By Ricardo Martin of Duncanville High School in Duncanville, Texas Finding Light in the Darkest Hour Aibileen Clark, the main character of the fiction novel The Help by Kathryn Stockett, finds her voice in a place filled with prejudice, weak-minded racists. This character is a black maid in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. With the loss of her son, Treelore, she becomes stuck in a sea of racial slurs, bridge clubs, and tending to the Leefolts. Toward to end of the novel, Aibileen along with her new friend, Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, and her best friend, Minny Jackson, produce a novel that consists of testimonies from maids around Jackson, Mississippi. Aibileen is an inspiring character who harnesses traits such as being wise, outspoken, and strong. …show more content…
She was only fourteen when she first cared for a white child. Throughout her career, she has taken care of seventeen children and her own son. Skeeter Phelan asks Aibileen to assist her in her “Miss Myrna” questions because she knows of her experience and how long she’s been a maid. While pondering on the fear of terrible consequences, Aibileen realizes that “white [women] like to keep their hands clean.” (pg. 220) She knows what will happen if any white women were to find out that Skeeter, Minny, and her wrote about the women of Jackson. Aibileen knows how they think and what their reaction is going to