One example of Aibileen's bravery is when she takes Mae Mobley out to her (meaning Aibileen's) bathroom, which is outside the house in the garage. She does this so that Mae Mobley can see how she, Aibileen, uses the toilet. Aibileen knows that she could get in trouble for bringing the young child out to the what is called the "colored bathroom" (page 95), but Aibileen does so anyway because she wants to encourage Mae Mobley to use the toilet. Aibileen's first thought is how to help Mae Mobley, even though she could get in trouble for bringing the child, who is white, to her bathroom.

In addition, Aibileen starts opening up to Skeeter about her life. As Aibileen says, "I find myself telling her how Treelore never made below a B+ or that the new church deacon get on my nerves because he lisp. Little bits, but things I ordinarily wouldn't tell a white person" (97). It's brave for Aibileen to open up to Skeeter, as whites are in a far superior position in novel, and she has to trust that Skeeter will not share what she says with other whites who could punish Aibileen for speaking out against racism and against the maids' shoddy treatment by the white women who employ them.

Aibileen is also brave when she decides to walk home by herself after her bus driver tells all colored people to get off the bus (193). Later, Aibileen finds out that Medgar Evers, the field secretary for the NAACP, has been shot. A man asks her if she wants him to walk her home, but she bravely makes her own way home. Her walk home is symbolic of her ability to bravely find her own way in dangerous times.