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Chapters 7–9

Summary: Aibileen, Chapter 7 

One day, while playing with Mae Mobley, Aibileen thinks of how children believe anything you tell them. Aibileen has Mae Mobley repeat that she is smart and kind. Over the next few weeks, Aibileen tries to toilet train Mae Mobley. Aibileen knows Mae Mobley has to see someone else using the toilet, but Elizabeth refuses to let Mae Mobley in the bathroom with her. One day, while Elizabeth is out, Mae Mobley asks Aibileen to show her how to use the toilet, so Aibileen takes Mae Mobley to the bathroom outside. Mae Mobley then uses Aibileen’s toilet. When Elizabeth comes home, Mae Mobley runs to the bathroom outside. Elizabeth scolds Mae Mobley, hitting her and telling her she will catch diseases from using the “colored bathroom.” Aibileen feels dejected, wishing she could stop the moment from coming when Mae Mobley sees Black people as dirty.

One day, while Aibileen is shopping for the Leefolts’ Thanksgiving dinner, she runs into friends from church, who tell her that her friend Louvenia’s grandson, Robert was beaten for using an unmarked white bathroom. Robert was friends with Treelore and has been mowing Aibileen’s yard since Treelore died, refusing any pay. When Aibileen arrives home, she finds Skeeter on her step. Skeeter says she was inspired by Treelore’s idea. She wants to write a book about what it is like for Black women to work as maids for white families and wants to interview Aibileen along with other maids without their employers knowing. Aibileen refuses and warns Skeeter that such a project would be dangerous, given what happened to Robert as well as her cousin, whose car was burned for trying to vote. 

Summary: Miss Skeeter, Chapter 8

Skeeter leaves Aibileen’s house and recalls how a week ago she received a call from Elaine Stein in response to Skeeter’s new idea. Elaine notes that their side of the story has never been told before, but doubts that Skeeter could find a maid who would tell the truth. Skeeter lies that she has already found a woman who is willing to tell her story. The week after Thanksgiving, Skeeter again tries to talk to Aibileen about the book, though Aibileen again refuses.

The following week, Charlotte convinces Skeeter to try the Magic Soft & Silky Shinalator to smooth out her hair. While sitting under the machine, Skeeter thinks of how at Elizabeth’s house, while Aibileen served them coffee, Hilly told Aibileen that her husband arranged for the bathroom to be built. Skeeter could tell Hilly expected Aibileen to thank her, and though Skeeter hoped she would not, Aibileen eventually did. Skeeter understood why Aibileen was reluctant to talk to her. When Skeeter’s mother turns off the machine, they are astounded to see the Shinalator has worked.

Summary: Miss Skeeter, Chapter 9 

That Saturday, Skeeter prepares for her date with the senator’s son, Stuart Whitworth. Skeeter has refrained from telling Charlotte about her date with Stuart, and so Charlotte tries to convince her not to go out. Eventually, Skeeter takes her father’s truck and arrives at Hilly’s house late. At dinner, Stuart orders several bourbons. Skeeter tries to make conversation with Stuart, though he vacillates between disinterest and mocking Skeeter’s job at the newspaper. The next day, Aibileen calls Skeeter and cautiously agrees to the interview. When Skeeter asks Aibileen what changed her mind, Aibileen answered that it was Hilly.

Analysis: Chapters 7–9

In Chapter 7, Aibileen notes how what children see and learn from a very young age influences how they learn and grow up. Though Mae Mobley is only two years old, Aibileen knows she is picking up on things that will stay with her. Just as Mae Mobley understands how to use the toilet after seeing an adult use it, she will one day see Black people as inferior to her because that is the example set by her mother. As a child, Mae Mobley is a blank slate. She loves Aibileen and sees no problem with using the same toilet as a Black person. This shows that no one is born with racist beliefs, they are learned, which Aibileen knows is inevitable for Mae Mobley. Aibileen also fears that Mae Mobley will internalize her mother’s dislike of her and hopes that by having Mae Mobley say kind words about herself, she will believe them. This practice shows how important even simple words can be and how influential words can be in either belittling others or lifting them up.

Again, the symbol of the bathroom is used in these chapters. While the construction of the outdoor bathroom at Elizabeth’s house is motivated by racist beliefs, it seems relatively silly, a minor humiliation that doesn’t seem to faze Aibileen. However, what happens to Robert shows the potentially devastating consequences of what previously seemed to be a frivolous issue. And unfortunately, such an incident seems unremarkable in Jackson, as evidenced by Aibileen recalling the retaliation her cousin faced when trying to vote. As Robert is the same age Treelore would have been and in a way started filling in for Treelore by mowing Aibileen’s yard, Robert is representative of what could happen to Treelore, or any Black man, if he were still alive.

Aibileen, who understands the very real dangers of breaking both the spoken and unspoken rules of Jackson society, is juxtaposed with Skeeter’s relative ignorance. Skeeter, who has only ever known a positive relationship with a Black woman, doesn’t grasp the enormity of the danger she is putting Aibileen in by simply showing up at her house. She certainly doesn’t understand the potential consequences for Aibileen going on the record and telling the truth about what working for a white family is actually like. However, the idea of putting the truth out into the world entices Aibileen, as she eventually agrees to be interviewed. The daily humiliations suffered at the hands of Hilly and Elizabeth, along with the senseless violence against Robert for something as minuscule as using a bathroom, have pushed Aibileen to the point where she is willing to put herself at risk to tell her story.

As both Skeeter and Aibileen consider the idea for the book, the theme of the power of writing and storytelling is introduced. Skeeter wants only to write the truth about what happens between maids and their families, not to persuade people to think one way or the other or to even change the laws. The truth doesn’t change whether it’s written down or not. However, she, Aibileen, and Elaine Stein all recognize the ramifications of putting this information into writing. They know that by writing the maids’ stories, they will force people to have to reckon with the truth about race relations in the South, and that is enough to make this a very dangerous undertaking.

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