The Help

When Celia goes off to Elizabeth’s house, Minny stews at home, worried what truths may come to light about her working for Miss Celia. She hears from Aibileen that they could be in trouble, since Celia mentioned Minny works for her. Aibileen calls the next morning with an update: Hilly thinks that Minny fabricated Elizabeth’s recommendation to get the job with Celia, and both women are relieved that their scheming remains undiscovered.

One morning, Minny comes into work with a cut on her eyebrow; Leroy beat her again, and this time he wasn’t even drunk. Minny lies and tells Celia she hit it in the bathtub, but Celia is concerned and doesn’t believe her. Before she can say more, however, both women see a naked man outside of Miss Celia’s house staring at them and touching himself. While Celia is calling the police, the man throws a rock through the window, and Minny gathers her courage to go outside and confront him. Armed with a broom and Mister Johnny’s hunting knife in her belt, she goes after the man. However, she drops the knife at one point and the man punches her hard, knocking her to the ground. Before he can hurt Minny further, Celia comes out and saves Minny by beating the man with a fire poker until he’s unconscious. This is a new experience for Minny; a white woman has never saved her before. As Celia stands in her nightgown on the lawn, Minny can see the fearless girl she had to be 10 years ago in Sugar Ditch: “She was strong. She didn’t take no shit from nobody” (309).

Minny goes to Aibileen’s house after work and tells her about the day. Minny can’t understand how Celia could bravely defend Minny against the naked man but doesn’t have tough enough skin to stop caring what Hilly and the rest of the society ladies think of her. Minny can’t fathom why Celia doesn’t recognize the lines that exist in society—between her and the League ladies, and between her and Minny. Aibileen says that people like Hilly try to convince others that those lines exist, but in reality, those lines aren’t there, “They in our heads” (312).

While Celia gets gussied up for the Benefit with a new dress and fresh hair color, she asks Minny why the League ladies are unkind to her. Minny says it’s because she married Miss Hilly’s ex-boyfriend, and the ladies think she’s white trash. Instead of the reaction Minny was hoping for, Celia brightens at this. She decides to convince Hilly she didn’t steal her boyfriend and thinks that will make everything right between them. Minny sees Celia in her dress before the Benefit, and it’s shockingly tight and revealing. Minny knows that no one bares any skin at the Benefit, and here Celia is, “popping out like a corn cob in Crisco” (318). To make matters worse, Celia won’t eat anything, and finishes a bottle of wine while putting the finishing touches on her thickly made-up face and false eyelashes. Minny is terrified that Hilly will tell Celia about the Terrible Awful, but she can’t bring herself to tell Celia the truth.

With November comes the Jackson Junior League Annual Ball and Benefit, a formal dinner and auction that raises money for “the Poor Starving Children of Africa” (320). As League president, Hilly is in charge of the night. All of the ladies in attendance wear modest evening gowns, so when Celia shows up in her impossibly tight and low-cut sequined gown, the room grows quiet for a moment while everyone stares. Celia feels out of place but is undeterred in her mission to make things right with Hilly. She pursues Hilly in the crowd, but Hilly manages to slip away before Celia get can to her. Celia awkwardly stands alone and sips several drinks from the bar, one after the other.

Skeeter is there taking notes for the newsletter article about the Benefit, but everyone avoids talking to her, even Elizabeth. After dinner, the winners of the auctions are announced, including the desserts made by the help. Hilly is announced as the winner of Minny’s chocolate pie, but Hilly is immediately confused and concerned. She didn’t bid on the pie, so who signed her up for it? A tipsy Celia totters over to Hilly to congratulate her on winning Minny’s pie, and accidentally tears her dress when Hilly tries to pull away. While Celia is in the midst of trying to explain that she didn’t steal Johnny from Hilly, Hilly is focused instead on the pie. Hilly asks Celia if Minny put her up to this and if she told anyone about the pie. Extremely confused, Celia continues explaining that she started dating Johnny after he and Hilly broke up, and winds up vomiting mid-conversation. Hilly, still thinking Celia knows some kind of dirt on her relating to Minny’s pie, spreads rumors about Celia, saying that she’s a compulsive liar and has a drinking problem. At the end of the night, Missus Walters, Hilly’s mother, explains she’s the one who signed up Hilly to win the pie, saying, “I may not remember my name or what country I live in, but you and that pie is something I will never forget” (332).

Over the weekend, Minny gets a call from Johnny, who is going hunting for the week and wants Minny to make sure Celia is all right after what happened at the Benefit. Celia stays in bed all day Monday and Tuesday. She gets a note from Hilly asking for a $200 donation check to the League, “in lieu of reimbursing me for my dress you tore” (335).

At the end of the week, Celia tells Minny she’s decided to leave Johnny and go back to Sugar Ditch; she knows she doesn’t belong in this community and thinks Johnny would be happier if he had married Hilly. Minny realizes that to keep Celia from leaving, she has to tell the truth about the Terrible Awful. Minny explains that when Hilly sent her mother to the old folks home, Minny went around town looking for a job, but no one would hire her. Hilly spread a rumor that Minny was a thief because she wanted Minny to be forced to come work for her. Minny was furious, and she decided to retaliate. She brought a chocolate pie to Hilly at Miss Walter’s house, which Hilly thought was Minny’s way of making peace between them. Hilly ate two whole slices of the pie before Minny told her what was in it. Hilly was horrified, but her mother couldn’t stop laughing that her daughter ate, “two slices of Minny’s shit” (339). Minny explains that Hilly must have thought Celia knew the story and bought her the pie to make fun of her. Celia is clearly shocked by Minny’s story, but thanks Minny for telling her.

The next day, Celia is back up and about and plants rosebushes in the yard, which Minny takes as a sign that she isn’t going to leave Johnny. The following day, Celia goes out in the rain and takes an axe to the mimosa tree, hacking away until it falls. As Minny watches from inside, she notices that Celia has made out a check to Miss Hilly as requested, and on the bottom line has written, “For Two-Slice Hilly” (141).