From the beginning of their relationship, Minny senses that Celia is different from other white women she has known. Minny says, "Miss Celia, the way she stares at me with those big eyes like I'm the best thing since hairspray in the can, I almost rather she'd order me around like she's supposed to" (page 49). Unlike other white women, Celia isn't used to having African-American maids help her, and she is truly grateful for Minny's help.
As time goes on, Celia and Minny become more like friends than like an employer and maid. When Celia has a miscarriage, Minny is there to help her, and Celia asks her, "What should we do about it?" (page 233). Though Minny does not like being pulled into Celia's problems this way, she becomes complicit in hiding the fact of Celia's miscarriage and resulting blood loss from Celia's husband, Mister Johnny. Celia and...
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Minny's relationship changes because they share the secret of Celia's miscarriages--a secret that not even Celia's husband knows at this point of the novel.
By the end of the novel, Celia and Minny are friends. Minny knows that Celia will never fire her, even if another white woman like Hilly asks her to do so. Minny knows that she can trust Celia and that Celia feels more indebted to her than she does to the other white women in the community, who have only treated Celia and Minny with contempt.
In The Help, how does Celia and Minny's relationship change throughout the story?
The relationship between Miss Celia and the outspoken Minny Jackson is especially engaging in the way that it evolves throughout the course of the novel. Miss Celia does not adhere to the same social norms that her peers adopt; indeed, she treats Minny more like a friend and confidant than hired help. Interestingly, Minny does not appreciate Celia’s attitude as she initially considers Celia ignorant and backward. In chapter 17, Celia asks to eat with Minny, which Minny sees as incredibly unusual:
“’But why? I don’t want to eat in there all by myself when I could eat in here with you,’ Miss Celia said. I didn’t even try to explain it to her. There are so many things Miss Celia is just plain ignorant about” (Chapter 17).
Minny does not trust Celia because she is white, and Minny is accustomed to being mistreated and degraded by her white employers. Indeed, she forms an uneasy relationship with Celia that eventually blossoms into genuine friendship. The two women help each other with major life events. Minny helps Celia through her miscarriage and her ostracized position within high society while Celia accepts Minny without judgment and is there for her when she decides to leave her abusive husband Leroy. Thus, their relationship is molded through these major events, and despite their initial relationship as employer/employee, they go on to develop a deep and sincere bond as friends.