Breaking Standards in Society in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Kathryn Stockett's The Help and William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Since Calpurnia is so caring and good to the kids, they look at her as more than just the cook, they look at her as if she was a second mother. One day while Atticus was away for the day Calpurnia decided to take the kids to the all-black church with her. When she showed up with Jem and Scout she was getting nasty looks and comments from some of the other church-goers. She just ignored then and led the kids into the church. When church was let out and they began their walk home. This shows that Cal is caring enough to take the kids to church, knowing ahead of time that the other church members were not going to be happy. On their way home Scout asked if she could go visit Calpurnia at her home one day. Calpurnia responded with, “Any time you want to. We’d be glad to have you” (Lee 168). This also shows that Cal is willing to open her house for them anytime they want to come. Due to Calpurnia’s strong opposition to race, the kids aren’t racist. They don’t care about skin color, they want justice for all. Another example of her caring is the time Tim Johnson, the rabid dog, came down the street and headed right towards their house (Lee 123). The kids ran to get Calpurnia and she took

Anthony Storr says that, “Originality implies being bold enough to go beyond accepted norms “ Social norms imply that everyone is the same or does something the same way, to break that you need to go out of your comfort zone and be bold enough to break those norms. Although it is very common for there to be social norms in society, when someone breaks one it can be the very first step to making the world a better place.

Literature is the window to realizing the negatives of society and how destructive certain norms can be. Readers are brought into a completely different story than their own, but by using similar issues in today’s world, the readers can actually learn from the story and its overall message. All writers write for a purpose, whether it’s for a new meaning to life, to live a different life than our own, or to impact others on an emotional level by teaching them to see the importance of the little things. As a reader, you search for pieces of literature that interest you whether you find the story like your own, or wish you lived the life in the story. By using issues in today’s within their works, authors are able to grab the reader's attention long enough for them to get across what they wanted to get across. Often in many works of literature, writers use societal issues as their basis for the work’s themes and symbols. By doing so, this allows the reader to question the morality behind social norms and how impactful certain ideals can be in people’s lives.

Though Calpurnia and the people involved in Calpurnia’s life are greatly impacted, Jean Louise Finch, a.k.a. Scout, deals with more confusion and frustration brought on by racial discrimination. During a day at school, Scout encountered Cecil Jacobs and his ignorant mind. “Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting any more… I soon forgot. Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defends niggers”(Lee 99). Scout did not realize what this meant, but she was hurt by it any way. Scout is affected by a copious amount of racism, she just has no clue what is zipping around her. When she confronted Atticus about him defending Negroes, he said of course he does, and to not use

Scout is a very judgmental girl who is quick to judge people if she feels they are different or not what Scout is used to. Growing up as an African-American woman in the 1900’s Calpurnia is used to the harsh judgments of many. Calpurnia makes sure that Scout is accepting of all people no matter their ethnic background. She enforces the importance of being accepting to all on their visit to the black church, “"It's right hard to say," she said. "Suppose you and Scout talked colored-folks' talk at home it'd be out of place, wouldn't it?

Throughout the novel of To Kill a Mockingbird Calpurnia has shown her love a quality of both skin colors. Calpurnia is a black women that works for the Finches which the Finches are white. She treats them with respect and they treat her with the same amount of respect. “Why do you talk nigger-talk to the- to your folks when you know it’s not right?” Jem said. “Well first I’m black,” Cal said. “Well that doesn’t mean you hafta talk that way,” Jem replied (Lee 172). Jem said that to Calpurnia and she answered back by saying a racist comment that because she is black she can say that kind of stuff. In addition, Aunt Alexandra is the one person that is not a big fan of her. “...You’ve got to do something about her,” Aunty was saying (Lee 136). “Alexandra, Calpurnia’s not leaving this house until she wants to,” Atticus said (Lee 137). She works for the Finches and she loves them dearly and so do they. LAstly, Calpurnia has showed her love for all skin colors throughout To Kill a Mockingbird.

Scout and Jem were taught by Atticus to respect black people and the reader sees this through the children’s relationship with their black house maid, Calpurnia. They listen to and obey Calpurnia and they treat her as if she is part of the

Even though black people makes lousy reactions to white children who Calpurnia brought, she keep acts calmly torse them. When Jem and Scout went to the First Purchase African M.E Church “Calpurnia walked between Jem and me, responding to the greeting of her brightly clad neighbors” (Excerpt

Society makes judgements and has certain expectations for each person. These expectations that are given dictate how people should live, act, look, and where a particular person is as far as status. Everyone is affected by society whether they welcome society or are completely against the expectations. Those who are against the expectations of themselves often find that they are not associated with as much or are judged by others for the fact that they do not follow the standards made for them by society. Society affects people in so many ways and is shown through books, magazines, and all other forms of media. Some of the forms of writing that portray society’s expectations are The Crucible, The Scarlet Letter, and Of Mice and Men.

In the novel “To kill a mockingbird” written by Harper Lee the theme of discrimination and mistreatment based off race was portrayed through several characters throughout the novel, Scout and Jem , are cared for by Calpurnia, their black housekeeper. Although Scout occasionally disagrees with her, Calpurnia acts as a mother-figure to jem and scout. She is respected by Atticus, who recognises that Calpurnia has an education. It is the way of speaking that creates a boundary between the black community and the white. When jem and scout go to Calpurnia 's church service, Scout notes that Calpurnia embraces a different way of speaking when she is communicating with other churchgoers: “ Calpurnia led a modest double life never dawned on me. The idea that she had a separate existence outside our household was a novel one, to say nothing of her having command of two languages”. Although Scout and Jem find the concept that Calpurnia speaks two different “languages” difficult to understand, Scout has a great admiration and respect for Calpurnia for being able to grasp both languages.The trial of Tom Robinson demonstrates many counts of racism. Tom is prosecuted for raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. The Ewell family lack education and financial stability, voicing the lower class. As the oldest of eight children at 19 , Mayella becomes a mother figure and role model for her seven younger siblings. In addition , the novel implies that Mayella is in an incestuous

On a Sunday morning in Maycomb County, Scout and Jem accompany Calpurnia as her guests to a service at her home church, defying expectations and looking deeper than the normal rules. The reader then understands the other side of racism and while rules may be set, they can always be looked past for a positive impact. Lula, a fellow member of First Purchase, halts Calpurnia in her path to announce that Caucasians are not welcome. Calpurnia then states that “...It’s the same God, ain't it?” (Lee 158), and while Scout and Jem may not

"”(Harper Lee-Page 138) This quote limits what the reader knows because based on the setting in the church it shows that there is racism going on and Calpurnia explains to Scout and Jem that it would be out of character to speak to white folks the way colored folks speaks since white people talk more proper. Scout experiences that the colored people can not speak as a white person would because they are not as educated as most of the whites;This symbolizes racism,and this limits what the reader knows ;Since Scout finds out that colored folks would be out of character to speak to a white person like that,Which shows the reader that there is racism

• Calpurnia’s act of courage shows when she takes Jem and Scout to First Purchase African M.E. Church. In my point of view I think Calpurnia did a courageous act because not knowing what could happen to Jem and Scout she still took the risk of taking them. Once they got there a member from First Purchase African M.E. Church named Lula disliked them because they were white “Lula stopped, but she said, ‘You ain’ t got no business bringin’ white chillun here – they got their church we got our’n.’’(119) This quote shows courage as well as prejudice. It makes the kids feel unwelcome and make them want to leave.

By observing Scout’s visit to Calpurnia’s church, the reader gains insight on the African-American community. While Calpurnia prepared Jem and Scout their outing, she made sure to confirm multiple times that they were aware of what to wear and how to act. By doing so, we can tell that while Calpurnia is willing to expose the Finch children to the heart of the black community, she is very wary of how the people of her church will react. The first person to directly address Scout and Jem was Lula. She claims that it was very out-of-line for Calpurnia to bring white children to a black church. Despite the discomfort posed

Firstly, the kids in To Kill a Mockingbird are expressed as mockingbirds. "Cal...Why do you talk nigger-talk to the--your folks when you know it's not right?" (Lee ). Sout asks Calpurnia. Scouts curiosity and naiveness towards the cruel adult matters of society come to show that she is clueless and innocent towards them shown when scout asks Calpurnia about her ‘folks’. Another example would be scouts appearance during the lynch mob. “Hey Mr. Cunningham. How's your entailment gettin' along?...I go to school with Walter...and he does right well. He's a good boy” (Lee ). Scout being so young does not understand the reasoning of the lynch mob and notices Mr. Cunningham within the crowd and starts conversation with him not realizing that