Minny

By the third chapter I realize that this book is actually going to be told by different perspectives, and in this particular chapter we are introduced to Minny. She is a chubby, strong spirited woman who will sass anyone who gets on her nerves, and is also the best cook in this fictional dimension of Jackson, Mississippi. She has five kids and a drunk of a husband, and was formally the help for Miss Hilly’s mother until she did something with a pie, which subsequently got her fired.

                Worried and out of work, Minny struggles to find work because Miss Hilly has lied and told all of her friends that Minny is a thief so no one will give her a job. She ultimately has to take the work Aibileen found for her, which is working for Miss Celia. Since Celia has married Miss Hilly’s old boyfriend, Hilly won’t talk to her and says bad things about her when she isn’t around. Since Miss Hilly’s lies have not reach Miss Celia, it is the only work Minny can obtain.

                Miss Celia is a pretty, busty blonde from the country with little brains and cooking capabilities, yet she is sweet at heart. She eagerly hires Minny and offers her double the pay she had previously, but with a catch. Miss Celia doesn’t want to tell her husband that Minny will be helping her out around the house. This intensely troubles Minny because she does not want Mister Johnny to come home to a colored woman in his house and kill her. She angrily states in the book, “’And what’s Mister Johnny gone do if hecome home and find a colored woman up in his kitchen?...I’ll tell you what he’s gone do, he’s gone get that pistol and shoot Minny dead right here on this no-wax floor’”. (Stockett 43)

 Though Minny states that she is going to leave if Miss Celia doesn’t tell her husband, she ends up taking the job anyway. When she shows up for work, Minny realizes that the house is a lot messier than she thought. It’s actually kind of funny when she attempts to clean a grizzly bear. “White people. I mean, I’ve cleaned everything from refrigerators to rear ends but what makes that lady think I know how to clean a damn grizzly bear?” (Stockett 50)