The young daughter of Elizabeth Leefolt, Mae Mobley loves her maid, Aibileen, more than her actual mother. Due to her mother’s negligence, Mae Mobley lacks self-confidence, but Aibileen tries to instill in her the belief that she is good and valuable. Mae Mobley is too young “see” race—she doesn’t form judgments based on the color of people’s skins—but Aibileen worries that her mother will soon teach her to see black people as inferior to white people. Aibileen successfully teaches Mae Mobley that there is no inherent difference between black and white people other than skin color. Mae Mobley internalizes this lesson and passes it on to her little brother, Ross.
Mae Mobley Leefolt Quotes in The Help
The The Help quotes below are all either spoken by Mae Mobley Leefolt or refer to Mae Mobley Leefolt. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7
Quotes
I want to yell so loud that Baby Girl can hear me that dirty ain't a color, disease ain't the negro side of town. I want to stop that moment from coming – and it come in every white child's life – when they start to think that colored folks are not as good as whites.
Related Characters:
Aibileen Clark (speaker), Mae Mobley Leefolt
Related Symbols:
Bathrooms
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 34
Quotes
I walk out the back door, to the terrible sound a Mae Mobley crying again. I start down the driveway, crying too, knowing how much I’m on miss Mae Mobley, praying her mama can show her more love. But at the same time feeling, in a way, that I’m free…Freer than Miss Leefolt, who so locked up in her own head she don’t even recognize herself when she read it. And freer than Miss Hilly. That woman gone spend the rest a her life trying to convince people she didn’t eat that pie. I think about Yule May setting in jail. Cause Miss Hilly, she in her own jail, but with a lifelong term.
Related Characters:
Aibileen Clark (speaker), Hilly Holbrook, Elizabeth Leefolt, Mae Mobley Leefolt, Yule May
Related Symbols:
Minny’s “Special Ingredient” Pie
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Help LitChart as a printable PDF.
Mae Mobley Leefolt Character Timeline in The Help
The timeline below shows where the character Mae Mobley Leefolt appears in The Help. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...seventeen white children in her life and now she helps raise one more: the 2-year-old Mae Mobley Leefolt. Miss Elizabeth Leefolt, the 23-year-old mother, feels little love for her child, even avoiding...
(full context)
...bed. When the money started to run out, she took a job raising the newborn Mae Mobley . The death of her son makes Aibileen feel as if a “bitter seed” is...
(full context)
Chapter 2
...wanting to a build a separate bathroom that they can’t afford. Awoken by the shouting, Mae Mobley comes out from her room. Before leaving, Mister Leefolt yells that Miss Leefolt is squandering...
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...outdoor shelter for cars consisting of a roof held up by poles). Inside the house, Mae Mobley tries to get Miss Leefolt’s attention while she’s on the phone. Mae Mobley pulls the...
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Chapter 6
...move away. Aibileen gets tense and says that she didn’t quit – she was fired. Mae Mobley starts to cry and Aibileen rushes out to avoid having to answer any more questions...
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Chapter 7
...her daughter for not eating in her high chair, Aibileen decides that she will tell Mae Mobley “something good” about herself everyday. Mae Mobley is old enough to begin toilet training but...
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When Miss Leefolt comes home, Mae Mobley runs to Aibileen’s bathroom to show her mother her new skill. Horrified, Leefolt slaps Mae...
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While shopping at the white supermarket with Mae Mobley , Aibileen runs into another maid and friend who tells her that two white men...
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Chapter 14
...wouldn’t want to go to a school full of white people, would you?” Not wanting Mae Mobley to grow up hearing her agree with Miss Hilly, Aibileen says she wouldn’t mind if...
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Chapter 15
One afternoon, Mae Mobley asks Aibileen to tell her a story before her nap. Tired of reading her the...
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...child to the fancy country club. Miss Leefolt brings Aibileen so that Aibileen can watch Mae Mobley . Miss Leefolt doesn’t belong to the club because she can’t afford membership. Aibileen thinks...
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Chapter 22
On Mae Mobley ’s third birthday, Aibileen prepares her a special breakfast while Miss Leefolt is off getting...
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The day after Mae Mobley ’s birthday party, which Aibileen wasn’t invited to, Miss Leefolt receives an irate phone call...
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Chapter 23
Aibileen tells Mae Mobley a “secret story” about a wise alien named Martian Luther King who looked like a...
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Chapter 29
From the kitchen of Miss Leefolt’s, Aibileen watches Mae Mobley plays with her newborn brother, Ross, who is only a few months old. Mae Mobley,...
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Chapter 31
...differently, Aibileen realizes that Leefolt must not know that the chapter is about her. When Mae Mobley comes home crying a few days later, she tells Aibileen that her teacher yelled at...
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Chapter 34
At Miss Leefolt’s, Mae Mobley is playing with her little brother Ross, still only a few months old, in her...
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...write a lot of letters in jail that could do Hilly a lot of harm. Mae Mobley , who is sick with a high fever, runs out and tells Aibileen not to...
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