Preview

Calpurnia's Perspective Analysis

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
612 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Calpurnia's Perspective Analysis
Calpurnia consistently demonstrates her belief in the importance of perspective as she teaches Jem and Scout of it and interacts between the black and white community of Maycomb County. Calpurnia shows the significance of perspective to both Scout and Jem through her actions with both a young child and an adult. One afternoon, Walter Cunningham comes over for dinner and Scout makes fun of him for pouring syrup on his food. Calpurnia takes Scout aside and scolds her for being rude. Calpurnia says, “There’s some folks who don’t eat like us, but you are ain’t called on to contradict ‘em at the table when they don’t” (Lee 24). Calpurnia tells Scout not to make fun of people who behave differently. Calpurnia knows that Scout has a higher standard …show more content…
Calpurnia is attending her church with Jem and Scout one Sunday morning and as she interacts with her friends, she speaks differently. Calpurnia says, “They’s my comp’ny” (Lee 125). When Calpurnia addresses her friends, she changes the way she speaks. Calpurnia has more education than the black community, but she is not an arrogant woman and chooses to speak their way to make them comfortable. Because Calpurnia believes in the power of perspective, she speaks both black and white English depending on the circumstances since she does not want to insult anyone by acting pretentiously. As they are leaving the church Calpurnia tells Jem and Scout that only four people in her congregation can read and Jem asks if she taught her son Zeebo to read. Calpurnia replies, “Yeah, Mister Jem. There wasn’t a school even when he was a boy. I made him learn, though” (Lee 119). Calpurnia explains to Jem that since there were no schools for Zeebo to attend as a child, she taught him to read. Calpurnia was taught to read by Miss Maudie Atkinson’s aunt, old Miss Buford, and understanding the value of reading, no matter what color or race one is, she teaches her son Zeebo. From Calpurnia’s perspective, even though black people are not given the opportunity to go to school, Calpurnia takes it upon herself to teach Zeebo to read

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Calpurnia enters into the story very early on in To Kill a Mockingbird, and is an integral part in the story. She works for the Finch family as their cook and mother figure.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Calpurnia’s most kindly asset, though, is her ability to understand other people. Sometimes, from Scout’s point of view, the family cook seemed to have a sixth sense. “Perhaps Calpurnia sensed that my day had been a grim one: she let me watch her fix supper”(38). Knowing that Scout’s day had been rough, Calpurnia, with her mother-like tenderness, tried to console her the best way she knew how. Calpurnia also understood the children’s problems with each other. When Scout and Jem started to not get along as well, Calpurnia understood and was kinder to both of…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The most important lesson that the children, particularly Scout, learn is to never judge a person before you know them, something that can definitely be applied to our own lives as well. This is enunciated through the example of Walter Cunningham, who dines at the Finch’s house, following an invitation from Jem after discovering Walter did not have lunch. After witnessing Walter drench his lunch in molasses, Scout expresses her disapproval. As Scout is reprimanded in the kitchen, Calpurnia states that "Company gets treated politely no matter who they are". This is a fundamental teaching for Scout, as she realises that indeed all people deserve equality and justice. This is further emphasised through the fact that Calpurnia is an African American…

    • 162 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird", the character Scout plays an important role; Harper Lee portrays her as straightforward, abrupt, impulsive, and even just plain rude. One example of this is when Scout says, "He ain't company, Cal, he's just a Cunningham," (Lee 24) in reference to when Walter Cunningham was over at the Finch residence, and Scout disapproved of the way he ate his food, that is, with a liberal amount of syrup. This shows that she is unafraid to speak her mind. Also, it shows that she is very opinionated about classes of people, as the Cunningham boy was of a lower class than Scout's own family.…

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For example, during her first school day, Scout reflected on Calpurnia’s symbiotic cursive lessons in where she would practice penmanship in trade for snacks, “Calpurnia was to blame for this. It kept me from driving her crazy on rainy days, I guess. She would set me a writing task by scrawling the alphabet firmly across the top of a tablet, then copying out a chapter of the Bible beneath. If I reproduced her penmanship satisfactorily, she rewarded me...". Despite Scout’s clear resentment towards those lessons by this juncture due to Miss Caroline’s disapproval of such Calpurnia actually has set Scout up for success. Through these lessons and many more Calpurnia has forced Scout to operate at a higher level than what is expected for her age and grade, which prepares Scout to easily tackle future problems with maturity. The often overlooked character of Calpurnia has one of the most significant roles in the novel, considering that each time she appears the people around her like Scout Finch grow through her knowledge and…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    One of the first lessons Scout learns is to be tolerant of other people. Walter Cunningham is described as having “looked as if he had been raised on fish food… had no colour in his face… and fingered the straps of his overalls. The first line is a simile that tells us how poor Walter is because fish food isn’t regular food and humans wouldn’t be able to survive on it which means Walter must be very skinny looking, because he doesn’t get proper food at home. Also, only the poor wore overalls and the colouring of his face is described as if he is ill which tells us the family don’t have enough money to take him to a doctor. When Walter comes to the Finch family and has lunch, he pours molasses all over his meal. This baffles Scout, who doesn’t understand why he is doing this, and wasted no time in commenting on “what the sam hill he was doing.” She is immediately reprimanded by Calpurnia who teaches her that some people do things differently to others but “you ain’t called on to contradict ‘em…”. The way Calpurnia uses language such as ain’t, shows that she is so angry with Scout that she doesn’t care about her bad grammar, and Scout knew this. This incident makes Scout more aware of the ways of other people and that she needs to tolerate and accept them, no matter how alien they may be to her.…

    • 1624 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Firstly, Scout and Jem Finch learn the following lesson: don’t judge people by your own standards, especially when you are more privileged than they are. In Maycomb County, many people were poorer than the Finch’s were. For example, a specific family, the Cunningham’s, were known all around Maycomb for being one of the lowliest families. When Walter, one of the Cunningham children, went over to the Finch’s house for dinner one afternoon, he began pouring molasses all over his food. Pouring the hot syrupy mixture on food must have been a custom in the Cunningham family, but Scout, however, thought it was disgusting. In front of everyone at the dinner table, including her father and Calpurnia, their maid, Scout began to protest the fact that he had drowned his dinner in syrup, and that it was highly repulsive. Upon hearing Scout’s blatant distaste, Calpurnia pulled Scout into the kitchen to yell at her. Calpurnia told Scout that when they have company, she must be respectful of their ways, since not everyone eats like they do. When Scout…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    While Calpurnia plays a major role within To Kill a Mockingbird, she is discriminated against because of her race.…

    • 1838 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Scout invites Walter Cunningham over for dinner because his father is a friend of their father. Walter shows his lack of table manners by putting heaps of food onto his plate and drowning his dinner with syrup. Scout is taken by surprise by Walter’s behavior. He thinks Walter is strange and rude. When Scout questions Walter’s behavior, Calpurnia immediately requests Scout’s presence in a separate room. Calpurnia explains how Scout should not disgrace his company by calling them out on their behavior. The main message she sends to Scout is when you invite someone into your home you cannot disrespect them. Calpurnia’s lecture reveals that she is wise and understanding. She feels that no one should make other people feel negative about themselves.…

    • 210 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Calpurnia’s frequent usage of slang and what is referred to in the book as “nigger talk,” when talking to other members of her church reveals that she lives a two sided life in order to try satisfy her peers and the Finch family. When talking to Lula in church she says, “What you want Lula?” Lula replies and says, “I want to know why you bringin’ white chillun to nigger church.” To that Calpurnia responds, “They’s my comp’ny.” This quote shows that Calpurnia talks significantly different to her peers compared to the language she uses when talking to the Finch family. She talks this way to Lula and others that attend her church, as she has the desire to be seen as an equal by both groups; the Finch family, and her peers. This sole desire of…

    • 199 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    She was acknowledged as a motherly figure. Jem's statement to Scout, "You don't 'n I'll tell Calpurnia on you," (pg. 45) shows Calpurnia set and enforced the rules the children were to live by. Scout had taken gum from a tree and put the wad in her mouth. When Jem questioned where she got the gum and found out it had been taken off a tree he began fussing at her and told her to rinse her mouth out. When Scout refused, Jem told her he would tell Calpurnia, just as any child would do with their mother. Calpurnia also attempted to teach the children not to be racist. She brought them to black church even though those that criticized her said, "You ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here; they got their church, we got our'n." (pg. 158) Calpurnia was said to have a split personality. She lived a parallel life attempting to expose the children to both the black and white ways. Her speech and actions would change when she was with whites or blacks even though she tried to help Jem and Scout respect both races as equals. Calpurnia served the children as a Nanny and mother figure and attempted to teach them to respect both races as equals, she demonstrated the differences each and every day. Actions speak louder than words and Calpurnia's actions showed a deep divide between blacks and whites in…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Miss Maudie is a laid-back woman who has been around for quite a while. She understands what it can be like as a young girl growing up and learning about the world around her. This helps Scout immensely as it gives her someone to turn to. It also helps her learn things from more reliable sources than her friends. For example, when she asks about Boo Radley, Miss Maudie responds, “His name’s Arthur and he’s alive” (Lee 57), with the reasoning that, “he’s alive… because I haven’t seen him carried out yet” (Lee 57). Calpurnia is also a mother figure that Scout has in her life to go to when times get rough. Though there is no blood relation between Scout and Cal, they are very close and grow even more so as the novel progresses. She gives Scout refuge in the kitchen when the boys won’t let her join their games. Kenneth Rubin states, “Friendship promotes the development of perspective taking and moral reasoning skills” (Rubin). At this point in Scout’s life, having good role models like Cal and Miss Maudie is a great benefit to her learning and developing ideas. They are both wise women and teach Scout things in their own ways; though she may not know it now, it impacts the rest of her…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Calpurnia plays a motherly roll, for instance she raised Mr. Finch’s children, aids Atticus when he needs to inform Mrs. Robinson of her husbands death, and Calpurnia wants Jem and Scout to grow up with respect. Cal has been raising the finch children since they were born. To prove this Lee states, “She had been with us ever since Jem was babies”(15). Since Calpurnia has been with them since they were born this had made a strong bond between them. Calpurnia helps Atticus inform Mrs. Robinson about Tom, her husband’s, death. When they tell Mrs. Robinson about Tom’s death, Lee states, “Calpurnia and Atticus help lift Helen to her feet” (240). Calpurnia was there when Atticus went to tell Mrs. Robinson about the news of her husbands death which helped Atticus. Calpurnia cares about Atticus’ children and wants them to grow up with respect towards each other and them selves. Cal wants to talk with Scout when she is rude to Walter Cunniningham and scout knows that cal is angry when; “She was furious” (Lee 24). Cal doesn’t want to see Scout or Jem grow up as a disrespectful person which is why she is disciplining Scout. Cal is raising them as if they were her own children.…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Calpurnia is the Finch’s housekeeper who is trusted by Atticus and his family. Atticus says I couldn't have got along without her all these years. She's a faithful member of this family, and another thing, the children love her. She acts as a mother figure for Jem and Scout and disciplines them like her own children. Atticus says she imposes stricter discipline…

    • 1089 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Atticus and Calpurnia have always been there for Jem and Scout, and have always taught them the respectful and polite actions. Atticus and Calpurnia’s parenting style is to teach young kids the right from wrong. To illustrate, Calpurnia said “That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear” (Lee 32). When Scout started to criticize Walter Cunningham for putting syrup all over his food, Calpurnia talked to Scout to teach her the right manner. Calpurnia…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays