The Help

Aibileen lives in a small house in the Black part of town, where the population grows but the neighborhood does not because it’s surrounded by state land. In the white part of town, new neighborhoods are constantly built, and untouched land sits waiting for when the white people need more space. Aibileen takes the bus home with the other maids in the community, and catches up with Minny, her best friend, who works for Miss Walters, Hilly’s mother.

When Aibileen comes to work the next morning, Mr. Leefolt hollers about the cost of the separate bathroom that Miss Leefolt wants to build for Aibileen. Money is already tight for the Leefolts. The pay Aibileen receives each month is barely enough to cover her monthly expenses, and she knows based on Miss Leefolt’s handmade wardrobe that the family can’t afford extra expenses. Even so, Miss Leefolt wins the argument and work on the separate bathroom begins.

Minny calls Aibileen and tells her that Miss Walters is going to live in an old folks home in a week, and Minny can’t find work anywhere. No one in town seems interested in hiring her. Hilly has been hinting that Minny come work for her, but Minny and Aibileen both know that’s a bad idea. Minny is the best cook in the county, but she has a smart mouth. Her sass in combination with Miss Hilly’s racism would only end badly.

Aibileen has a frustrating day at work. She has to hold her tongue when she sees Miss Leefolt first ignore Mae Mobley, then slap her hard across the legs when Mae Mobley pulls the phone cord to get her mama’s attention. Later, one of the Black men working on the bathroom asks Aibileen where he can go to the bathroom. She’s ashamed to tell him to go in the bushes behind the house. Even though the house has two bathrooms and one being built, none of them are available to him. Minny calls Aibileen again. She knows why no one in town will hire her: Hilly spread a rumor that Minny stole a candelabrum from Miss Walters. Minny is so angry her words hardly make sense. She talks about a pie, and how she’s never going to tell anyone what she did with it. Aibileen doesn’t ask questions, but knows this situation is bad news for Minny.

Aibileen writes her prayers every night. People in the community ask to be on her prayer list because, in Minny’s words, Aibileen’s prayers have “better results than just the regular variety” (23). Aibileen still thinks about Skeeter’s question to her about wanting to change things. She puts Skeeter on her prayer list. Aibileen has a lot to pray for these days.

Minny’s last day of work comes and goes, and she still doesn’t have a job. One day, Miss Leefolt gets a call from Celia Foote and Aibileen answers the phone. Celia is looking for a maid, so Aibileen suggests Minny for the job, pretending that Miss Leefolt made the recommendation from the other room. Aibileen covers her tracks by telling Celia that everybody in town wants Minny as their maid, so Miss Leefolt doesn’t want anybody to know the recommendation came from her.

Aibileen knows Minny is desperate for a job and is willing to take a risk to help her friend. Minny took care of Aibileen for months after Treelore died. She even found Aibileen with a rope tied, contemplating taking her own life. Now Minny is the one who needs a friend.

The bathroom is completed, and Miss Leefolt awkwardly tells Aibileen it’s the one she should use exclusively from now on. Miss Leefolt pretends that it must be so nice for Aibileen to have her own bathroom to use, even though it’s clearly humiliating. Aibileen tells Miss Leefolt what she wants to hear, that she’ll only use that bathroom. As she bears Miss Leefolt’s prejudice and condescension, Aibileen thinks of Minny, Treelore, Mae Mobley, and the bathroom, and feels bitterness growing inside of her.

Minny goes out in the country to Celia Foote’s house to interview for the job. Minny notices right away that Miss Celia is nothing like the other white women in Jackson. Her thick accent betrays her country upbringing, she wears twice as much makeup as the other ladies, and she wears tight clothing despite the fact she has “a lot more bosom to her” than most women (31). Furthermore, Celia doesn’t observe the typical social boundaries between white women and the help; she tells Minny to sit and serves her a cold drink—treatment Minny has never received from a white woman before.

Celia mistakes Minny’s comments about the size of the house as a refusal to work there, so Minny has to explain that she wants the job. However, Celia doesn’t want her husband Johnny to know she’s hiring a maid; she wants him to think she can cook and clean the house on her own. Minny agrees to arrive late and leave early so that Johnny won’t see her, but only temporarily. Minny worries Johnny will come home unexpectedly one day, and seeing an unfamiliar Black woman in his house, might shoot her. Celia promises to tell him after a few months, and Minny starts to count down the days.

Minny thinks back to her first day working as a maid. Her mother told her the rules for working for a white woman, number seven being “No sass-mouthing” (39). However, young Minny didn’t make it through the first day without mouthing off and getting fired. She still has the same spitfire spirit and is constantly trying to rein in her attitude.

Minny feels strange when she starts working for Miss Celia. Celia is kind, greeting her each morning, yet Minny feels something is wrong that Miss Celia won’t tell her about. She dodges questions about children, and while cleaning the bedroom, Minny finds a rust-colored stain on the carpet hidden under a rug. Minny also finds Celia’s behavior strange; Celia sits on the bed and reads magazines all day, other than when she comes downstairs for a cooking lesson. Celia admits she grew up poor, without even an electric stove to cook on. All she can cook is grits, so Minny starts by showing Celia how to fry chicken using Crisco.

As Minny dusts the Confederate coat and pistol in Celia and Johnny’s huge house, she sees a picture of Mister Johnny, and realizes he’s Hilly’s ex-boyfriend. This scares Minny, knowing that the kind of man who used to be close to Hilly is not the kind she wants to surprise by being present in his home. To make matters worse, Minny hears from Aibileen that Hilly has been asking around where Minny got a job. Minny worries about Hilly and the “Terrible Awful Thing” (45) she did to her, knowing Hilly will make Minny’s life miserable if given the chance.

Miss Celia sits in her room all day, only emerging for her cooking lesson with Minny. After a while, Celia’s presence and laziness get on Minny’s nerves, and Minny suggests Celia make some friends. However, Celia has tried to make friends with Hilly and the other ladies in Jackson, but no one ever returns her phone calls.

Minny reminds Miss Celia daily how many days are left until Celia must tell Mister Johnny about hiring help. One day, Minny is lost in reverie peeling peaches, and a blue truck pulls up. Thinking it’s Mister Johnny home early from work, she runs to the guest bathroom to hide, heart pounding. As she crouches on the toilet seat, Minny worries that Miss Celia could pretend Minny is a burglar just so her husband won’t be upset with her for keeping secrets.