Calpurnia Differences In To Kill A Mockingbird

Racial barriers and divisions, people who defy the stereotypes, and different views on the matter of race are all prevalent throughout Maycomb County and the story; a firm grasp and level of understanding different perspectives accounts for the type of person a character is. The primary outlier in “To Kill a Mockingbird” is the Finch household’s cook and housekeeper, Calpurnia. On page 27 in chapter three, Scout narrates, “Atticus said Calpurnia had more education than most colored folks.” Throughout the novel, we also see Calpurnia using language similar to or at least oriented towards that of white people. On the same page, Scout also recognizes, “... and when she was furious Calpurnia’s grammar became erratic. When in tranquility, her grammar was as good as anybody’s in

When Jem talks about “Hot Steams” (ghosts who are unable to reach heaven), Scout firmly states, “Don’t you believe a word he says, Dill. Calpurnia says that’s nigger-talk.” When a typical colored person would hear the words “nigger-talk,” they would most likely be offended as it is derogatory towards the actual way they talk. However, Calpurnia uses this term freely because she has learned to accept both sides of the racial division. In part, she may have used the term specifically to Scout because the Finches are a white family. Calpurnia would probably not use the term “nigger-talk” at her own church or in her separate community but seems to have no problem using it to Scout to allow her to understand better. In this way, she is very intelligent in that she manipulates her own words to match them with the way the person she is speaking to would best understand. Calpurnia knows this term is more commonplace in conversations with white people, takes her understanding of this opposite perspective, and has to think about what she will say to