Examples Of Calpurnia In To Kill A Mockingbird

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. This will be explored in greater detail throughout this essay.

In Chapter 1, the author describes Calpurnia from Scout’s point of view as harsh and unfair, but it is inferred that, because Scout is a small child whom Calpurnia is reprimanding, Calpurnia really does care what happens to the children and how they behave. Lee writes from Scout’s perspective, “Our

He cares more for teaching them the ways that the world works around them. Atticus explains to Scout, “We are [poor] indeed. Not exactly [as poor as they]. The Cunninghams are country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them hardest.” (15). He goes on to tell Scout that the doctors and lawyers and such workers are poor because the farmers are poor, explaining how economics play out in Maycomb county in words that Scout’s child-like mind will understand. Atticus holds almost nothing back from Scout in terms of what is going on and why things play out the way they do, and even less from Jem. He only ever tells them that they aren’t old enough for it if what they are asking is either vulgar or offensive to another person. He does this to protect the children from growing up too fast, so they can live as children as long as possible. I suspect he does this because he probably knows what it’s like to come to a hard realization of the not-so-great parts of life happening around him. One example of this that is told in the book, which is probably the most awakening event, is the death of his

For example, in the scene where Calpurnia finds out where the children are the day of the trial and walks into the court room to speak to Atticus then almost drags the children out, shows on Atticus’ part care for not wanting them there witnessing the trial, and on Calpurnia’s part being so furious that they disobeyed an order because she wants them to be able to understand why they were supposed to stay home. Calpurnia doesn’t remain as calm as Atticus when the children misbehave and doesn’t have as many words of wisdom, but she sure does want what’s best for the children. For example, when she takes the children to her church one Sunday, she knows to dress them in their very best, because the people there will already not accept white children, but if they are dressed poorly, they will shun them, and Calpurnia, entirely. This shows that she knows not to make them afraid of socializing with African-Americans, but she knows to make sure they know to be careful, because not everyone is as accepting of the other race as they are. She may not be able to put them in the right path all the time, but she sure can knock them off the wrong path when she sees them going down