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Tom Robinson's Color In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Set in the mid-1930s of the Great Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird opens with the setting of historic and rigid Maycomb through a brief description of the town's history, provided by Harper Lee. It is prevalent through Lee’s storytelling that there is a significant relationship to how one's past can greatly determine the standing in society in one’s present and future. It is because of Scout's family history that both she and her relatives are considered to be “well off.” However, the same can not be said about more than half of the characters in the novel. Tom Robinson, a man who stands convicted of a crime he did not commit, is put on trial simply due to the color of his skin. Throughout the novel, he is shown as a character who is constantly …show more content…

After Calpurnia (the Finch’s family maid) had returned with both Scout and Jem from her church, Scout asked her father if he would grant her the joy of returning there for the upcoming Sundays. With no hesitation, Aunt Alexandra replies in Atticus' place with a firm ‘no.’ Scout throws a minor fit, but quickly overcomes it and leaves the room. She overhears the two adults discussing Calpurnia and Aunt Alexandra's unhappiness with her as the maid. Atticus strongly disagrees and adds logical reasoning while clarifying to Aunt Alexandra by professing “...I don’t think the children’ve suffered one bit from her having brought them up. If anything, she’s been harder on them in some ways that a mother would have been… she’s never indulged them the way most colored nurses do,” (137). In this passage, it is apparent how Aunt Alexandra does not approve of Calpurnia's ways of raising the children because she believes that as a colored nurse, she is overstepping her boundaries. Atticus proclaims he would never unemploy Calpurnia because she is an important asset of the family and her loyalty has always been unwavering. Aunt Alexandra eventually relents, however, it is indisputable that she is bothered by Calpurnia’s presence and her power in the Finch

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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.

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Calpurnia is the cook at the Finch household, but she acts more like a nanny than just a cook sometimes. She is an African-American woman and cares very much for the children. Atticus Finch is the father of Scout and Jem Finch, whom Calpurnia looks after. Calpurnia and Atticus are both loving of the children and quite wise. They both understand how things work in the world around them.

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In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the character Calpurnia is a valuable member of the Finch family and is vital to their well-being. The first instance this is seen is when Calpurnia supplies Scout with some much need discipline after she had been rude to Walter Cunningham at the dinner table. Calpurnia tells Scout: “That boy's yo' comp'ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear?”

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The-one-and-only Calpurnia from To Kill A Mockingbird fills that void in Scout’s life, fulfilling the maternal role in her life. The biggest maternal influences Calpurnia provides Scout with is the ability to to be an involved caregiver , the ability to guide and educated her , and the ability to teach her to be a tough and poised woman. Sometimes, Miss Maudie and Aunt Alexandra are seen as being stronger influences against Calpurnia but it is not a valid argument. The author’s portrayal of Calpurnia proves her to be a mother to Scout in several different ways including the care, patience, and skill, shown in the book.

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Tom Robinson would have lived if it were not for the citizens of Maycomb. This situation is shown by the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which is set in the 1930s in Maycomb, Alabama. Tom was charged with raping a 19-year-old woman named Mayella Ewell. Through this trial, the different social standings of white and colored people make themselves known. Tom was given an unfair trial simply due to people’s beliefs that they are unwilling to change.

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Calpurnia distinguishes when to pomp kindness and harshness to the children. She helps Atticus with disciplining the kids and helps around the house. Despite the Negro stereotype of being imbecilic, she portrays insight on how to live a double life as a civilized Negro. “It’s not necessary to tell all you know. It’s not ladylike-in the second place, folks don’t’ like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do.

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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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Not being as well-known as 1930's but are still continuing their tradition. Calpurnia is Atticus Finch's slave and istreated very well by the Finch family. She is clothed, fed and housed and when asked to dosomething is asked politely. Today this treatment of kindness and understanding is also used;although there is no slavery any more. During the book, human behaviour varies from person to person.

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Unable to satisfy this center in her lower mindset, Aunt Alexandra accepts Scout for who she is and achieves a higher or growth mindset. By giving Scout the same overalls that Aunt Alexandra has once hated, Aunt Alexandra displays that she is satisfied with Scout and is not constantly trying to change her into a person who she is not. After Atticus tells the family about Tom Robinson’s death, “Aunt Alexandra [sits] down in Calpurnia’s chair and [puts] her hands to her face” (ch.24; 236). Instead of creating a separation between

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She believes that the way they act is a result from Calpurnia being such a major part of their life. Alexandra tries to tell Scout that she is not allowed to go to Calpurnia’s house, Scout quickly objects saying how she asked Atticus, not Alexandra. Atticus scolds Scout telling her she has to listen to both Alexandra and Calpurnia, but later in private politely talks to Alexandra about how he believes Calpurnia should be in the kids lives. He is polite and calm, setting down a rule while still respecting Alexandra, even if he does not believe what she is saying (Lee 106). His politeness shows that he is not racist, he is a very understanding person, not someone that would put someone in a backseat to be

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Aunt Alexandra does not believe that Calpurnia is a good enough role model for Scout. She thinks she is best for Scout, which shows that she doesn’t think that Atticus can properly parent and guide Scout to womanhood. “She was an incurable gossip” shows that she thinks a certain way and is outspoken. She doesn’t care enough to hide her feelings and not talk about people. “When Aunt Alexandra went to school, self-doubt could not be found in any textbook, so she knew not its meaning” and Lee was able to show that Aunt Alexandra grew up nothing nothing else but being taught that you must be confident and and have no self

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Essay In the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, there are many important messages shown throughout the book. However the primary focus was set on racial prejudice that existed in the 1930s-1940’s in the fictional town of Maycomb County. The racism in the novel was very much a reality in 1930s-1940s America. A very good example of the racial prejudice that existed was in the courtroom during Tom Robinson’s trial, an innocent Negro man held against his will for a crime he did not commit.

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754 Words | 4 Pages

Tom Robinson is a black man who is wrongfully convicted of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. This novel goes through Scout's life from when she was 6, till she is 9. She lives in the town of Maycomb Alabama, and lives an innocent life until about halfway through the story, where she begins to ask questions. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout shows the readers that racial inequality creates an unjust society through the African American community, through the people surrounding colored folks, and through Tom Robinson’s Case. The first example of the consequences of racial inequality is the African American community in Maycomb.

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1244 Words | 5 Pages

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us about the town of Maycomb County during the late 1930s, where the characters live in isolation and victimization. Through the perspective of a young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, readers will witness the prejudice that Maycomb produces during times where people face judgement through age, gender, skin colour, and class, their whole lives. Different types of prejudice are present throughout the story and each contribute to how events play out in the small town of Maycomb. Consequently, socially disabling the people who fall victim from living their life comfortably in peace. Boo Radley and his isolation from Maycomb County, the racial aspects of Tom Robinson, and the decision Atticus Finch makes as a lawyer, to defend a black man has all made them fall in the hands of Maycomb’s prejudice ways.

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1095 Words | 5 Pages

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.

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