Skeeter begins to worry for her own safety, too, and how she might be punished by her own kind for being involved with the maids. She says that being white is no longer enough protection. The true dangers of the secret book become evident to all who are involved, but it seems only to encourage the project and make them work harder toward its completion. The maids' voices are being heard for the first time, and stopping the project would silence that voice. There is danger because there is truth, and these women become devoted to having these stories told. Truth can bring about revelation and perhaps change, which would threaten the ways of the Old South.