Examples Of Calpurnia In To Kill A Mockingbird

In the novel, Scout, Jem, and Scout’s older brother, are looked after by Calpurnia, their black foreign housekeeper. Although Scout shares her difference with Calpurnia, she serves as a mother figure for the children since their mom died when they were younger. She is respected and revere by Atticus, who acknowledges the Calpurnia is highly educated. Thus far, it is speech that separates the black community from the white. Scout and Jem attend Calpurnia’s church; Scout notes that Calpurnia adopts a different type of speech when she communicates with her fellow churchgoers “That Calpurnia led a modest double life never dawned on me. The idea that she had separate existence outside our household was a novel one, to say nothing of her having

Tom Robinson is accused of raping a young white woman named Mayella Ewell. The Ewell family lacks education and money, which represents the lower class. As the oldest child, in the Ewell family Mayella becomes a mother figure for her younger siblings. Furthermore, the novel implies that Mayella is involved in an incestuous relationship with her father. Atticus represents justice and morality, whereas Bob Ewell represents ignorance and racial prejudice. As a result, Bob Ewell’s full name is Robert E. Lee Ewell, named after the general who commanded the confederate army. The name plays a significant role considering the confederate army represented southern slave states and they’re right to expand slavery, thereby reinforcing Bob Ewell’s racism. For Tom Robinson, we learn quickly as the novel progresses that he is convicted based purely on the colour of his skin. Earlier in the novel, Scout relates that Atticus views the Ewell Family as “a disgrace to Maycomb for three generations” (Atticus, 30). However the Ewell’s are a white family, they hold a higher social status. During the trial, it implied that Mayella seduces Tom Robinson, her father, Bob Ewell observe in dismay that his daughter would share intimate feelings for a black man. In addition, Bob Ewell’s reaction to his daughter kissing Tom Robinson shows the fear of miscegenation. Atticus, yet, still strives for justice. Atticus explains the ugly truth to Jem and Scout “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Atticus, 220). Furthermore, Atticus makes it clear to his children that racism exists “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is