“Yo’ folks might be better’n the Cunninghams but it don’t count for nothin’ the way you’re disgracin’ ‘em if you can't act fit to eat at the table you can just sit here and eat in the kitchen!” This is just one of the many examples Calpurnia sets for the children. Calpurnia is the Finch’s cook but she takes her role in the children’s life more seriously. She acts as parent; constantly teaching the kids lessons about life and race. She serves as a bridge for Jem and Scout between the white and black communities. Calpurnia could be the mother Jem and Scout never had because she is wise, caring, and patient with the kids. Wise is just one of the many characteristics that describe Calpurnia. Calpurnia explains the difficult parts of life and the complications in the racist county of Maycomb, Alabama. She puts real-life situations that the kids experience into easier context for them to understand. Calpurnia is wise when it comes to how you should treat people. When Scout and Jem brought Walter Cunningham, a boy who suffers from financial issues, home for dinner and Scout made fun of him for putting syrup on his dinner, Cal dragged her in the kitchen and said, “Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny, and don’t let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you so high and mighty,” (Lee 33). This shows that Cal knows how to treat everyone fairly and equally. Scout went back into the kitchen, sat quietly, and finished her dinner. Another example of her wisdom is when Calpurnia was telling the kids that she taught Zeebo, her son, how to read. She said, “Yeah, Mister Jem. There wasn’t a school even when he was a boy. I made him learn though” (Lee 166). This shows that Cal... ... middle of paper ... ...edicament. Jem and Scout benefit greatly from this trait because as the book goes along, they learn how to talk out their problems and not jump to conclusions. They also learn to see the whole problem through. Calpurnia works for the Finch’s and she cooks for the Finch’s, but Jem and Scout look at her as more than a person who works for them. They look at her as if she is one of the family. She is a good guardian and she is a great role model for the kids. Together, she and Atticus will raise the kids so they can grow up to be just as respectful and well-mannered as their role models. Calpurnia is like the silent hero in the background, she is quiet, but powerful. She positively affects the kids’ lives in ways that they will never forget. All in all, Calpurnia proves that she is fit to be the kids’ second mother with her wisdom, care, and patience.
In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the author shows that Calpurnia and Miss Caroline play a big part in Scout’s early education. Calpurnia and Miss Caroline both differ in their methods and aim. Calpurnia is an African American maid for the Finch family. She had more education then most people and she is like a mother towards Scout. Scout never liked Calpurnia very much because Calpurnia always complained about her behavior. Calpurnia aim and method of teaching is to be disciplined and humble. Calpurnia wants Scout to know the right and the wrong. For example, when Walter Cunningham was comes over for dinner, he drowns all of his meal in syrup, and Scout was angry. However, Calpurnia called her to the kitchen and said, “He ain’t company, Cal, he’s just a Cunningham-” “Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo‘ comp’ny, and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty!”
Calpurnia is the Finch housekeeper. However, she is much more to the family. She acts as a mother figure to Jem and Scout as she practically raised them after their mother’s death when Scout was two years old. Along with Miss Maudie, Calpurnia is a strong, positive female influence in Jem and in Scout’s life. She is corresponding to Atticus in her lessons of politeness and compassion. For example, when Walter came home for dinner, and proceeded to pour maple syrup all over his meal, Scout made fun of him to the point of total embarrassment. Calpurnia told Scout, “There’s some folks who don’t eat like us,” she whispered fiercely,” but you ain’t called on to contradict’em at the table when they don’t. That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear?” “He ain’t company, Cal, he’s a Cunningham- ““Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty! Yo’ folks might be better’n the Cunningham’s but it don’t count for nothin’ the way you’re disgracin’ ‘em – if you can’t act fit to eat at the table you can just set here and eat in the kitchen!” Calpurnia sent me through the swinging door to the dining room with a stinging smack.” (Lee, page 26-29). Calpurnia’s moral lesson here is to respect
Atticus teaches his children many valuable lessons. The most prominent of these is of understanding things from different perspectives. Atticus believes “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. This self belief is a message to his children of what Atticus preaches most, understanding. The children get many chances to apply this message in their everyday life. Scout does not understand this fully until the end of the book, after Boo Radley saves her and Jem’s life, after a freak encounter with Bob Ewell. Jem and scout had always misjudged...
He treats all people of Maycomb fairly including his African-American maid, Calpurnia. In fact, he treats her like family. When his sister complained about living with Calpurnia, Atticus stood up for her saying “She’s a faithful member of this family and you'll have to accept the way thing are”. African American maids were not treated kindly but, Atticus saw through her race and thought of her as family. He even stood up for her against his own sister, teaching his kids to treat everyone fairly despite the color of their skin. Scout then takes her father’s lessons into account when talking to Mr.Cunningham. In the midst of the lynching mob, Scout greets Mr. Cunningham. She says “Hey Mr.Cunningham! How's your entailment?”. She remembers that “Atticus said it was polite to talk to people about what they were interested in” and applied the lesson when talking to Mr.Cunningham. Atticus also stays calm in the face of disrespect. Throughout the book, Atticus receives disrespectful comments about him and his family because of the case and tells Scout to keep her head up and not let them bother her. Staying true to his word, he stays calm when Mr.Ewell cussed at him and intentionally spat on his face. After Mr.Ewell spat, “Atticus didn’t bat an eye, just took out a handkerchief and wiped his face… And let Mr.Ewell call him names”. Atticus does not lose his temper and handled the situation
Throughout all those years as the kids were growing up, Calpurnia has shown and given an immense amount of love and support towards the children, just as a mother or a motherly figure should. Atticus sees her as a faithful member of the family, and he refused of letting her go when Aunt Alexandra suggested firing her. In addition, Atticus trusts Calpurnia with the children; he trusts that she will look after them and cook them food when he is not able to. Calpurnia and Scout have grown closer as Scout grew up because often times Jem would exclude her. For instance, when Jem became close to his teenage years, he would act out often and tell Scout what to do. Scout burst into tears after one argument where Jem told her that she ought to start acting more like a girl. As a result, she fled to Calpurnia, where she offered to keep Scout company whenever she needed: “...so you just come right on in the kitchen when you feel lonesome” (131). Also, Scout stated how Calpurnia seemed glad when she appeared in the kitchen. This shows how Calpurnia is always loving and supportive when Scout needs a shoulder to cry on, and how Calpurnia cheers Scout up when she’s not having the best of days. Besides from making Scout and Jem meals everyday, Calpurnia demonstrates exceptional mothering towards Scout on a daily
When Atticus takes Calpurnia to Tom Robinson's home, she has to sit in the back seat so as not to appear as Atticus's equal. She does not eat at the same table with the Finch family although she has been a part of it since Jem was two. She is clearly loved by the family but by no means is she their equal.
To start, Aunt Alex tries to get rid of Calpurnia. In addition, Alex also orders Calpurnia around like a servant. For example, when Alex first moves in with Scout, Jem, and Atticus, she commands, “Put my bag in the front room Calpurnia.” (169). Even though Calpurnia is technically a servant, nobody in the Finch household ever treated her like a servant Calpurnia. Throughout the book Harper Lee shows that Calpurnia does all of the cleaning, cooking, and gardening around the house, so Calpurnia does not deserve such sass from Alex. The way Aunt Alexandria treats Calpurnia adds on to the list of injustices in To Kill a
As previously mentioned, the point of view in this narrative is from Scout. Her upbringing has been respectful to the African-Americans in her society and she shows this with her relationship with her maid, Calpurnia. Other children her age have adopted their parents' racially prejudice views, causing her of many problems. Atticus's lawsuit seems to isolate his children and Scout is taunted with remarks in the playground. Her only retort is violence and Atticus, as an virtuous father, does not condone this behaviour either: "My fists were clenched I was ready to make fly. Cecil Jacobs had announced the day before that Scout Finch's daddy defended niggers."
Growing up in Maycomb In the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird, there are three main themes: Growing up in Maycomb, Racism, and Courage. In chapter one through ten, it talks about Jem and Scout spending every summer with Dill, it also talks about how Jem grew closer to Dill and started to leave Scout out of their activities. On page six of the novel , Growing up in Maycomb they believe that there was ”Nothing to fear but fear itself’. Maycomb was a town where you could sit on your porch with peace, and everyday door was open on Sunday Maycomb seemed to be hotter back then, people also moved slower then. Scout and Jem seemed to love growing up in Maycomb ( they had their down times) they seemed to have a decent life especially with a father like Atticus . Atticus was a straight forward man who did everything for his family. Atticus was a lawyer for the town ; for the most part loved him. He believes that everyone deserves and a fair chance , somehow he mad growing up in this small town easy for the kids. Calpurnia, the cook, also made growing up easy for the kids. Cal is a Negro woman that came to the house every day to cook and clean for the family .She plays a mother role in the novel. Jem and Scout’s
By utilizing character foil between Aunt Alexandra and Atticus, Lee was able to illustrate a contrast within the white society. In order to show how a typical white person would behave during that time, Lee introduces Aunt Alexandra to portray how most white people would act in Maycomb. “You all were coming back from Calpurnia’s church that Sunday? (Lee, 1960, p. 222)” This quote exemplifies how Aunt Alexandra is always discriminated against black people. She was shocked to hear about Jem and Scout going to black church with Calpurnia. While Calpurnia is portrayed as a well-mannered person who acts like a mother to Scout and Jem in this novel, Aunt Alexandra looks down on Calpurnia, because she was born with different skin color. In response to Calpurnia’s action, she told Atticus, “...you’ve got to do something about her... (Lee, 1960, p.224)” to discrete herself and to prevent Calpurnia from being in the same social class as her. While Aunt Alexandra symbolizes as a racial prejudice in this novel, Atticus is one of the characters that represents both a...
Scout tried to explain this to her teacher, Miss Caroline, but got in trouble. Scout was so angry she rubbed Walter’s nose in dirt. Jem invited Walter over for dinner and Scout made a remark that made Calpurnia furious. She told Scout, “That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat the table cloth you let him, you hear?” (32). Scout went on to say how just because he is a Cunningham he was not company. Calpurnia became even more furious and raised her voice and said, “Yo’ folks might be better’n the Cunninghams but it don’t count for nothin’ the way you’re disgracin’ ‘em” (33). This lesson was important because Scout learned just because you might be better than someone or have more does not mean you should act like it. Calpurnia gives the talks and is there for both children just like a real mother would be. Miss Maudie is another Maycomb citizen who is an important role model for Jem and
First of all, contrasting the book, the movie never shows or hints to the scene where Jem and Scout go to Calpurnia’s church with her. It can be seen that the respect directed at the Finches by the blacks grows throughout the story as Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, a black man. However, it is also made known that not every black person has respect for the Finches. The importance of the church scene shows both of these statements to be true as many people in Calpurnia’s church don’t mind having Jem and Scout, white children, around; they even welcome them. The other side of the coin is shown when Calpurnia has to defend the children when she gets into a bout with Lula while having Jem and Scout at the church. It also seems as though some characters have been left out of introduction such as Reverend Sykes, who is the preacher at Calpurnia’s church. The director of the movie rejected this scene since there is an alternative instance of black people d...
Scout does not heed Atticus’ advice in Chapter 4 of To Kill a Mockingbird, as she continues to express her biased hatred for Calpurnia, and also openly contradicts Jem, without considering the perspectives to which they are taking. As stated by Harper Lee, “...Calpurnia’s tyranny, unfairness, and meddling in my business had faded to gentle grumbling of general disapproval (45)”. This quote expresses the many ways Scout thinks of Calpurnia, a great many of which as terrible and controlling. This biased description of Calpurnia shows how Scout is still unable to understand why Calpurnia consistently disciplines her, and from what standpoint she is doing so. Also stated by Lee, “Jem stamped his foot. “Don’t you know you’re not suppose to even
Jem can be seen as knowledgeable from Scout’s eyes as he matures. Scout thinks to herself, “In addition to Jem’s newly developed characteristics, he had required a maddening air of wisdom” (Lee 155). As Jem matures, Scout notices Jem’s sudden intelligence that he never had before. Along with his sudden wisdom, Jem also becomes moody and often gets irritated easily by Scout’s actions.
The main section of Scout’s heroic acts is when she walks Arthur Radley home. This is a major part in the novel because prior to this Maycomb thought Arthur was a freak and a Murderer. For Scout to have the courage to befriend Radley is a massive step in the right direction. In this scene Scout risked a couple of things which proves her heroism. She risked her reputation which is the big one. Because she walked ‘Boo’ home, there was no doubt that she was being judged by the people of Maycomb. Throughout the novel we see Scout’s character change from a feisty, aggressive and judgy girl to a kind, open minded, less aggressive girl. There are numerous people and some experiences that took part in Scout’s change. But there is one lady that did Scout a whole lot of good, her name is Calpurnia. Calpurnia is a coloured woman and she is the Finch’s housekeeper. Throughout the novel there are different examples where Calpurnia has picked up on Scout’s behaviour at school or just in the town. This i first brought to the reader's attention when Calpurnia lectures Scout on the way she treats Mr. Cunningham jr. Scout would pick on his eating habits and she even got in a fight with him at school. Swiftly afterwards Calpurnia pulls Scout into the kitchen and gives her a stern talking to. During the narrative through