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

disputes were ongoing.Whites blamed blacks for their problems and thought they were diseased, just because they had different colored skin.

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

she still refused. Mae Mobley had no one to show her, so Abileen stepped in and showed her. Before, Aibileen would use the bathroom inside the house, which was turned into the white bathroom, after Hilly came in to talk to Mrs. Leefolt. She said that the black people were the ones who brought the diseases among other, meaning that the white people could catch the diseases. Hilly then adds that she wanted a law requiring that the blacks get their own bathrooms outside the house. “A bill that requires every white home to have separate bathrooms for the color help. I've even notified the surgeon general of Mississippi to see if he'll endorse the idea. I pass,” (Sockett 10). Mrs. Leefolt agreed with Hilly, so a bathroom was being built for Aibileen just outside the house. Ever since the bathroom was finished, she had to go outside, even in severe weather, just to use the bathroom. The entire bathroom situation was an act of selfishness from the whites. It was all because they did not want to get diseases, from who they thought spread them: the blacks.
There was not much that Aibileen and the black maids could do about the bathroom situation.

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

races together and finding peace between the two could have helped. If they understood one another, and understood that the color of your skin is just a color, then society would not be the way was in the book. Everyone would be integrated and it would not be a problem. They would also understand that it was not just the blacks that spread diseases, it was the whites too. Overall, just finding peace and understanding one another could have solved the situation. The blacks would no longer have to be segregated.
Even in everyday life today there always seems to be a problem with people. If everyone got along with each other, people would find peace with one another. Wars and fights would not occur if people just take the time to listen. Simply listening to someone can mean so much, but also prevent many negative behaviors. People need to accept the fact that we were all created equally, and no human is different from another. The book, The Help, portrays the issues with society thoroughly. A race is a race. A color is a color. No matter what race or color you are, it does not matter. Everybody is equal.