Examples Of Calpurnia In To Kill A Mockingbird

Towards Jem, we see instances in Calpurnia in which she almost seems soft. For example, after Jem wrecks Mrs. Dubose’s camellia, and the kids were skulking around, Calpurnia knew Jem was upset, and gave him a hot biscuit-and-butter. One may argue this is the beginning of a change in Calpurnia, but we may look at it as Cal just being a mom. One can refute the argument of change that Scout is just beginning to see the good side of her and why Cal does what she does. She has already gone through the phases with her own children, and know how it is herself growing up. In the middle of To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem is starting to grow up and is becoming a teenager. This is evident by Scout’s overwhelming frustration with Jem in the quote, “His maddening superiority was unbearable these days. He didn’t want to do anything but read and go off by himself.” (Lee 184) Calpurnia, being the experienced mother/caregiver she is, had seen that, and started giving Jem his space, and started calling him “Mister Jem”. Scout realizes Calpurnia is not as bad as she once thought. Scout realizes Calpurnia can be nice when given the chance.

Calpurnia showed Jem and Scout that it’s okay to talk/act different around different people. For example, when Calpurnia was in church with Scout and Jem and talked “different”, she said that it was okay how she talked around those people and she wasn’t changing that (126). I support Calpurnia in this decision because although Scout and Jem saw it wrong and misdemeaning, she did what she thought was right and stood up for it.

"It's not necessary to tell all you know. It's not ladylike -in the second place, folks don't like to have someone around knowin' more than they do. It aggravates 'em. You're not gonna change any of them by talkin' right, they've got to want to learn themselves, and when they don't want to learn there's nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language.'" (Lee 126) It is clear that Calipurnia has an understanding of different kinds of people. The fact that she talks proper in the Finch home proves that she has class and respect for them. In addition, she also shows respect for the people at her church by talking like they do. She also sets an example for Scout by telling her what is ladylike.

Calpurnia was the Finch’s African- american housekeeper. She played a huge role in the parenting of both Scout and Jem because Atticus was an only father. Calpurnia helped Scout become more ladylike at the end of the novel by teaching her proper manners and edict. Scout is a hardcore

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

Calpurnia is very respectful towards others and tries to treat them generously. Calpurnia says, “‘That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear?’” (Lee 32). Calpurnia is basically trying to teach Scout a lesson about treating people in general. Although people may act weird, they can be easily misunderstood. Without Calpurnia’s help in Scout’s education, she would probably have the same reading skills as some of the kids in her classroom of whom many are illiterate. This allows Scout to increase her opportunities and branch out more. In addition, one of the biggest things that really influenced Scout was Calpurnia bridging the white and black cultures together. It might not seem like it would change much, but Scout got massive input from both cultures. When Scout goes to church with Calpurnia, She learns that the blacks are much poorer than whites. Scout also learns that many Blacks cannot read whatsoever and instead sing songs and listen. Calpurnia helps Scout dabble in some of these practices of changing her way of

Along with these stereotypes comes racism. Jem and Scout first experience racism against them when Calpurnia takes them to her church one Sunday. Another member of Calpurnia’s church berates Calpurnia for bringing Jem and Scout into an all-black church. Calpurina refuses to let berating change her mind about allowing the children to attend her church. Rather than allow the children to go home as Jem suggests, Calpurnia challenges the racism against white people and proclaims that the children are her “comp’ny” (Lee 158). Throughout the novel Calpurnia models the respect that Atticus expects his children to show. Calpurnia complies with her hospitality whenever she is given the opportunity. In his article “Race in To Kill a Mockingbird” Chris Gonzalez refers to Calpurnia’s hospitality as “a great equalizer of

In To Kill a Mockingbird Jem and Scout initially feel like they know everything there is to know about those closest to them, like Atticus and Calpurnia. As the story progresses they discover additional information the reveals more about who Atticus and Calpurnia really are. Scout and Jem spend a great deal of time with Calpurnia, and they see her as another adult figure, similar to Aunt Alexandra or Miss Maudie. When they spend more time with Calpurnia throughout the story they see that her life outside of the Finch household is very different from anything they are used to. When Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to church she starts talking differently. At home she talks as if she is educated; more like a white person. However, at church with

Calpurnia's one of the major characters in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird written in 1960. Calpurnia is a black woman who works for Atticus Finch taking care of his two children Jem and Scout. In the book Calpurnia is a nurturing figure in the kids lives, although sometimes tough she is very wise and tries to teach the kids good values. Calpurnia is nurturing because she is like a mother to Jem and Scout and she has a protective motherly instinct on the kids.

She tells Scout that it’s right to respect people who are different from them and wrong to judge them based on their status. Calpurnia gave Scout a small talk after her disrespectful behavior during dinner and said, “ There’s some folks who don’t eat like us... but you ain’t called on to contradict em at the table when they don’t….Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ company, and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty!”(33). Calpurnia teaches Scout that he should treat people with reverence and always respect their differences no matter what.

The book,¨To kill a Mockingbird¨ and ¨The Help¨ have people who really appreciate what others do for them no matter the race. By the same token, ¨To kill a Mockingbird¨ Scout, Jem and Atticus treat Calpurnia as if she was family, they don't think less of her or make her feel useless. Scout and Jem are always listening to Calpurnia's advice and are really never impolite to her and treat her as if she was more than just their maid(Lee,np).Atticus never mistreat´s Calpurnia, in all of maycomb Atticus stands out and never looks in the outside and really cares about what's inside, even though everyone else in Maycomb is very judgmental and uncivil without trying.Everyone in Maycomb feels the need to have someone that's less than them so they

Calpurnia does not seem who she seems to be because she has a life other than being a cook for the Finch family and She treats Jem and Scout as her kids. Calpurnia has a life because she has a son named Zeebo, She goes to church every Sunday at First Purchase African M.E. Church. Also, she has a life because she does not live with the Finch family but lives in her own house. Also, she is not who she seems because she treats Jem and Scout as her kids. She treats them as her own kids by making them clean up good for church. “If Calpurnia had ever bathed me roughly before, it was nothing compared to her supervision of that Saturday night’s routine,” (Lee 134). This is important because it shows that Cal wanted Scout to be nice and clean for church the next day. When they get to church she acts like they are her own by defending them, when they are confronted by Lula and when they sit

In the 1950s, African Americans were not treated with high respect and were looked very down on. You can see in the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, that African Americans were looked down upon and treated with barely any respect. Even though African Americans are being looked down upon, Calpurnia did not care about this and is disaffected by the social rules.. A quote that proves that she is rebellious against the social rules that went against African Americans is when Scout says, “She’s supposed to go around back,”… (Lee, 94). This shows that Calpurnia is disaffected by social rules because she goes to the front of the Radely’s house to warn them of Tim Johnson, because he had gone rabid, and did not care about the social rules and only cared about others than social rules. This shows that she was rebellious against social rules because she did not care to go to the back instead of the front. Another quote that shows how Calpurnia is rebellious against social rules is her saying, “It’s the same god

This was unlike how African-Americans would act during this time-period. They would have a specific way of speaking without proper grammar. This was shown by the attitude and behavior by the members in the church. During church, if Calpurnia had acted proper she would have been seen as acting like a Caucasian and seen as racist. To prevent this, she acted like everybody else.

Calpurnia gives comments in a lot of situations about everyone being equal, and she constantly reminds Scout that she should be treating people the same way no matter what they look like. When she brings the kids to the her black church, she tells them, “Suppose you and Scout talked colored-folks’ talk at home it’d be out of place, wouldn’t it?” (169). This shows how Cal is a good influence on Scout because it makes her think how everyone, no matter how they look, is equal. It gave Scout an impression that she should not judge people, which causes her to become more open minded. Other characters also had the influence of Scout becoming open minded.