Maycomb Miranda Mixner Have you ever wondered how people's words or actions will affect someone in the long run? In the book To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, the main character Scout and her brother Jem live in a town called Maycomb. The town of Maycomb is a small neighborhood where everybody knows everybody. But every town has its peculiarities. Down the street from Scout and her family, there is another family known as the Radley’s. Within this family, there is one boy that sticks out the most, Arthur “Boo” Radley. Boo likes to stay in the house and never leave. This is strange to the town because everybody is very social and likes to be outside. Since everybody likes to be outside and socialize, people's actions have an effect …show more content…
The three people that shaped Jem and Scout to the people that have become is Atticus, Miss Maudie, and Calpurnia. The first person that really shapes Jem and Scout to the kind of people that they will become is Atticus. Atticus is their father. He is a very wise man that has a lot of insightful advice for his two children. One quote that really stuck out to me and I thought was really insightful was “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Atticus gave this advice to Scout after she has a really bad day at school with a new teacher. He tells her this so maybe she won’t get upset if she thinks about the situation from the teacher's perspective. I think this shows that Atticus is really influencing Jem because he is trying to make her grow up some and realize there are two sides to every story. The second reason that I believe that Atticus shapes Jem and Scout to the people that they will become is when he tells them that they need to respect Boo Radley’s privacy. The reason that I believe this really shapes them is because they don’t actually listen to him when he says that. When …show more content…
In the beginning chapters Scout and Calpurnia’s relationship isn’t that great, they mostly just talk when need be. Scout refers to her as a “... tyrannical presence... Our battles were epic and one-sided. Calpurnia always won, mainly because Atticus always took her side.” This quote shows that they didn’t have much of a relationship, but the little that they actually had they spent it arguing. But later on in the book once Scout and Calpurnia’s relationship begins to flower, she slowly begins to realize that Cal is both a friend and role model. Once they have a good relationship Scout begins to look at Cal more as a second mom than anything. The second reason that Calpurnia influences them is because when Walter Cunningham first came over for dinner at their house, Scout insulted Walter when he was pouring molasses all over his food. Walter is poor and his family is very poor, and to make his food flavorful, he has a habit of pouring molasses on his food to improve the taste that his food has. Scout isn’t used to seeing people act in this way, so she found this odd. Cal then yelled at Scout to stop judging Walter and to stop being mean and tells her to try to see people's perspective before judging them. The last reason is that Calpurnia is a truly loving person and she cares for Scout. She does the same thing with Jem, and with any other person who is honest.
Calpurnia is strict, respected, and a motherly figure to Jem and Scout, and teaches the reader that being respectful and having a good role model does not depend on skin color. Calpurnia is strict. Calpurnia punishes the kids, she does this to make sure that Jem and Scout are both making good choices. In chapter twenty-one, Jem, Scout, and Dill sneak to the courthouse to watch Tom Robinson’s trial, when Calpurnia gets there, she scolds Jem for taking the kids to watch a trial that is unsuitable for children: “Mr. Jem, I thought you was gettin’ some kinda head on your shoulders- the very idea, she's your little sister!
Another reason for the kids being afraid, is Boo stabbing his father with scissors. This lead to Mrs. Radley screaming at the top of her lungs, which alerted the whole town. His father did not wish to send Boo to jail, and decided to keep him at home, never letting him go outside. Finally, Boo has been locked up in his house due to his family living a secluded life. The Radley family is rarely seen around Maycomb, and practice religion at their house rather than go to church.
The message Calpurnia was trying to get across was that although Walter might be poor, you should not treat him like he is something less. Since Scout is young, she fails to understand this lesson in the moment, but realizes this later on in the novel when she is an adult reflecting back at how everything has impacted her. Atticus also teaches Scout about courtesy. This is a big part of the novel because she understands this lesson as she
This quote shows Calpurnia in her wrathful righteousness, and shows that she is respectful towards people that are different. It is likely that Calpurnia has witnessed how people treat those who are different, and doesn’t want Scout to be one of those people. This quote is important since it teaches us more about Calpurnia, and shows us where Scout gets her lessons from. Quote #
Boo is shy and reserved to himself, he doesn’t leave his house and he’s still judged as a monster under false accusations. Boo is passionate about observing. I say this because Boo doesn’t leave his house he observes from inside and stays aware of the things happening around him. Staying in his house away from people and observing is just Boo Radleys way of life. “Having been so accustomed to his absence , I found it incredible that he had been sitting beside me all this time, present.’
Calpurnia is an ideal influence for Scout’s coming of age moments. She teaches Scout the importance of manners, and treating people with respect. When Walter Cunningham comes to eat lunch with Scout and Jem one day, Scout
Scout presents external conflict when she forms tension around the room as she makes a remark about Walter. In the event that she made a remark about Walter, it not only affected Walter himself but to Atticus and Calpurnia. With Scout’s intention, she obviously did not know how people would react to her comment. “Atticus shook his head at me again. But he’s gone and drowned his dinner, I protested.
If not for the major characters, the minor characters have played an equally important role in Maycomb with their contrasting views. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is mainly about Jem and Scout growing up under the difficult situations created in Alabama during The Great Depression. Stereotypes and discrimination are major problems in Maycomb. Scout and Jem Finch are raised by Atticus, with the help of Calpurnia, their maid. In the first part of the book, Scout, Jem and Dill are fascinated by Boo Radley because of the rumors they hear about him, and they try everything to make him come out of his house.
Harper Lee and Tate Taylor contend that those who do not fit into society are misunderstood and often have different realities. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in 1935 in Maycomb, a Southern American town where everyone attends church and socialises with people within their social hierarchy. However, the Radleys isolate themselves from Maycomb by not going to church and worshipping at home. Furthermore, the Radley’s house doors and shutters are always closed, which is “another thing alien to Maycomb’s ways.” As a result, the Radley’s do not fit into Maycomb societal standards.
Calpurnia is Jem and Scouts mother figure, because their mother died due to a sudden heart attack. Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to her church, First Purchase, and introduces them to the fact that not all black people are bad people. She shows courage because it’s nerve racking to bring 2 white children to an all black church. Calpurnia says, “I don’t want anybody sayin’ I don’t look after my children” (Lee pg. 118). Calpurnia takes pride in Jem and Scout and shows a massive amount of courage taking these children to her type of life, and to her church.
To Kill A Mockingbird Essay Throughout the book “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Jem and Scout learn about respect from many different people. Such as, their father Atticus, Mrs Dubose who is a morphine addict, and Tom Robinson who is a respectable black man, on trial for a crime he did not commit. Jem and Scout learn about respect from their father Atticus. Atticus is a prime example of a respectable man. He stands up for what’s right, and for what he believes in no matter what other people think.
Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem and Scout 's perception of courage drastically changes their behavior as they mature. They learn a lot about courage throughout the novel from their father Atticus and what they learn from him influences their choices and opinions. Although Jem is older than Scout, they both experience change in their behavior. At the beginning of the novel, Jem is still a young boy. He is defiant towards Atticus, he plays all the usual childhood games with Scout and Dill, and he engages in the younger children’s obsession with Boo Radley.
Throughout the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, the readers can see how Scout changes her view about Boo Radley. Because of their nosiness, Jem, Scout, and Dill try to drag Boo out his house and to the outside world. Their innocent actions combined with Boo’s actions changed the image of Boo, in their minds, from “a malevolent phantom” (10), a person who kills cats and eats squirrels to a neighbor they can trust, who saves them from Bob Ewell. Scout says at the end, “Boo was our neighbor” (373). The readers can see a great change in their relationship.
I can see that Atticus tries to lead Scout in the right direction. Atticus also has a very different way of treating Jem. Atticus treats Jem different by always having an eye on him. Jem is always getting in some sort of trouble so Atticus always has an eye on his next move. Another way Atticus treats Jem different is by the tone in his voice.
In the opening chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird one character introduced who is strikingly interesting is Calpurnia. Calpurnia is considered a mother figure for Jem and Scout; always getting onto them is they misbehave. We observe this when Scout says “she always ordering me out of the kitchen, asking why I couldn't behave as well as Jem.” Calpurnia also respects others no matter their origin or race. This is portrayed after Scout scorned Walter for pouring molasses all over his food.