor whose magazine articles, The English Review (a 1920’s magazine published in London) and The Transatlantic Review (a magazine based in Paris that would later also feature other members of the “Lost Generation” including Earnest Hemingway himself), was a main part of “the development of early 20th-century English literature”.
1925- F. Scott Fitzgerald published his arguably best novel, The Great Gatsby. He was close friends with Earnest Hemming way and made several trips to Paris during the 1920’s. He was considered to be part of the “Lost Generation” which was a group of famous authors who made their fame in Paris in the 1920’s.
1926- Ernest Hemingway wrote his first serious novel that came out while he was still in Paris. It was titled, The Sun Also Rises and it was the what thrust him into the literary spotlight. It became one of the most important books of the decade and it gave us an important view and understanding of the Lost Generation because Earnest Hemmingway was considered to be one of the main authors who were a part of it.
1929- F Scott Fitzgerald was working on his fourth novel, but had to stop because his financial issues and because his wife, Zelda had just developed schizophrenia in 1930.
1933- Gertrude stein published her novel, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas which not only was the piece of writing that made her famous, but it was written about her lesbian lover which at the time, was a very common trait to have in Paris because of France’s “Napoleonic Code” which didn’t propose that homosexual practices that were in private were a criminal act. In fact, for many woman artists during that century, being lesbian was, “a fundamental condition of artistic identity and professional achievement”.
The 1920s were a time of great enjoyment and a time that was viewed as carefree and celebratory due to the recent win for the Allied Powers over Germany and the Central Powers in World War one. The twenties were also a great economic time period when all was healthy with the economy in not only Paris, but the U.S. and other “Allies” countries as well. Paris not only was a rising country because of their joint victory in the war, but also because of the many artists, authors, and other various cultural innovators that were flocking to Paris at the time.
I have always been extremely interested in the two world wars, particularly the first one and the cultural aspects of the times as well. My interest was also sparked last year when we studied the 1920’s in the US and I would like to learn about what that time period was like for another country or city in the world such as Paris. I would like to focus my Honors Project on the time period of the 1920’s in Paris.
Paris is one of the world's most important places of experiments made in art and literature. In the 1920’s, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, and the “Lost Generation” of English-speaking writers that consisted of Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, James Baldwin, Gertrude Stein, and Ezra Pound (just to name a few) came to live in Paris.
For this project I would like to re-read the Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald (because according to my past experiences of reading books twice I tend to gain a lot more from them the second time they are read by me). I would also like to possibly read Earnest Hemmingway’s most well known novel, the old man and the sea. Since however only one of these two pieces of writing were technically written during the 1920’s, some other books that I propose I read are, Journey to the End of Night by Louis-Ferdinand Celiné, and The Crazy Years: Paris in the Twenties by William Wiser.
As a part of this project I would like to research and find any kind of art museums that are showing art that resemble or have something to do with Paris in the 1920’s and the art that was being produced at the time such as art done by the artist, Pablo Picasso. As a stem slightly off of this project I might like to incorporate researching the style of, surrealism and art deco since that was what was being “born” in the Parisian 1920’s and then try to incorporate that newly gained knowledge into trying my own hand at surrealism and art deco or writing an additional research paper on art from the Parisian 1920’s since art history is a subject that I am considering making my major in college.
Finally photography was also just becoming established as a form of art during the 1920s in Paris and so maybe I could do an additional assignment or even just one big on-going assignment where I research photography from the 1920s in Paris and again, try my hand at recreating it. I could somehow collect all my final photographs and display them in some way (perhaps a photo journal or a blog) as part of a final presentation of my honors project.
I am looking forward to taking this honors project head-on and I feel that I will enjoy learning about and researching Paris in the 1920s as a whole.
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey was a heart-wrenching novel about a drug and alcohol addict seeking rehabilitation after spending his entire life purposefully damaging his body and his life and how he achieves his goal of “kicking his addictions” and beginning a healthy lifestyle. He is met with many challenging (to say the least) situations as he pushes past his previous destructive way of living, picking up several unusual relationships with his fellow rehabilitants along the way.
The reason why this book made an impact on my moms life was because she read it at a time that her brother-in-law and my uncle was going through a very strong addiction to drugs and alcohol which eventually led to his death. This book allowed her some amount of understanding as to why he continued to abuse drugs and alcohol despite knowing that it would most likely kill him. It gave her perspective during a time that it was necessary in order to provide her with any of the support that she much needed.
I also gained perspective as to why my uncle did what he did despite knowing he was likely to die, but I also enjoyed reading and learning about psychology and understanding the reasons behind people unusual actions. Another thing that I gained was a feeling of getting to know my uncle who passed away when I was still very young so I only have slivers of memories of my uncle and I felt like I was getting to know my uncle a little bit while I was reading this book which I appreciate very much.
Both my mom and I gained a better understanding about my uncle and why he did what he did despite the time difference between when we each read this novel. However while my mom already knew my uncle when she read this book and so all she gained was understanding of why he made the decisions that he made, I did not really know my uncle and so this book not only provided me with some amount of understanding of what went on in my family while I was still so young but it also introduced me to who my uncle was and what he went through.
I would recommend this to only a selective group of people who I know enjoy and can handle the same style of books that I enjoy because this book at times could be a little on the intense side. It had intense descriptions of surgical procedures the author had to go through with out any form of pain medications and “drug dreams” that involved at times drugs, violence, and prostitution. Despite the vivid, dark descriptions that would occasionally surface in the book, this story was a very interesting and even inspiring book to read that I enjoyed very much.
The Help: Final Response
The Help by Katheryn Stockett is a fictional novel in which the bravery of those who did not share the common belief of the South during the civil rights dispute is displayed through the narrative of a inspiring young journalist and a group of maids collaborating in order to create a book detailing the kind of stress and prejudice they had to endure on an average day.
The reason why this book made an impact on my aunts life was because it provided her with a perspective that she had yet to gain which made her feel closer to her mother who passed away. She gained more respect for her mother and what she went through while simply gaining a better understanding of what life must have been like for her mother during the sixties time period.
I also gained perspective from reading this novel, but the main thing that I gained from reading it was new history and ancestral knowledge. Since the sixties are a time period of particular interest to me, as I was reading I would do additional research on things that were mentioned in the novel that had sparked my interest, which then would further expand my knowledge on the subject. For example, since the book took place in the 1960’s I researched the 60’s time period in order to fully understand the big picture of everything that was going on then and how they all connected. Finally, I also gained respect and understanding for my grandmother since she died long before I was born and I did not get the chance to meet her.
After reading The Help by Katheryn Stockett both my aunt and I gained a better understanding and respect for her mother and my grandmother. We both felt that it was admirable that while even though my grandmother was not among the few who made their opinions on the unfair treatment of African Americans known through protest because of her single motherhood to three small children, she did voice her opinion subtly and have that opinion during a dangerous and controversial time in history.
However, while my aunt only seemed to have gained respect and perspective for her mother, I gained that respect, and I gained a further expanded overall knowledge of what went on in, and the sixties in general. Since I did additional research on the sixties during my reading, I connected all of my prior knowledge together in a way that it formed one cohesive web of history that went on during the sixties in my head.
I would probably recommend this book to anyone but I would definitely recommend it to those who I know would enjoy learning about history, specifically the sixties time period. This book would be one that any average person would enjoy because of the way it was written in an entertaining story style, which most people enjoy to read. However, I would especially recommend it to someone who truly enjoys learning about history because this book allows you to read a purely enjoyable storyline while simultaneously providing you with historical knowledge without you even realizing it, which is why I loved it as well.
When I first started to read, The Help by Kathryn Stockett I thought that it would be a long read that I would drag my feet whenever I knew I should probably continue reading it. However, to my pleasant surprise once I got further into the story I began to really enjoy reading it. Additionally, as a history lover I choose to go online and do additional research on the time period that the whole story takes place in and on the issues and controversies that are presented in the novel. This so far has allowed me to have a better visual and understanding of just exactly what it was like for each of the characters living in the book. For example, I can better empathize with Minnie and her burning desire to voice her mind and stand up for herself in a sea of Caucasian house wives battled by the vitality for her to stay completely quiet about all that is morally wrong that surrounded her. I also have an even more strong appreciation for the risk that every character in the novel is taking in participating in the completion of the secret book of life as an African American maid in the 60's.
Response #2:
After finishing The Help by Katheryn Stockett I have not only gained a more in-depth understanding of what it was like for my grandmother living through a time period of such controversy, but I also gained a more in-depth understanding of the 60's time period in history. History has been my favorite subject in school for a long time now and so not only did this book add new information to my knowledge, but because of a project that I worked on in class at the end of last year, this new knowledge of mine built onto and connected any kind of loose ends and information that I already knew creating one solid web of 1960's history that I now know.
Aunt Kathy: The Help
Starting out my interview, I had no idea of what to expect. Initially I had thought that my aunt would choose, The Girl From the Sea of Cortez by Peter Benchley. I had remembered her mentioning it before and I had also been told that she would probably choose that book because my aunt had said previously that it had changed her life. It was a surprise when she chose The Help instead.
The Help is written from the perspective of a group of African American maids who work in white families homes and from the perspective of one Caucasian, aspiring writer woman who is trying to impress a well-known publisher for a magazine who she admires very much. She writes a controversial article about the stories and opinions of the African American maids while keeping the whole thing a secret because of the hash opposition and dangers that surround not only her, but all of the maids as well.
The story takes place during the early 1960’s. This was a time when African Americans and Caucasian people were very segregated from each other because of the common “separate but equal” belief and the Jim Crowe laws that were in place. There was a small number of people who had the opposite opinions and disagreed with the common belief, but because of the potentially vary harsh and dangerous consequences that they faced for any kind of action taken for change, very few actually took that risk.
My grandmother was one of the few people who did not share the common “separate but equal” belief at the time. She was similar to the main character, Skeeter, in her beliefs however my grandmother could not afford to take any dangerous risks in an attempt to change the unfair times like Skeeter did. My grandmother was a single mother with three small children who had no one else but her to take care of them.
“This book allowed me to see what it was like for my mom at the time that it took place which made me feel even more close to her and know what it must have been like now that I am an adult and have a better perspective.” This book made an impact on my aunt’s life because it gave her the comfort of feeling close to her mother while my aunt was going through a divorce and it gave her a better perspective on how to live her life as well.
