Leader or Lemming?

I just finished reading "The Help". It was AMAZING!! Of all the books I've read this one made me want to take the day off work so I could keep reading. I was totally engrossed in this book. It was extremely thought provoking for me. Jeff is probably happy that I've finished the book so I'll stop talking to him about it. I just don't know where to start. If you haven't read it then go get it today. Every time I would talk to Jeff about this book he would tell me I was rambling because one thought leads to another...and another...and another. I know I could really ramble with this post.

The thought that kept occurring to me the most was that we've come so far since the early 1960s and then again we haven't. Something else that I usually do is identify with a character. Sometimes it's easy for me to put myself in the book as a certain character if I really identify with that character. In my dreams I would love to think that I'm Skeeter. I want to be the one that hates the "old ways". I want to be the brave one that tries to make changes in society. I want to be the one with enough confidence to throw everything I know out the window and take the road less traveled. I just don't think I could have done it. Even now after I've finished the book I'm proud of her for telling Stuart the truth but a the same time I wish she would have kept her mouth shut and married him. So...does that make me Elizabeth or Lou Anne? Would I be a Leader or a Lemming?

In the more basic ways I am Skeeter! I can vividly remember my mother comparing me to herself. She's an over-achiever. She graduated college early. She got married at 21, she had me at 24 and soon after that she got her Master's while teaching and raising me and living with my dad. At one point in the book Skeeter's mom says to her, "When I was your age I was married and already had Carlton, Jr." I heard that all through college, "When I was your age I was already graduated." "When I was your age I was married" "When I was your age I already had you." The to compare myself more to Skeeter, I was tall, had massive massive feet, awkward, no boyfriends, funky hair (sometimes I cut my own...and it was crooked, especially on picture day). I can't tell you HOW many times I heard, "You're wearing that?" "Honey, wouldn't you be more comfortable in something else?" And a personal favorite said to me by my mother was, "Whoever told you your hair looked good like that lied to you." That is one that I will never forget. I was home from college (I think freshman year at MTSU) and we were going to the Moss Christmas party down the road. I was feeling good! I was excited to go see friends and as I'm walking out of the bathroom to the front door she cuts me off at the knees (which would have been good in High School because then I would have been the same height as everyone else). There is no time to go wash my hair and re-fix it. I have go to the party and spend the whole night thinking that I need to fix my stupid hair. Ah, memories!

This book was just a wonderful study of human nature. It was extremely thought provoking for me and I highly recommend this book. Two thumbs up!