To Kill a Mockingbird--Calpurnia

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Permalink Reply by Cloud 9A on April 7, 2017 at 9:15pm

Sorry, (Lee 29) is where my evidence was found, goes after the evidence.

Permalink Reply by Cranberry 9C on April 8, 2017 at 11:21am

I think Calpurina is a important character in the book "To Kill a Mocking Bird". She is there in the book as to replace Scout and Jen's mom, if she weren't there, then there would be no one cooking for the family and taking care of the kids. She may act tough to Scout, but I think she is only trying to take care for them and try her best to act like a mom to them. She is only trying her best to take care of them like her kids.   

Permalink Reply by Cloud 9A on April 8, 2017 at 2:52pm

I do agree with you as I have said before that she is a wonderful character to be part of the family. But even if she wasn't there wouldn't miss maudie be there to help Jem and Scout too. It looks like Atticus seems to be doing great in taking care of them. I guess he just needed someone he can learn from, like another perspective. In the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird, by Harper Lee, Scout says about miss maudie that "When she was admitted into our confidence, every time she baked she made a big cake and three little ones, and she would call across the street: “Jem Finch, Scout Finch, Charles Baker Harris, come here!” Our promptness was always rewarded." (Lee 43). She is practically like a mother as she spends most of her time outside and with Scout and Jem. This even shows that miss maudie is treating them with food, she loves them and see's them as one of her own. That is what I think if Calpurnia wasn't there but i still think that Calpurnia should remain as she is. I feel Calpurnia is the TRUE mother figure for Jem and Scout but just wanted to clarify what would there be without Calpurnia.

Permalink Reply by The Wind 9A on April 8, 2017 at 6:42pm

I believe that Calpurnia is very important, but she is not really a mother figure to them. She is more an authoritative figure for them because of how much she bosses them around, she would have been much kinder if she were a mother figure. Miss Maudie would be more a mother figure, as she is portrayed by Scout, a main character from Harper Lee's ,To Kill a Mockingbird, as a caring person, as shown here, " She loved everything that grew in God's earth," (Lee 42). Miss Maudie is a very caring and kind woman who would be a mother figure. She possesses the traits that would be portrayed as a mother's. Although Culpurnia is still very important to the story, she is not a mother figure to Jem and Scout.

Permalink Reply by Cloud 9A on April 8, 2017 at 7:31pm

I disagree about the fact that calpurnia isn't much of a mother figure as she is suppose to be. Calpurnia actually cares for them as a mother. And like any mother, i am sure every mother has had to be bossy in order for the child to learn better. I am pretty sure your mom and so as mine had to be like this to get us to listen. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Atticus tells his sister "Alexandra, Calpurnia's not leaving this house... until she wants to. You may think otherwise, but i couldn't have got along without her all these years. She's a faithful member of this family and you'll simply have to accept things the way they are." (Lee 137). I know this is far from the story but here it shows that she is going to stay and be the mother as long as she likes. Calpurnia is the reason Atticus was able to keep the family the way it should be and was able to get help in helping parent Scout and Jem.Sure she is bossy but definitely kind in the inside as she has been with the Finch's for a while now. I do agree about miss maudie being a mother figure but each parent has their own way of handling some things. So what you are saying is that you prefer miss maudie as the mother of the Finch family? Because I personally accept Calpurnia to help Atticus and support Scout and Jem.

Permalink Reply by Dazzleta 9C on April 8, 2017 at 1:53pm

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, I feel that Calpurnia acts on behalf of Scout and Jems dead mother as someone who teaches,disciplines, supports, and takes care of the family. She is considered a part of the family and Atticus depends on her to support his children.She does a great job helping Scout realize that being judgmental is not the right thing to do especially to those who are less fortunate. I like Calpurnia because she is trying to rectify the mistakes of Scout so that when she grows up she can not repeat the same errors that she once did.To illuminate this point, in the novel Calpurnia states '"Don't matter who they are anybody sets foot in this house [is your company] and don't let me catch your remarking on their ways like you high and mighty''(Lee 33). This just goes to show that Calpurnia didn't believe that judging by appearance or socioeconomic status was fair because she spoke to Scout about the mistake she made in a serious manner. Since Calpurnia is an African American women she understands how it feels to get judged by appearance. I also think that Calpurnia disciplined Scout in a harsh way because she can understand the fault she made, should not be repeated in the future.

Permalink Reply by Midwife 9D on April 8, 2017 at 7:35pm

i feel the story would be very different if Calpurnia was not there. She ensures that both Jem and Scout and their father, Atticus, feel as though they aren't missing out. Also for the kids to be able to live a life like the other children at their school due to the fact that Atticus is very old and works throughout the day and the absence of their mother. Harper Lee gives Cal the motherly role and always seems to wish the best for the Finch family. To illuminate this point, when Lee writes "Calpurnia stared, then grabbed [Jem and Scout] by the shoulders... Mr. Finch's office" (Lee123). It goes to show that she was worried and wanted Jem and Scout to get to safety; with that, Cal took on the motherly role for the family and offered them what they lost. 

Permalink Reply by Yin Yang 9C on April 8, 2017 at 8:17pm

I believe the character of Calpurnia plays an important role in the book. Not only is she the cook, she’s a motherly figure for the children who is very much needed. The whole exchange between Scout and Cal at dinner with Walter Cunningham proves this. Harper Lee, the author, wrote, “ [Scout said] ‘He ain’t company, Cal, he’s just a Cunningham-‘ [Cal said] ‘Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo‘ comp’ny, and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty! Yo‘ folks might be better’n the Cunninghams but it don’t count for nothin’ the way you’re disgracin‘ ’em—if you can’t act fit to eat at the table you can just set here and eat in the kitchen!’’ (Lee 33]. This proves that Cal has sort of taken on the maternal role in the family. What she says to Scout, when she scolds and lectures her, is what one would imagine a mother would say to her misbehaving daughter. Cal is teaching Scout to teach guests with respect and kindness, no matter how much better than them she thinks she is. I respect the character because she is stern and does not take any nonsense; she is very respectable in that way. 

Permalink Reply by righteous core 9D on April 8, 2017 at 9:24pm

I feel like Calpurnia is the motherly figure scout and Jem never had/lost. She takes care of them as if they're her own kids and shes been with them for as long as they can remember. She also teaches them important life lessens. Although she is a little rough on scout in the beginning she still meant well. And she was only rough on scout because she needed some discipline. However after scout went to school for the first year, Calpurnia became a lot sweeter to scout because she had realized that she was being a bit too hard on her. Scout mentions this in the novel"To Kill a Mockingbird", she says" [Calpurnia] had always been too hard on me, she had at last seen her error of her fractious ways, she was sorry and too stubborn to say so"(Lee 29). Scout knew that Calpurnia felt bad about the harshness in the past even though she hadn't directly apologized about it. Calpurnia is very vital to the story because she plays a big role in how scout was brought up.

Permalink Reply by Blossom9A on April 9, 2017 at 12:56pm

   I think that Calpurnia is amazing in what she does and what she says.I think her purpose is to help and teach everyone that their all equal and no one gets treated better than the other.I think Cal is in the text because Lee wanted to show that,although she was the most colored educated person, she still took that to her advantage and used it the right way.Cal used her education the right way by telling Scout that it was wrong to judge Walter on what he was eating or what Walter does.In the book "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee Cal and Scout were talking about how bad and not good to judge a person on what there doing because its wrong Cal says "He ain't  company, Cal he's just a Cunningham- Hush your mouth!Don't matter who they are,anybody sets foot in this house's yo' comp'ny,and don't you let me catch you remarkin' on their way like you was so high and mighty!Yo' folks might be better'n the Cunninghams but it don't count for nothin' the way you're disgracin' 'em"(Lee,24).The talk she had with Scout shows that Cal uses her education for something good and doesn't stand by when she sees something like this happen.Cal also has huge respect for everyone including the lower class.This shows that Cal doesn't care who or how the person looks she cares about everyone respecting the other person the same way they want to be respected/treated.I like Cal and i can stand her,because she is only standing up for the right thing and she helps people understand what they did was wrong.Would you guys like to have someone as Cal to be their for you and help you understand and fix things that are wrong so you don't repeat the mistakes or would you rather not?

Permalink Reply by Free 9A on April 9, 2017 at 5:44pm

When I think of Calpurnia, I think of the stereotypical ‘mom’ role. She is seen as the one that takes care of the household. She is also scolds Scout, like a mother would do. Calpurnia also taught Scout how to write. This can when Scout says “[Calpurnia] 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” (Lee24). She is a mother figure for Scout because of she tells Scout she’s wrong when she does something wrong. She teaches her how to write and she’s the one that takes care of the house. 

Permalink Reply by Timid Math Wiz 9B on April 9, 2017 at 6:13pm

Although I agree she plays a "mom" role, don't you think she may be more significant than just a stereotypical mom? She is obviously a very important character in the book. if she was just a stereotypical mom, she probably wouldn't be mentioned as much, and she wouldn't be so important. when introducing Cal, Scout says "she had been with us ever since Jem was born" ... "Calpurnia was something else again. she was all angles and bones" (Lee 6). When introducing Cal, Scout goes in depth about her role. if she was just a stereotypical mom figure, she wouldn't be introduced as much. she was also apart of basically their whole lives. Because of this, i think Cal has a more important role in the text.

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