Aibileen Clark's The Help

Even today, there are problems with people who are of one race and think they are more superior than others. Years have passed since the whites despised the blacks. However, some people, even today, think that their race defines their superiority over others, but are we really that much different from one another? As Americans, we were all created equally, making us all equal to one another. One race is not better than another or vice versa. Aibileen Clark, a character from The Help, found herself among other black maids in a situation like hers. Aibileen was a black maid to her boss, a white lady named Elizabeth Leefolt. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett was set in the early 1960’s in Jackson, Mississippi. During this time in the south, racial

Aibileen found herself in a situation with Hilly Holbrook, another white lady who discriminated the blacks. She experienced a man versus social conflict with society.

Aibileen’s job as a maid required her to partake in many duties for her boss, Elizabeth Leefolt. She helps clean, cook, and takes care of white babies. While working for Mrs. Leefolt, she takes care of her infant daughter, Mae Mobley. One thing Aibileen tries to teach Mae is racial equality and civil rights. She tells her stories and tells her all about Martin Luther King Jr. In addition to that, she would also teach her how to talk, walk, and use the bathroom. Aibileen acts as more of a mother to Mae Mobley than her actual mom ever was. During her potty training sessions, Mae Mobley would refuse use the bathroom; he had to see somebody else going. When Aibileen asks Mrs. Leefolt to show Mae Mobley, she refuses. Aibileen explains further why she needed to show her, but

If they protested, they could have gotten killed. All of their actions had consequences. Aibileen got involved with Skeeter, a white lady. She helped her write a book about the help. In other words, she wrote about the lives of the black maids. “I just … have to ask you. What changed your mind?” Aibileen doesn’t even pause. ‘Miss Hilly,’ she says. I go quiet, thinking of Hilly’s bathroom plan and accusing the maid of stealing and her talk of diseases. The name comes out flat, bitter as a bad pecan,” (122). Each chapter of the book was a different maid. At first it was hard to get maids to do the book, because this book was being done in secret. If someone got caught, then bad things could happen to them and they would get fired. These consequences would be much worse than those of the bathroom situation. When Aibileen was first asked to write the book, she new the consequences, and eventually agreed to help write the book. In her chapter, she writes about her boss, Mrs. Leefolt, and what it is like working for her. Helping write the book was one way of solving the problem with society.The readers of the book that Skeeter wrote were allowed insight into the lives of black people in the south and what it was like to live their lives. This book was a hit with people in the town. Although the book slightly helped the situation with the blacks, it was not enough. Just bringing the two