Calpurnia In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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"Calpurnia sent me through the swinging door to the dining room with a stinging smack" (Lee 27). The previous sentence is one of the many actions seen by Calpurnia in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb, Alabama. The story occurs during The Great Depression in the 1930s. In this scene, Scout brings Walter Cunningham home for lunch. Scout disapproves of how Walter is eating; she makes a judgemental comment, and Calpurnia refuses to let Scout speak that way. Calpurnia is helpful and caring, playing a motherly role in Jem and Scout's life. Calpurnia plays a motherly role when saying, "I do not want anybody sayin' I do not look after my children'' (Lee 118.) Calpurnia says this when she prepares to …show more content…

She displays this by teaching Jem and Scout essential lessons. As they grow older, Calpurnia teaches them more and more about the world they live in. One of the many lessons Calpurnia teaches Scout is a different way to be more "ladylike." In chapter 12, Scout says, "She seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, and by watching her I began to think there was some skill involved in being a girl" (Lee 154). Scout starts to like being a girl after watching Calpurnia in the kitchen. Finally, Scout realizes that women are skillful because Calpurnia is good at what she does. "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 143). Calpurnia is trying to show Jem and Scout that you cannot go around acting like you are better than anyone else, and sometimes you need to talk like the other person in the situation to make things right. She tries to teach Scout to respect everyone and not to judge people and makes sure Scout is always respectful of others and thinks about her actions. "There's some folks who don't eat like us" (Lee 25). In this quote, Calpurnia is saying two things. The first lesson from this quote is not to judge people for minor differences if they eat differently from how Scout prefers. In this quote, Calpurnia also states that they are

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