(Lee, 153-154). In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one of the characters, Calpurnia, is an aged, African American worker that Atticus respects. In this book, she resides in Alabama during the 1930s, when there was still segregation. Despite the completely contrasting perceptions from other African
Moreover, Calpurnia’s confidence in her identification of rabies, and therefore racism, is demonstrated with the repetition of the word “know”, which furthermore illustrates Calpurnia’s abilty to recognize rabies and the extended metaphor of racism. Next, after Tim Johnson is shot and killed, Atticus, the narrator’s father, states: “Don’t go near him, he’s just as dangerous dead as alive” (159). Atticus’s words reflect his views on racism: the danger never truly dies or goes away. Even when the original generation of slaveholders died off, the hateful and damaging race-based power dynamic they created lives
Calpurnia, as a Negro herself is even intimidated by Lula’s approach towards Jem and Scout: “ ‘Don’t you fret,’ Calpurnia whispered to me, ‘but the roses on her hat trembled indignantly’ ” (Lee 119). It is evident that when Lula taunted the children and Calpurnia, it
Calpurnia believes in equality and breaks the Jim Crow laws. Although, forbidden by Lula, Calpurnia brings Scout and Jem into the black church. Calpurnia wants everyone to be treated fairly and respected for who they are. Moreover, Calpurnia proves the Jim Crow law by being educated and capability to develop skills like the white. Being “in command of two languages” allows to mix in with white and black.
Calpurnia was a black woman, who work for the Finches. Although the Finches treated her very friendly, but that didn’t mean she was equal to them. For example, when she is talking to Jem she had to add titles along with his name, “ Hush your mouth,sir ! When you oughta be hangin’ your head in shame you go along laughin- If Mr.Finch don’t wear you out, I will-get in that house, sir !”
so it is noticeable that she acts and talk “properly” unlike other typical African Americans in the society of Maycomb. The children, Scout and Jem, notice her change of dialect when she is around black people to white people. Calpurnia is not like other African Americans because she changes her dialect and slang to fit in with the crowd she is talking to whether they are white or black to
Atticus Tries to Destroy Power Imbalance within Races In Harper Lee’s award winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, an imbalance of power is shown between different races as portrayed through Calpurnia with her trials of being black and the unfairness of the Tom Robbison case with the implausible theory that he assaulted Mayella Ewell. Atticus uses his power as a white male to try to protect others and can be seen as a Marxist lens. Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem, was at dinner discussing the issue of Braxton Underwood despising black with the Finch family. Calpurnia, their African-American cook, was in the dining room helping set up for dinner, she later exited into the kitchen. Aunt Alexandra takes this opportunity that Calpurnia wasn’t in their present to scold Atticus for
At school, Scout nearly starts a fight with a classmate named Cecil Jacobs after he declares that her “daddy defends niggers” (Lee, 74). Scout being too young to fully understand this statement automatically denies it. Atticus, who has been asked to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman has received many controversial remarks on his take of the case. Although Scout does not initiate the fight with Cecil, her “fists [a]re clenched and [she is] ready to let [them] fly” (Lee, 74). This depicts another one of Scout’s un-ladylike reactions because the ladylike response would be to simply ignore the boy and to remain prim and proper.
In addition, a majority of the white population in this novel may believe that black people do not have a proper way of life and that their behaviours are inadequate for their standards. However, Atticus allows Calpurnia to essentially raise his children, which shows that he knows she is capable of doing a good job even though she is a different race. He overcomes several possible prejudices and treats her as a part of his family, rather than as an outsider. He behaves ethically by treating her as an equal and appreciating all of the things that she has done to help Scout, Jem, and their home. Another prevalent situation in which the theme is reflected is when he explains to Jem and Scout, “As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.”
‘Well if that’s all it is, why did Calpurnia dry me up when I asked her what it was?’” Scout doesn’t understand the sheer weight of what rape essentially is, and Atticus doesn’t help with giving a humane or tender response. Despite Atticus’s clinical and cold explanation, she is still able to understand the terrifying act of rape. Continuing on, throughout Tom Robinson’s trial, we see Scout’s opinions and views change on Robinson. Scout’s biases subconsciously lead her to believe that Robinson is just another insignificant black man going to jail, however at the end of the trial we see her humanity.
In the 1930s, it was typical for whites and blacks to not interact. Many people in Maycomb consider those who intermingle with blacks and whites as outcasts. Calpurnia lives something similar to a “double life.” Even though society expects the two races to be separate, Calpurnia spends time with the Finch family, who are white, and her own family, which is black. When Calpurnia spends time with both groups of people, Scout referrers to her as “having command of two languages” (167).
The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, takes place in an old time in the south that would be unreal in the actions and everyday life to society today. One example of how this occurs is when a passage notes “for Calpurnia rarely commented on the ways of white people” (13). Since Calpurnia is black this shows that there is racism and segregation going on at this place and time suggesting that To Kill a Mockingbird takes place before the civil rights movement sometime around the early 1900s. This book takes place in the southern racist state of Alabama. The text states that “Maycomb, some twenty miles east of Finch’s Landing, was the country seat of Maycomb country.
Correspondingly to figurative language, Lee also uses diction is to imply a message about racism and justice in Maycomb County. The "inflexible and time regarded code" of society was that, while, white individuals could utilize and even endeavor African-Americans, there could be no individual relationship between African-Americans and whites and no acknowledgment that African-Americans had the same responses and emotions as white individuals. Furthermore, there was an obnoxious assumption "that all Blacks lie, that all Blacks are essentially indecent creatures". “Despite the fact that Calpurnia is a female, Aunt Alexandra neglects her great work as a result of her race” (Lee p.129). The Court trial is described by Lee with strong diction in
The “dirty 30s” was not the time to be a farmer. The Great Plains were very unpredictable when it came to weather and natural disasters. Farmers were constantly battling against mother nature’s tragedies. Because machinery was not very advanced farmers and ranch hands spent numerous laboring hours in their dying fields. Crop prices also plunged to an ultimate low during this time.
In the dramatic, heartfelt, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee implies that race does not define who you are as a person, a theme that radiates throughout the book. Lee describes Calpurnia, an African American woman, as someone who is responsible, on top of things. She comes of to readers as someone who is trustworthy and takes pride. On the morning that Calpurnia took Scout and Jem to church with her following Atticus’ leaving, she made sure the kids had nice, clean clothes. “She put so much starch in my dress it came up like a tent when I sat down She made me wear a petticoat and she wrapped a pink sash tightly around my waist.
