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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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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).

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This will be explored in greater detail throughout this essay. In Chapter 1, the author describes Calpurnia from Scout’s point of view as harsh and unfair, but it is inferred that, because Scout is a small child whom Calpurnia is reprimanding, Calpurnia really does care what happens to the children and how they behave. Lee writes from Scout’s perspective, “ Our

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Calpurnia, taught her how to interact with others in an appropriate manner and respect the way people act. A specific moment of A lesson given by calpurnia, was when she 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. That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the tablecloth you let him, you hear?”(Lee,39).Calpurnia,

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Walter lived an extremely different life than Scout, and did things that were foreign and foolish to her. She did learn to respect his ways, but not until after a grand scolding from Calipurnia. After mocking Walter about eating differently than her family did Scout was called into the kitchen to have a little chat with Cal. Calipurnia’s greatest remark was this “Don’t matter who they are, anybody set’s foot in this house’s yo’ com’ny, and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty” (Harper Lee 33)!

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As their eating, Walter asks for some molasses and “drenches his plate”. Scout makes a scene, as she has not yet had her lesson with Atticus at this point in the book, but Calpurnia is there to set her straight. “That boy’s yo’ comp’ny … yo’ folks might be better off than the Cunninghams, but it don’t count for nothin the way you’re disgracin’ ‘em” (29) Calpurnia has empathy for Walter Cunningham, because she doesn’t come from a very privileged house either. She relates to him, the Cunninghams don’t have much and she doesn’t either. She is proud of what and who she has and the Cunninghams are humble and won’t take anything they can’t pay back.

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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.

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He poured it all over--” (Lee 24). What she did not understand was that his family was less fortunate than the Finch’s, and he did not get to eat like this at home. Seconds later, Scout learns one of the limits of adult patience when Calpurnia calls her into the kitchen to scold her. “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 was so high and mighty! Yo’ folks might be better’n than 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 set here and eat in the kitchen” (Lee 25).

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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.

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Calpurnia was there to teach her about society, Miss Maudie Atkinson taught Scout about family and society, and while Aunt Alexandra originally showed Scout how not to act she eventually goes onto teaching Scout about love. Calpurnia is the first mother in Scout’s life, having been with the family ever since

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Atticus stands up for Calpurnia many times however one of the first showings of this is when Calpurnia gets mad and Scout speaks of her “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” (pg.32). This shows that Atticus had taught Scout to still see Calpurnia's strengths even though she was heavily looked down on, to have integrity in their beliefs and treat her as one of them. When Scout disrespects her Aunt, it's shown once again that Atticus expects his children to respect Calpurnia “‘Let's get this clear: you do as Calpurnia tells you, you do as I tell you, and as long as your aunt’s in this house, you will do as she tells you.

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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.

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This really shows when Scout says “I returned to school and hated Calpurnia steadily until a sudden shriek shattered my resentments” (Lee 19). Scout hated Calpurnia for scolding her but throughout the novel she never really got the chance to understand why Calpurnia did this. For a while Scout was able to really love Calpurnia because as she matured and got older that was when she could really appreciate all the things that Cal has done for

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