Previous Next

Chapters 27 & 28

Summary: Miss Skeeter, Chapter 27 

A few weeks later, Elaine Stein tells Skeeter she must deliver the manuscript by December 21, and that she should include a story about her own childhood maid. Skeeter shares what Elaine told her with Aibileen, who says she will write down what happened to Constantine. A few days later, Stuart visits Skeeter and tells her he is no longer hung up on Patricia, though Skeeter tells him it is too late. The next night, Aibileen suggests they should title the book “Help,” which Skeeter and Minny agree is perfect. That Sunday, Stuart comes to see Skeeter. Skeeter is surprised when Charlotte says that if Stuart does not see how intelligent and kind Skeeter is, he doesn’t deserve her.

A few days later, Aibileen tells Constantine’s story to Skeeter. As Constantine’s daughter, Lulabelle, was born with white skin, Constantine sent Lulabelle to an orphanage in Chicago knowing the danger they would face. Two years ago, Lulabelle contacted Constantine, and they made plans for Lulabelle to come to Longleaf. Aibileen gives Skeeter an envelope, telling her to read the rest of the story at home. A few nights later, Skeeter confronts Charlotte. Charlotte reveals that Lulabelle came to a DAR luncheon, acting as if she was one of the white guests. Charlotte told Lulabelle to leave, and Lulabelle spat in Charlotte’s face. Charlotte forced Constantine to choose between working for the Phelans and being with her daughter. She also revealed to Lulabelle the real reason Constantine sent her away. Constantine and Lulabelle went to Chicago, where Constantine died three weeks later.

When Skeeter has completed the manuscript, Minny points out that they need some form of insurance to make sure they will not be found out. Minny suggests putting in the story about what she did to Hilly, as Hilly would not want people to know what happened. After adding Minny’s pie story to the book, Skeeter mails the manuscript to Elaine Stein.

Summary: Miss Skeeter, Chapter 28 

Skeeter learns that her mother has stomach cancer and likely only has a few months left to live. There is a mournful mood at Longleaf over Christmas, and Skeeter begins to take comfort in Stuart’s company again. However, by New Year’s Eve, Charlotte appears to be feeling better. Stuart mentions he has heard what people are saying about Skeeter, but he knows Skeeter is too smart to get involved in anything regarding civil rights. One night, Skeeter goes to dinner with Stuart, wearing a short dress that she knows Charlotte would disapprove of. When they see Stuart’s parents having dinner at the same restaurant, Stuart hides Skeeter from their view due to the dress. Back at Longleaf, Stuart proposes to Skeeter. Skeeter tells Stuart about the book she has been writing. Stuart swears he will not tell anyone, but that he cannot marry her. A few weeks later, Skeeter tells Aibileen and Minny that Harper & Row will be publishing their book. Though the print run and the advance will be small, they are excited and nervous.

Analysis: Chapters 27 & 28

As Skeeter finally learns what happened to Constantine, she sees that Constantine and Lulabelle were caught on the imaginary line between the racial divide between Black and white. Born to Black parents, though looking white, Lulabelle did not fit perfectly on either side of that line. Constantine knew that, rather than being embraced by either side, she and Lulabelle would be rejected by both sides. Although giving Lulabelle up for adoption pained Constantine, it was her only option as Lulabelle’s mother to ensure Lulabelle’s safety. Although Skeeter saw her relationship with Constantine as a mother-daughter dynamic, raising Skeeter likely only reminded Constantine of her distance from her own daughter.

Throughout the novel, Charlotte has seemed rather one-note, caring only about whether Skeeter can find a husband. However, in these chapters she proves herself to be more complex than previously portrayed. Although Charlotte was initially thrilled by the match between Skeeter and Stuart, in these chapters she shows that she cares more about Skeeter’s happiness and her finding a partner who truly cares for her than about an impressive marriage. In this way, Charlotte is a more kindhearted mother than she previously let on. However, Charlotte is still bound by the rules of society, which explains her actions that resulted in Constantine’s move to Chicago. As a mother, Charlotte would have understood how painful it was for Constantine to send her daughter away and why Constantine would not want to be separated from her again. However, Charlotte couldn’t risk her peers finding out that they had been socializing with a Black woman in her home. Although Charlotte cared for Constantine and didn’t want to fire her, she felt she had no choice given what society expected of her. Much of what happens in The Help shows that any person, Black or white, would have had to show extreme bravery to stand up to racial discrimination in 1960s Jackson, and like most of the white characters, Charlotte does not have that amount of courage, even though she knows her treatment of Constantine and Lulabelle was cruel.

Skeeter, on the other hand, finds herself showing more and more of that courage. She flouts Charlotte’s wishes by wearing a dress she wouldn’t approve of and no longer tries to deny her allegiances, which has lost her the role as editor of the League’s newsletter as well as all of her friends. The greatest risk that Skeeter takes, along with Minny, is putting the story of the pie in the book, knowing that Hilly will know where that information came from. She also finally comes clean with Stuart, knowing she could not begin a marriage based on a lie. Even before Stuart’s reaction to Skeeter’s confession, he has seemed reluctant to be with a woman as forward-thinking as Skeeter. His shielding of Skeeter from his parents foreshadowed his reluctance to proudly be in a relationship with someone who goes against societal norms. Rather than try to mold herself to become what Stuart wants, Skeeter lets him go and continues with the publication of her book.

Previous section Chapters 24–26 Next section Chapters 29–34

Take a Study Break