Aibileen’s character in “The Help”

 

The movie “The Help” based on a novel offers a fascinating study of the intersections of race, gender, and class . At the heart of this narrative is Aibileen Clark, a Black domestic worker whose experiences and growth reflect those of nearly all African American women of this period. Aibileen and her extraordinary perseverance, empathy, fortitude becoming a driver for activism represent the layered struggles of systemic racism.

Aibileen is a middle-aged women employed as a domestic worker. Her job is maintaining the household and serving as the caretaker. The story introduces Aibileen as gentle and nurturing, with instinct that almost immediately send her taking on a maternal role which the biological parents seamlessly disregards. Aibileen is representative of the employees engaged black woman who spent years laboring in the white families’ homes, giving utmost domestic care when not being respected or considered equal to their white co-workers. She was so much more than an old employee in this story.

Aibileen’s character is deeply entangled with racial injustice, motherhood, and empowerment. Her experience as domestic worker underlines the intersectionality of race, class and gender. The theme of motherhood is highly relevant in the development of Aibileen’s character. Aibileen being a surrogate mother underlines the disparity between the value of her labor and lack of recognition afforded by society.

In “The Help” Aibileen is more than just a character, she stands for resilience and life changing resistance. Her story of transformation from silence to activism reflects on how individual agency and collective solidary work together in the struggle against systemic oppression. By bringing Aibileen’s experiences this movie  presents a searing critique of the confluence of race, gender and labor while honoring those who have the audacity injustice.