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Essays systemic racism in films
Essays systemic racism in films
Depiction of blacks in films
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Since their mother pasted away, Atticus seems to not know what to do with the children. Due to this, he hires Calpurnia. She acts almost like the mother figure who dresses Scout. She also disciplines the children and attempts to teach them proper manners. Toward the end of the story, due to life threatening events, Atticus’ becomes closer with his children.
Calpurnia is a good mother figure. When Jem does not want to play with Scout anymore, Cal comforts her and says she can spend time with her. She keeps them clean and cares about them. Before Cal took them to her church she made them “soap all over twice and drew fresh water in the tub for every rinse” (Lee, 156). She even says “I don’t anyone sayin’ I don’t look after my children” (Lee, 157).
She was hired to be the Finch’s families cook but she had put more into that job then required, she built a close relationship with these kids over the years of her working there, she became a parental figure to them. This was not very common in this time because most families had mom and a dad and if a white family both were white and if it were a black family both were black. Calpurnia was a black worker and was the closest thing the kids had to a mom in the family. During the time of preparation for the trial Atticus was gone a lot and was not able to take the kids to church one Sunday, Calpurnia decided she would take them to her church.
Calpurnia is originally just a cook and somebody to help take care of the kids in the beginning of To Kill A Mockingbird, but as the book continues she grows a relationship with the kids and takes on a motherly role for them. “Calpurnia bent down to kiss me”. Lee -. Calpurnia is now seen as a mother figure throughout the novel, she constructively criticizes Scout and Jem and assists the kids and to substantiate that they learn from their mistakes. Towards the end of To kill a Mockingbird, Calpurnia seems to have less condensation which can show that Scout and Jem are growing up and are both having a coming-to-age moment.
Humility, one of the best virtues to have, gets used in many characters. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee valued humility and incorporated it into the positive characters of the book. She showed many people with non who acted like fools. Then she also had many characters who demonstrated it. She displayed the value of having humility and some of the best characters known for it today come from her book.
Calpurnia is Jem and Scouts mother figure, because their mother died due to a sudden heart attack. Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to her church, First Purchase, and introduces them to the fact that not all black people are bad people. She shows courage because it’s nerve racking to bring 2 white children to an all black church. Calpurnia says, “I don’t want anybody sayin’ I don’t look after my children” (Lee pg. 118). Calpurnia takes pride in Jem and Scout and shows a massive amount of courage taking these children to her type of life, and to her church.
The message Calpurnia was trying to get across was that although Walter might be poor, you should not treat him like he is something less. Since Scout is young, she fails to understand this lesson in the moment, but realizes this later on in the novel when she is an adult reflecting back at how everything has impacted her. Atticus also teaches Scout about courtesy. This is a big part of the novel because she understands this lesson as she
And that is when she did not tell her father about how she felt about having Aunt Alexandria in her life. “I could have made several answers to this: Cal’s a girl, it would be many years before I would be interested in boys, I would never be interested in clothes… but I kept quiet” (Lee 180). Here in this quote you can tell that Scout is thinking why aunt Alexandra had to come stay with them, when Calpurnia is there. She is starting to have knowledge and think about how things are going to
Calpurnia serves as an amazing role model and mother figure to the children, and yet Aunt Alexandra wants to fire her. She had raised Jem and Scout, and plays an indispensable part of their lives, showering them with discipline, structure, and love. Aunt Alexandra, however, barely existed in the children 's lives up until she moved into the Finch’s home, yet she inflicts great injustice on Calpurnia by failing to recognize the necessitous part of the family that Calpurnia fills. Scout even overhears Aunt Alexandra saying, "...you 've got to do something about her. You 've let things go on too long Atticus, too long.
In this quote we see that Calpurnia already acknowledges the perspectives of the people around her; she is trying to teach both scout and
Calpurnia is an ideal influence for Scout’s coming of age moments. She teaches Scout the importance of manners, and treating people with respect. When Walter Cunningham comes to eat lunch with Scout and Jem one day, Scout
Calprina is another mother figure in scout life, she cook’s for the family, and try to show Scout the right from wrong: “It was then that Calpurnia requested my presence in the kitchen. She was furious, and when she was furious Calpurnia’s grammar became erratic. When in tranquility, her grammar was as good as anybody’s in Maycomb. Atticus said Calpurnia had more education than most colored folks. When she squinted down at me the tiny lines around her eyes deepened.
These two characters throughout the story taught Jem and Scout lessons that would help them later on in life. Atticus was a father figure, and a defense attorney, he was a trustworthy man and kept his word. Calpurnia a mother-like figure was Jem and Scout’s housemaid. She treated the children as if they were her own. She made sure they ate and had nice, and clean clothes to wear whenever school started.
Calpurnia is seen both by Atticus and the reader as more than just a housekeeper and a cook; she is a part of the family and fills in the role of a mother to Jem and Scout by helping raise them alongside Atticus. Atticus deeply cherishes Calpurnia’s efforts of taking care of the children. With her doting attitude, yet, strict disciplinary, Calpurnia treats both Scout and Jem as she would her own children. Furthermore, this following quote proves that fatherhood is indeed an arduous and burdensome role as Atticus says these following words. Without Calpurnia by his side, Atticus would have found fatherhood even more of a demanding role without a wife by his side to help support and take care of the family, as well as raise his children to grow
Thus, whilst slightly unconventional, Calpurnia has a distinct role in teaching the Finch children respect and responsibility. In conclusion, Atticus Finch and Calpurnia are contrasting characters with the same purpose in To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus maintains a fair, wise character throughout the novel, in comparison to Calpurnia's cogent, blunt personality. What brings them together is how they set the correct example for and give life lessons to Jem and Scout.