G-Calpurnia Mother Figure

I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and I am on page 207. So far this book is about how Jem is very ashamed of his father because he cannot do the things other parents can do. Jem is also harassed by Mrs. Dubose about his dad defending Blacks. He then has to read to her for a month as a punishment for flipping a switch and tearing her yard apart. Aunt Alexandra also comes to live with the Finch family for a while and Dill runs away from his new father and returns to Maycomb. In this journal, I will be evaluating. G- Calpurnia is a better mother figure than Aunt Alexandra Y- Calpurnia is a good mother figure R- Kids clearly enjoy her presence R- She acts like a mother (explaining things, looking out for the kids) Y- Aunt

Calpurnia is displayed as a better mother figure than Aunt Alexandra in the story. Calpurnia’s presence in the Finch home is clearly enjoyed by the kids. When Aunt Alexandra wanted Calpurnia out of the house, Atticus calmly explained that the children love her and she is unexpendable in the Finch house. Calpurnia also takes care of them and explains various things that the children do not understand like a good mother would do. Often times in the book, Aunt Alexandra is inferred to be an inferior mother figure to Calpurnia. She talks about the kids not acting up to the standards of the family behind their backs and puts Atticus up to lecturing them about their downfalls. Aunt Alexandra also disapproves the kids’ clothing and activities, but especially Scout. She scowled when she told Scout to come inside to talk with some neighborhood ladies and she was muddy. She says that before long, Scout will start acting, dressing, and behaving more like a lady. The kids clearly do not like their Aunt around, as they have said many times just her presence makes many days gloomy. Based on the evidence from the book, Calpurnia is a better mother figure than Aunt

The kids are ashamed of their dad because he does not do things that other “cool” dads do. The kids are further ashamed when Miss Maudie says he plays the Jew’s Harp and is more obviously shown when Atticus says he is too old to play football and when he says he hates guns. He refuses to teach them to shoot their new air-rifles. Then, amidst all of this talk of having an embarrassing dad, he is handed a rifle from a police officer to shoot a mad dog. Jem almost fainted from the thought of his dad shooting a gun. The officer said that he was not a skilled marksman compared to Atticus and it showed, as Atticus shot him and Tim Johnson did not know what hit him. According to Miss Maudie, Atticus was the deadest shot in the county back in his day. After realizing what a talented shooter for a father they have, the kids, and especially Jem, are not so ashamed of Atticus’ uniqueness from other kids’ fathers. Calpurnia also has two sides to her. When at home, Calpurnia talks like the rest of the family does and seems to fit in perfectly with everybody in the home. While at church, as the kids experienced, Cal started talking like all of the Black folks. Cal said she would be out of place when with her peers at church and elaborated that the children would also be out of of place at home if they talked like colored folks. In conclusion, people are not always who they seem to