The Help

Can one person make a difference?

Whether it be in literature or real life one person can always make a difference. The question is very opinionated and the term "make a difference" is very broad so there is not a right or wrong answer. Most would argue that there are countless examples in history of a single man making a difference such as Martin Luther King jr. or Gandhi, however, others could argue that it was the army of people behind that person that made the real difference.

In The Help Aibileen make's a difference in the life of Mae Molby Leefolt. Aibileen goes as far as calling her, "her special baby."Mae Molby is neglected by her own mother and needs a supportive adult figure in her life. Aibileen does everything she can to raise Mae Molby's confidence and to make her a good person. She teaches her about civil rights and racial equality hoping to create change in the bigoted town of Jackson Mississippi. Mae Molby needed Aibileen to make a difference in her life but Aibileen needed Mae Molby as well. Aibileen's own son died tragically in an accident at work only months before she took the job with the Leefolts and Mae Molby does a good job being a physical replacement. These two individuals, undoubtably, make a difference in each other's lives.

Here are three links to pages explaining how one person can, or can not, make a difference:

http://www.aikentdc.org/One_Person_Can_Make_a_Difference.pdf

http://www.success.com/article/the-power-of-one-one-person-one-idea-to-make-a-difference

http://www.stabroeknews.com/2013/opinion/letters/09/27/one-person-can-make-a-difference/

Kite Runner
Third Blog



 How does society drive or impact the literature of the time period?


Society impacts the literature of a time period because most publishers just want money. These big publishing companies only publish books that they think will sell so that they can get more money. That means that when they are looking for the right book to publish they specifically look for books that will appeal and sell to society. They need to find books that people will find interesting. This being said, it can be very hard to predict which books will blow up and become a best-selling title.

People like books that they can feel emotionally attached to. Once a reader feels like he or she has a personal, or real, connection to the book and the characters in it they will want to read and enjoy doing it. Many kids say that they don't like to read or that books bore them, however, they might just not be reading the right books. Here is a list of the"Best Books of the 21st Century". Most of these books have strong, likeable protagonists who make the book enjoyable. If the main character of the book was annoying who would want to read it? On this list, The Kite Runner is second.

The Kite Runner is a great and enjoyable book for many reasons. Amir is a great voice to narrate the novel. He's a good kid, and eventually man, with good intentions. He makes mistakes which seem to personify him off the pages. People can relate to him. They see parts of their lives in his, maybe even feel like he's an old friend, and the emotional attachment begins. Not only do people feel for Amir, they feel for Hassan, Baba and other characters. Society is literature's sieve, sorting the worthy from the not, and The Kite Runner has been deemed more than worthy by society.