Character Analysis Of Calpurnia In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

Improved Essays
Evaluate - Who is the better mother figure?
G – Calpurnia is a better mother figure than Aunt Alexandria. Y - Calpurnia is a good mother figure. R – She is caring, thoughtful, and the kids love her.
• She was scared to send them to church alone, because she cared.
• She talked to Scout.
• Atticus says they love her. R – She works hard, and lays down the law.
• Cooks all the meals
• She cleans the house
• She takes care of the kids when Atticus is gone.
• She tells them when they are doing something wrong. Y – Aunt Alexandria is not a good mother figure.
R – She expects everyone to exactly like her.
• She thinks Scout will just be like her.
• She thinks Scout will act ladylike.
• She expects Scout to be proper.
• She expects Jem and Scout to
…show more content…
R – She is stubborn.
• She wants Calpurnia fired
• She thinks they were not raised knowing their heritage
• She wants Scout to be a lady
• She wants everything to go her way
G - That is how Calpurnia is a better mother figure than Aunt Alexandria.

Aunt Alexandria is not a good mother figure. She expects everyone to exactly like her, and that she will just change everything, because her Aunt says so. She thinks Scout will just be like her. She thinks Scout will act ladylike, and take part in the activities she does. She thinks Scout should sit and have tea with all the other women. She expects Scout to be proper. She expects Jem and Scout to live up to their name. For example, Aunt Alexandria is not the best mother figure, because she also very stubborn. Aunt Alexandria wanted Calpurnia fired, because she was there. She was very adamant that Calpurnia was not needed. Alexandria thinks they were not raised knowing their heritage, and she likes to repeat that. She is also stubborn about Scout being a lady. She gets crabby when things do not go her way. That is how Calpurnia is a better mother figure than Aunt Alexandria. Calpurnia is

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Seeing Scout treated her guest horribly, Calpurnia pulled her into the kitchen, spanked her while saying, “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 high and mighty!” (Lee 33) This piece of evidence illustrates that even though Scout didn’t have a mother who could have teaches her in behaving nicely towards others, Calpurnia already did an excellent job in nurturing Scout and shows her the appropriate manner that she should have.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    n “To Kill A Mockingbird” race complicates the situation of the characters in the book. Race of the particular characters can lead the circumstances of situations more severe. Meaning that the results of a situation would have turned out differently if the character was of a different race. There is an exception and that is with Calpurnia and the Finch family. Calpurnia is the Finch’s black maid,but her race does not put limitations on her occupation.…

    • 277 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of these characters, Calpurnia, is a major influence in the story and her lasting effects on Scout and Jem prompt them to think about their plights in entirely different ways than usual. Calpurnia’s motherly position, her different dialects, and her teachings of penmanship ultimately helped bear the fruits of the story in different forms. Being the important minor character she is, Calpurnia was vital in the story and without her the story would have ultimately changed mostly if not…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I will be evaluating and inquiring who is a better mother figure for Jem and Scout. Calpurnia or Aunt Alexandra? Calpurnia is a better mother figure than Aunt Alexandra because of a few reasons. First, Calpurnia brings them places when they are home alone. She brought them to her church; which is a negro church and thought nothing of it.…

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Harper Lee exemplifies the characters using specific archetypes such as Terrorist, Matriarch/ Patriarch, and Sadist. Throughout the story she uses each archetype to plan and organized the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” and successfully recites the wonderful master piece. Each archetype has their own reason and own description to excite the readers. From the Terrorist being Atticus, to the Sadist being Bob Ewell the novels throws punches using the characters themselves. Although, Aunt Alexandra isn’t considered to be a main character her archetype is the Matriarch/ Patriarch.…

    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In Harper Lee's coming-of-age novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, a number of citizens in the town of Maycomb are forced to live double lives. In order to fit in to the social norms of the town of Maycomb, they must hide their true selves and conform to ways that are not their own in order to be accepted. Calpurnia, the hired help in the Finch home, is an educated black woman. However, she tends to mask her intelligence within the Negro community. The next character is Mr. Dolphus Raymond.…

    • 1421 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Almost all of the characters in “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. face some type of discrimination. After all it is the deep South in the 1930s. If you weren’t a white male that abided by the law and went to church you were going to be looked down upon. One of the main character in this novel that is often discriminated even if it’s not in an obvious way is Calpurnia.…

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How Is Scout Selfish

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Her teacher basically told her to stop learning. Instead of being happy that Scout could read her teacher was very upset at the fact that she was ahead of everyone else. Scout encounters many problems throughout this book. A major conflict she encountered was being told to stop being a tomboy and start acting like a lady, but Scout wasn’t really sure what that actually meant. Her brother always criticized her for, “acting like a girl,’ but then other times he tells her she’s not being girly enough.…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    After this incident Aunt Alexandra is heard telling Atticus that Calpurnia must go “... you’ve got to do something about her. You’ve let things go on too long, Atticus, too long.” (Lee 182). Aunt Alexandra believes that Atticus has let Calpurnia become too much of an influence in Scout and Jem’s life. Only a few minutes after Scout expresses her desire to go over to Calpurnia’s house, Aunt Alexandra is pushing Atticus to let Calpuria go.…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    First, Lula and Calpurnia are only seen in one event during this novel. This is when Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to the First Purchase church on Sunday. Calpurnia is confronted by Lula in front of the church entrance. Then, while there, Lula questions Calpurnia for bringing white children to a black church. This shows the main reason behind why they are opposites.…

    • 109 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Scout wants to be a kid and play with Jem, but Aunt Alexandra is always trying to tell her to stop acting like a boy and more like a lady. The Finches aunt has such strong convictions that they cause her to be racially prejudiced as well. Scout is confused when Aunt Alexandra tells her not to play with Walter Cunningham: “Because he- is- trash-, that's why you can't play with him. I’ll not have you around him, picking up his habits and learning Lord-knows-what. You're enough of a problem to your father as it is” (225).…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    She almost acts like the mother figure to the children in the beginning of the book, or maybe more like a grandmother to them. Scout and Jem would always go over to her house. Miss Maudie also has a strong personality, and doesn’t get broken easily. For example when her house burnt down, she looked at the bright side of the situation and wasnt that upset. Calpurnia is the maid in the finch household and also acts like a mother figure to the children.…

    • 1419 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Respect of Courage Everyone wants to be the person with enough guts to stand up to wrongs in an attempt to right them. Courage is perceived as a great thing in our society; so much so that the opposite of such, cowardice, is frowned upon. This is prevalent in the 1930’s as well. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates that courage is a trait Scout admires and seeks through Scout’s experiences, thoughts and actions.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Scout is too young to understand that Calpurnia acts harsh and and tough towards her because she is concerned and cares for her well being. Calpurnia tries her best to raise the kids in her own light like Atticus told Alexandra which includes teaching the kids how to act in a respectable manner to act. She speaks like the parent that she is. A great example of this was when Scout was unintentionally rude to Walter Cunningham:“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 Cunningham’s…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Aunt Alexandra brings her overalls to Scout for comfort after the traumatic event. Although Scout has had hard times with her, Aunt Alexandra tries to do what she thinks is best for Scout’s future. While Aunt Alexandra has more old-fashioned ideas about teaching, Atticus lets his children express who they want to…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays