The success of 'The Help' is understood when read: novelist masters his narrative technique by building each chapter as a specific episode, and the change in the views of three women, which corresponds to the taste of the moment to polyphony gives the narrative dynamism. Reading is fun and compelling, although specifically literary qualities of the novel remain limited: the characters are reduced to types (Miss Skeeter, white brainy big heart, the black nanny Aibileen too big heart that conceals a writer , Minny strong head that hides a tender heart, etc.) and the painting of Jackson 60s is altogether conventional. For anyone who knows the Mississippi or the southern United States, descriptions of moods under porches or fried chicken dishes fall under the stencil. And yet, as in a good Hollywood movie, the whole works. 'The Help' has the merit of proposing a vision (admittedly sometimes simplistic and naive) of a page of contemporary history of the United States that is often misunderstood or kills through narrative tools well oiled, unsurprisingly but effective.
