How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I saw the way my mama acted when Miss Woodra brought her home, all yes Ma'aming, No Ma'aming. I sure do thank you Ma'aming. Why I got to be like that? I know how to stand up to people. (3.130)
Minny's mother tries to teach Minny that a non-confrontational, super-polite attitude toward white people is the best way to survive. But, instead, Minny believes in standing up for herself, sometimes at great cost.
Quote #2
"You're the smartest one in my class, Aibileen," she say. "And the only way you're going to stay sharp is to and write every day."
So I start writing my prayers down instead a sayin em. But nobody call me smart since. (2.126, 2.127)
Aibileen doesn't get another chance to demonstrate her intellectual prowess again until she's in her fifties.
Quote #3
Mrs. Charlotte Phelan's guide to Husband-Hunting, Rule Number One: a pretty, petite girl should accentuate with makeup and good posture. A tall plain one, with a trust fund. (5.36)
Like Minny, Skeeter Phelan resists aspects of the education she gets from her mother.
Quote #4
All my life I'd been told what to believe about politics, coloreds, being a girl. But with Constantine's thumb pressed in my hand, I realized I actually had a choice about what to believe. (5.84)
The lessons about love, kindness, and self-worth that Skeeter learns from Constantine give her the courage to challenge the injustices she sees in her community. We imagine that Mae Mobley would voice similar feelings about Aibileen when she gets older.
Quote #5
"You a smart girl. You a kind girl, Mae Mobley. You hear me?" And I keep saying it till she repeat it back to me. (7.27)
By teaching Mae Mobley to love herself, Aibileen also teaches her that love doesn't know skin color.
Quote #6
She tells me that I once said colored people attend too much church. I cringe, wondering what else I've said, never suspecting the help was listening or cared. (12.16)
Skeeter's journey is a journey to un-learn many of the things she's been taught.
Quote #7
But truth is, I don't care that much about voting. I don't care about eating at a counter with white people. What I care about is, of in ten years, a white lady will call my girls dirty and accuse them of stealing the silver. (17.69)
Minny wants to see practical, rather than symbolic, change. To her, voting and where to eat are symbolic things that might not translate into better lives for her kids, or how they are truly regarded.