Previous Next

Chapters 10–13

Summary: Minny, Chapter 10 

One night at choir practice, Aibileen tells Minny about Skeeter’s book. Minny thinks of what a relief it would be to tell the whole truth, though when Aibileen asks if she would talk to Skeeter, Minny refuses. Over the next few days, Celia seems weak and does not get out of bed. Three days before Christmas, Minny arrives to find that Celia is not home and begins working. Johnny comes home and asks Minny who she is. Minny is terrified, though Johnny laughs, saying he was surprised. Johnny and Minny talk, and he tells Minny they should keep acting as though Johnny doesn’t know about her. 

Summary: Miss Skeeter, Chapter 11 

One night, Skeeter goes to Aibileen’s house for their first interview. They are both nervous, with Aibileen’s hands shaking so much that the pot rattles as she pours them tea. Skeeter asks Aibileen a few questions, though Aibileen struggles to give more than the most basic information. Aibileen eventually excuses herself to vomit and apologizes, saying she isn’t ready to talk. At the next bridge club, Elizabeth gives Skeeter a note from Aibileen. Skeeter opens the note, which reads, “I know how to make the teapot stop rattling.” Two days later, Skeeter returns to Aibileen’s house. After Skeeter received Aibileen’s note, she called Aibileen, who explained that she would write down what she wanted to say and then read it aloud. Skeeter is skeptical of this idea, as she assumes she’ll have to rewrite what Aibileen says. Aibileen begins reading out what she has written, with Skeeter transcribing it, and Skeeter is impressed by her writing. 

Summary: Miss Skeeter, Chapter 12

Over the next two weeks, Skeeter encourages Aibileen to ask other maids to get involved, though no one has agreed. One night, Aibileen says she would like to read some more books as that might help with her writing, and Skeeter offers to check them out upon remembering that the State Street Library only allows white people. Aibileen explains that she didn’t know which rules Skeeter was comfortable breaking. Though Skeeter claims she is tired of the rules, she knows that must not mean much to Aibileen.

Skeeter finishes Aibileen’s story and mails it to Elaine Stein. At the next bridge club, Elizabeth announces that she is pregnant, though looks like she wants to cry. At home, Skeeter receives a call from Elaine Stein. Elaine tells Skeeter that if she finishes the book by January and includes interviews of a dozen women, Elaine will consider publishing it. After Skeeter tells Aibileen the news, they are both excited but realize they have a tight turnaround time. Aibileen convinces Minny to be interviewed, which they do at Aibileen’s house. Minny is initially hostile but eventually begins answering Skeeter’s questions.

Summary: Miss Skeeter, Chapter 13

Over the next several weeks, Skeeter meets with Minny at Aibileen’s house. One night, Stuart visits Skeeter and apologizes for his behavior during their date. He explains that he wasn’t ready to date after his engagement to Patricia van Devender was broken off, although he is unwilling to share the details of what happened. Stuart asks Skeeter if they could go to dinner. Skeeter hesitates but agrees. Skeeter confides in Stuart that she wants to be a journalist, though does not tell him about the book. They talk until the restaurant closes, and Stuart kisses her.

A few weeks later, Skeeter stops by the library, where she finds a booklet of Jim Crow laws throughout the South. None of these laws are new to Skeeter, but she finds it jarring to see them written down, as no one ever talks about them. She realizes that these laws are essentially the same as Hilly’s bathroom initiative and writes a note to herself to that effect. Seeing that the booklet was returned to the wrong library, Skeeter slips it into her satchel and heads to a League meeting. After the meeting, Skeeter arrives home and realizes she left her satchel behind. Skeeter calls Hilly, who has brought the satchel back to her house. Skeeter immediately goes to Hilly’s house. Hilly gives Skeeter her satchel and mentions that she had to check the meeting notes. Later, Skeeter sees the booklet is missing.

Analysis: Chapters 10–13

As Skeeter and Aibileen begin their interviews, the theme of the power of writing and storytelling is developed further. Aibileen finds her attempts to recount her life to Skeeter literally stomach-turning. However, Aibileen realizes that like her prayers, she feels more at ease putting her stories into writing before reading them aloud to Skeeter. Though Aibileen doesn’t explain why this helps, writing down her thoughts before expressing them seems to make Aibileen feel more in control than choosing what to say from her memories. Skeeter’s initial skepticism of this idea reveals that, though Skeeter is not as blatantly racist as her friends, she does indeed have some prejudiced ideas. In this case, she assumes she will have to rewrite Aibileen’s words, likely because she thinks Aibileen’s race and lack of higher education will make her an inferior writer. However, Skeeter finds that writing is a skill not only reserved for those who have taken writing classes. Aibileen shows Skeeter that as long as someone has lived through something real, they are capable of turning their experience into a compelling story.

In several ways, Skeeter becomes more aware of her ignorance throughout these chapters. Though she initially saw no reason why Aibileen and the other maids wouldn’t trust her, hearing their stories allows her to understand why they are distrustful of white women. Even though Skeeter has seen herself as relatively progressive and unbiased compared to her friends, she understands how little danger she has ever been in when Aibileen finally manages to ask Skeeter to check out books from the library. Though Skeeter claims she does not care about the rules, she now has a more complete understanding of how the rules impact her as opposed to how they impact Aibileen and other Black women. In this way, writing and hearing the stories of others allows Skeeter to learn more about herself and the world as a whole.

The theme of the power of writing is also explored when Skeeter comes across the booklet of Jim Crow laws. Though these laws are the legal code of the south, Skeeter is shocked to see them written down and instinctually knows to keep the booklet hidden from others in her satchel. Both Black and white people are expected to know and follow these laws, but there is also the expectation that they will never be spoken of. Just as Hilly exerts power in what is left unsaid, pretending that forced segregation doesn’t exist allows white people to maintain control. If legal segregation doesn’t exist, then there is nothing to protest or resist. However, when the laws are written and printed in a book, it’s hard to deny their existence. By simply having in her possession a book of laws, which she makes sure to hide from her friends, Skeeter knows she could cause trouble. As Skeeter realizes, the booklet also shows how the law and personal bias influence one another. The Jim Crow laws wouldn’t exist if people were not prejudiced against Black people, yet personal prejudice is also rampant because the law condones it.

As Skeeter engages in increasingly rebellious behavior in secret, in public she continues to do what is expected of women in her social class. Despite Stuart’s behavior on their first date, Skeeter agrees to go to dinner with him. Though Skeeter grows to like Stuart and found him attractive even before their date, she knows she must keep part of herself hidden. This is a concept familiar to Elizabeth and Celia as well, again showing how social norms are not beneficial even to those in the most privileged positions. Elizabeth, who shows no joy in being a mother to Mae Mobley, can barely conceal her distress at being pregnant again, though she knows having more children is what is expected of her. And though Celia has more money and free time than she knows what to do with, she is lonely and friendless. While there is obviously something wrong, Celia doesn’t even confide in her husband. Hilly is seemingly the only woman who delights in preserving the strict social order; that this is the primary purpose of Hilly’s life shows her to be shallow and cruel.

Previous section Chapters 7–9 Next section Chapters 14–18

Take a Study Break