How Does Calpurnia Influence Scout's Upbringing

The strong African American women in To Kill a Mockingbird is Calpurnia, or Cal. Even though Cal is the cook/maid of the Finch household, she plays a stronger role. Since Scout’s mother passed away when she was very young,

She is too young to understand and thinks that if something is out of the ordinary, she has a right to say it out loud. Her perspective is the perspective of an innocent child. Her view is different because she hasn’t learned before that what she said to Walter is considered rude. What she sees as right, the other people at the table see as wrong. Atticus and Calpurnia have a very different perspective on what happen. Calpurnia takes Scout into the kitchen and tells her that “He is yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table clothe you let him”. Calpurnia sees that what Scout did was rude. Walter is their guest and he should be treated properly. Walter does not have as much as them and to treat him like that was unkind. Scout then immediately thinks that Calpurnia is out for her because she sees that nothing she did is wrong. Scout is too young to understand why she was wrong. Calpurnia sees that what she did is rude and impolite. Atticus agrees with Calpurnia in a way and tries to teach her a lesson about what happened. One of his main lines in the book is “You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in

Calpurnia does not seem who she seems to be because she has a life other than being a cook for the Finch family and She treats Jem and Scout as her kids. Calpurnia has a life because she has a son named Zeebo, She goes to church every Sunday at First Purchase African M.E. Church. Also, she has a life because she does not live with the Finch family but lives in her own house. Also, she is not who she seems because she treats Jem and Scout as her kids. She treats them as her own kids by making them clean up good for church. “If Calpurnia had ever bathed me roughly before, it was nothing compared to her supervision of that Saturday night’s routine,” (Lee 134). This is important because it shows that Cal wanted Scout to be nice and clean for church the next day. When they get to church she acts like they are her own by defending them, when they are confronted by Lula and when they sit

One of the key elements to the success achieved by “To Kill a Mockingbird” is the focus on racial issues. Racism in the context which the novel is written was not even frowned upon, it was a social norm that was practiced by all classes of society. In the novel, Scout and Jem, Scout's older sibling, are cared for by Calpurnia, their black maid. In spite of the fact that Scout imparts her disparities to Calpurnia, Calpurnia fills in as a mother-figure for the kids. She's loved and regarded by Atticus, who recognizes that Calpurnia is educated. However, it is discourse that isolates the dark group from the white. Whenever Scout and Jem go to Calpurnia's church, Scout takes note of that Calpurnia embraces an alternate discourse when she speaks

Calpurnia, Miss Maudie, and Atticus teach valuable lessons to Scout about how to treat other people, to accept different perspectives, and to maintain self-control; furthermore, these lessons Scout learns are still useful since they can be taught to some people today who experience

The Change in Female Roles “In the late 1955, a quiet, courageous woman named Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man on a crowded Montgomery city bus... In Montgomery, segregated city buses were a constant reminder of inequality”(Birmingham Civil Rights Institute). In the 1930’s, women were bound by strict expectations from society and treated as inferior by men, thankfully today, women are respected for their differences and valued for their independence. Calpurnia is a mother-like figure in Scout and Jem’s lives, and she is the role model who teaches Scout that being a woman can be a positive thing.

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.’” Even though Calpernia has few lines in the story, everytime she talks to Scouts she shows her wisdom about social and real life topics. She shows Scout a lesson in this text because she explains the importance of the way you talk, and what to say and what not to say to

Towards Jem, we see instances in Calpurnia in which she almost seems soft. For example, after Jem wrecks Mrs. Dubose’s camellia, and the kids were skulking around, Calpurnia knew Jem was upset, and gave him a hot biscuit-and-butter. One may argue this is the beginning of a change in Calpurnia, but we may look at it as Cal just being a mom. One can refute the argument of change that Scout is just beginning to see the good side of her and why Cal does what she does. She has already gone through the phases with her own children, and know how it is herself growing up. In the middle of To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem is starting to grow up and is becoming a teenager. This is evident by Scout’s overwhelming frustration with Jem in the quote, “His maddening superiority was unbearable these days. He didn’t want to do anything but read and go off by himself.” (Lee 184) Calpurnia, being the experienced mother/caregiver she is, had seen that, and started giving Jem his space, and started calling him “Mister Jem”. Scout realizes Calpurnia is not as bad as she once thought. Scout realizes Calpurnia can be nice when given the chance.

To begin, the Cunningham family occupies a critical role in showing kindness throughout the story. While the family may not show compassion to others in the early scenes of the book, the behaviors of others influence them. Near the start of the story, Jem and Scout invite Walter over to the Finch home for dinner, during which Scout begins to taunt Walter for pouring syrup all over his food. When Calpurnia sees this, she pulls Scout aside and gives her a lecture that reads, “Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny, and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty!” (29). This moment in the story serves as a reminder to

After Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to church, she tells them, “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, 1960, p. 167). This statement Calpurnia tells to Scout and Jem proves in Maycomb she has no right to having one life. She either has to act more smart and sophisticated, or she must act like her friends and family in the black community. Calpurnia having to go back and forth between lives shows the readers the way most African American woman had to act to be able to fit in without being discriminated or treated unequally by others.

Calpurnia was at the household of the Finch’s all day until Atticus took her home at night. She was a great influence to Jem and Scout, she basically took the role of Mrs. Finch as their mother. Aunt Alexandra, a sister to Atticus Finch, was also slightly a mother figure to the children. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, Mrs. Finch died when the children were young, but if she was there, things would have been different and Calpurnia and Aunt Alexandra wouldn’t have had such an influence to the children.

Calpurnia showed Jem and Scout that it’s okay to talk/act different around different people. For example, when Calpurnia was in church with Scout and Jem and talked “different”, she said that it was okay how she talked around those people and she wasn’t changing that (126). I support Calpurnia in this decision because although Scout and Jem saw it wrong and misdemeaning, she did what she thought was right and stood up for it.

Calpurnia helps Scout become more lady like by using manners and teaching her how to treat others. For example “ Yo folks might be better than the Cunninghams but it don’t count for nothing the way you're disgracing them” (Lee 33) Calpurnia teaches Scout proper manners when she corrects scout for thinking that she is better than Walter Cunningham. Calpurnia Also teaches scout to be respectful. For example “ There’s some folks who don't eat like us, she whispered fiercely, ‘ 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 31). Calpurnia is like a mother figure to Scout and Jem. She taught scout proper manners and how to treat others with respect. Without Calpurnia Scout wouldn't act very lady like. In the example this is scout’s first lesson on being respectful to others who are different. Therefore without Calpurnia Scout wouldn’t learn how to respect and sympathize with others who are

On the other hand, Aunt Alexandra faced a different but common obstacle, prejudice. Since prejudice was ubiquitous, Aunt Alexandra demonstrated maturity when she became more accepting of others especially Calpurnia, Boo and Scout. Aunt Alexandra, Scout and Jem’s caretaker, had some difficulties interacting and talking around people who were a different race or a lower social or economic class. When Aunt Alexandra first met Calpurnia, the African-American maid who worked in the Finch’s house, she despised her and all of her actions. No matter what Calpurnia did or what she said, she could not please Aunt Alexandra. However, later on in the novel, Aunt Alexandra developed a more accepting attitude towards Calpurnia. She allowed Calpurnia to serve the children dinner. This shows how much Aunt Alexandra has grown to be more accepting of other races and not be prejudice. Not only does Aunt Alexandra accept Calpurnia for who she is, but she also learns to accept Scout. “She brought me something to put on, and had I thought about it then, I would have never let her forget it: in her distraction, Aunty brought me my overalls” (Pg.264).

Though Calpurnia and the people involved in Calpurnia’s life are greatly impacted, Jean Louise Finch, a.k.a. Scout, deals with more confusion and frustration brought on by racial discrimination. During a day at school, Scout encountered Cecil Jacobs and his ignorant mind. “Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting any more… I soon forgot. Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defends niggers”(Lee 99). Scout did not realize what this meant, but she was hurt by it any way. Scout is affected by a copious amount of racism, she just has no clue what is zipping around her. When she confronted Atticus about him defending Negroes, he said of course he does, and to not use