Violence Quotes in The Help

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

Mae Mobley make an ugly face at me and then she rear back and bowp. She wack me right on the ear. (2.81)

After Elizabeth hits Mae Mobley, Mae Mobley hits Aibileen, whom she loves. Aibileen helps break this cycle of violence by responding to Mae Mobley's aggression with love and empathy. By the end of the book, Mae Mobley loves Aibileen so much she'd never dream of hurting her.

Quote #2

"I ain't telling, I ain't telling nobody about that pie. But I give her what she deserve! […] I ain't never gone get no work again, Leroy gone kill me… (2.119)

This line contains one of the first hints that Minny's husband Leroy beats her.

Quote #3

"Use the white bathroom at Pinchman Lawn and Garden. Say they wasn't no sign up saying so. Two white men chase him and beat him. […] He up at the hospital. I heard he blind" (7.126, 7.128)

Odd as it sounds, bathrooms and violence are intimately connected in The Help. You can read more about this in "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory."