Skeeter is surprised to learn that Lou Anne may not be like the rest of the Southern white women. She does not flatter herself to think her book has changed anyone's mind in Jackson, but she does feel relief that she no longer has to sit with Hilly and Elizabeth and pretend she agrees with them. Her isolation is lonely, and even though she is happy with her new found truth, she is frustrated with how stuck she feels. When she receives a job offer in New York, she does not feel she can take it and leave the impending mess Hilly is planning for Aibileen and Minny alone. Ironically, it is Aibileen and Minny who tell her she must go because her future in Jackson is over. Skeeter's sacrifice brings her final reward.