Calpurnia portrays humility, a disciplinarian motherly figure to Jem and Scout.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Calpurnia is a formidable figure through Scout’s narration.
Her role in the story extends beyond being a servant to Atticus.
She played a significant role in their education about respectful conduct and understanding racial differences during the era.
Calpurnia is instrumental in demonstrating what it means to be a good person in the context of their community, teaching the children important lessons such as respecting different people.
To Kill A Mockingbird Quotes With Page Numbers
Calpurnia Character Description
In “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, Calpurnia is an indispensable and enduring character. Often referred to simply as ‘Cal,’ Calpurnia is the African-American housekeeper who works for the Finch family.
Calpurnia, described as “all angles and bones,” was the Finch family’s cook. She squinted, a sign of her nearsightedness. As Scout described, her hand was as “wide as a bed slat and twice as hard.”
She behaved sternly, often ordering Scout out of the kitchen and calling her back home before she was ready to return.
Calpurnia was a constant presence in the Finch household. She had been with the family since Jem was born, dominating Scout’s upbringing.
Her argumentative interactions with Scout were famously one-sided, with Calpurnia emerging as the victor—mainly because Atticus always sided with Calpurnia.
The relationship between Scout and Calpurnia is complex. Scout often resented Calpurnia’s strictness and felt dominated by her, but she was also an important figure. This is evident from Scout’s school assignments, where she reproduced Calpurnia’s handwriting.
Despite the emotional and disciplinary distance between them, Calpurnia rewarded Scout with a bread-and-butter sugar sandwich for the successful completion of her writing tasks.
Calpurnia was not simply a domestic help in the Finch household but a key commentator on societal ways. Although she didn’t frequently comment on the behaviors of white people, when she did, her remarks were piercing and filled with insight, reflecting her personal experiences as a colored individual in a white-dominated town like Maycomb.
Calpurnia’s interactions with Scout reflected several layers of her personality and beliefs. Harper Lee uses these interactions to highlight Calpurnia’s driving principles.
Her ideas on respect and her high standards of behavior are founded upon the belief that everyone who enters a house must be treated as a company, regardless of their social standing.
Atticus places trust and respect in Calpurnia, as evidenced by his always taking her side during her disputes with Scout. He acknowledges that Calpurnia is more educated than most colored folks, reflecting her intellectual ability and inherent potential for learning and growth.
In moments of frustration, Calpurnia’s grammar would become erratic. But when calm, her command over the language was as immaculate as anyone else’s in Maycomb. This duality reflects her adaptable nature and resilience in situations of emotional intensity.
Although harsh, Calpurnia’s disciplinary methods are intended to impart important life lessons to Scout.
Her exchanges with Scout often ended with relaying a moral message about respecting other people’s eating habits, valuing everyone who enters their house, or highlighting the importance of good conduct regardless of one’s social class.
Lastly, despite the stern persona, Calpurnia had a loving side. She keenly understood Scout’s likings and tried to infuse love and comfort in her ways, whether making crackling bread on an easy day or expressing her loneliness when both Scout and Jem are away at school.
Calpurnia Quotes With Page Numbers
“We lived on the main residential street in town— Atticus, Jem and I, plus Calpurnia our cook…
Calpurnia was something else again. She was all angles and bones; she was nearsighted; she squinted; her hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as hard. She was always ordering me out of the kitchen, asking me why I couldn’t behave as well as Jem when she knew he was older, and calling me home when I wasn’t ready to come. Our battles were epic and one-sided. Calpurnia always won, mainly because Atticus always took her side. She had been with us ever since Jem was born, and I had felt her tyrannical presence as long as I could remember.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout as the narrator about Calpurnia), Chapter 1, Page 6
“There goes the meanest man ever God blew breath into,” murmured Calpurnia, and she spat meditatively into the yard. We looked at her in surprise, for Calpurnia rarely commented on the ways of white people.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout as the narrator and Calpurnia), Chapter 1, Page 13
“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 with an open-faced sandwich of bread and butter and sugar. In Calpurnia’s teaching, there was no sentimentality: I seldom pleased her and she seldom rewarded me.
“Everybody who goes home to lunch hold up your hands,” said Miss Caroline, breaking into my new grudge against Calpurnia.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout as the narrator about Calpurnia), Chapter 2, Page 21
“There’s some folks who don’t eat like us,” she whispered fiercely, “but you ain’t called on to contradict ’em at the table when they don’t. That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear?”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Calpurnia), Chapter 3, Page 27
“She was furious, and when she was furious Calpurnia’s grammar became erratic. When in tranquility, her grammar was as good as anybody’s in Maycomb. Atticus said Calpurnia had more education than most colored folks. When she squinted down at me the tiny lines around her eyes deepened. “There’s some folks who don’t eat like us,” she whispered fiercely, “but you ain’t called on to contradict ‘em at the table when they don’t. That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear?”
“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 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!”
Calpurnia sent me through the swinging door to the diningroom with a stinging smack. I retrieved my plate and finished dinner in the kitchen, thankful, though, that I was spared the humiliation of facing them again. I told Calpurnia to just wait, I’d fix her: one of these days when she wasn’t looking I’d go off and drown myself in Barker’s Eddy and then she’d be sorry. Besides, I added, she’d already gotten me in trouble once today: she had taught me to write and it was all her fault. “Hush your fussin‘,” she said.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch and Calpurnia), Chapter 3, Pages 27-28
“It was not often that she made crackling bread, she said she never had time, but with both of us at school today had been an easy one for her. She knew I loved crackling bread.
“I missed you today,” she said. “The house got so lonesome ‘long about two o’clock I had to turn on the radio.”
“Why? Jem’n me ain’t ever in the house unless it’s rainin‘.”
“I know,” she said, “But one of you’s always in callin‘ distance. I wonder how much of the day I spend just callin’ after you. Well,” she said, getting up from the kitchen chair, “it’s enough time to make a pan of cracklin‘ bread, I reckon. You run along now and let me get supper on the table.”
Calpurnia bent down and kissed me. I ran along, wondering what had come over her. She had wanted to make up with me, that was it. She had always been too hard on me, she had at last seen the error of her fractious ways, she was sorry and too stubborn to say so. I was weary from the day’s crimes.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch and Calpurnia), Chapter 3, Pages 31-32
“You don’t ‘n’ I’ll tell Calpurnia on you!”
Rather than risk a tangle with Calpurnia, I did as Jem told me. For some reason, my first year of school had wrought a great change in our relationship: Calpurnia’s tyranny, unfairness, and meddling in my business had faded to gentle grumblings of general disapproval. On my part, I went to much trouble, sometimes, not to provoke her.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Characters: Scout and Jem Finch about Calpurnia), Chapter 4, Pages 38
“I wished my father was a devil from hell. I sounded out Calpurnia on the subject.
“Mr. Finch? Why, he can do lots of things.”
“Like what?” I asked.
Calpurnia scratched her head. “Well, I don’t rightly know,”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Characters: Scout Finch and Calpurnia), Chapter 10, Page 105
“Baby,” said Calpurnia, “I just can’t help it if Mister Jem’s growin‘ up. He’s gonna want to be off to himself a lot now, doin’ whatever boys do, so you just come right on in the kitchen when you feel lonesome. We’ll find lots of things to do in here.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch and Calpurnia), Chapter 12, Page 132
“The beginning of that summer boded well: Jem could do as he pleased; Calpurnia would do until Dill came. She seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, and by watching her I began to think there was some skill involved in being a girl.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch and Calpurnia), Chapter 12, Page 132
“How’d you and Mister Jem like to come to church with me tomorrow?”
“Really?”
“How ‘bout it?” grinned Calpurnia.
If Calpurnia had ever bathed me roughly before, it was nothing compared to her supervision of that Saturday night’s routine. She made me soap all over twice, drew fresh water in the tub for each rinse; she stuck my head in the basin and washed it with Octagon soap and castile. She had trusted Jem for years, but that night she invaded his privacy and provoked an outburst: “Can’t anybody take a bath in this house without the whole family lookin‘?”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch and Calpurnia), Chapter 12, Page 133-34
“I don’t want anybody sayin‘ I don’t look after my children,” she muttered.
“Mister Jem, you absolutely can’t wear that tie with that suit. It’s green.
…
His face flushed angrily, but Calpurnia said, “Now you all quit that. You’re gonna go to First Purchase with smiles on your faces.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Calpurnia), Chapter 12, Page 134
Lula stopped, but she said, “You ain’t got no business bringin‘ white chillun here—they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?”
Calpurnia said, “It’s the same God, ain’t it?”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Calpurnia), Chapter 12, Page 135
“Jem said it looked like they could save the collection money for a year and get some hymn-books.
Calpurnia laughed. “Wouldn’t do any good,” she said. “They can’t read.”
“Can’t read?” I asked. “All those folks?”
“That’s right,” Calpurnia nodded. “Can’t but about four folks in First Purchase read… I’m one of ‘em.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Jem, Scout Finch, and Calpurnia), Chapter 12, Page 141
“…what’s rape, Cal?”
“It’s somethin’ you’ll have to ask Mr. Finch about,” she said. “He can explain it better than I can.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch and Calpurnia), Chapter 12, Page 141
“What’s your birthday, Cal?”
“I just have it on Christmas, it’s easier to remember that way—I don’t have a real birthday.”
“But Cal,” Jem protested, “you don’t look even near as old as Atticus.”
“Colored folks don’t show their ages so fast,” she said.
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Scout Finch and Calpurnia), Chapter 12, Page 141
“That’s why you don’t talk like the rest of ‘em,” said Jem.
“The rest of who?”
“Rest of the colored folks. Cal, but you talked like they did in church…”
That Calpurnia led a modest double life never dawned on me. The idea that she had a separate existence outside our household was a novel one, to say nothing of her having command of two languages. “Cal,” I asked, “why do you talk n*****talk to the—to your folks when you know it’s not right?”
“Well, in the first place I’m black—”
“That doesn’t mean you hafta talk that way when you know better,” said Jem. Calpurnia tilted her hat and scratched her head, then pressed her hat down carefully over her ears.”
It’s right hard to say,” she said. “Suppose you and Scout talked colored-folks’ talk at home it’d be out of place, wouldn’t it? Now what if I talked white-folks’ talk at church, and with my neighbors? They’d think I was puttin’ on airs to beat Moses.”
“But Cal, you know better,” I said.
“It’s not necessary to tell all you know. It’s not ladylike — in the second place, folks don’t like to have someone around knowin’ more than they do. It aggravates them. You’re not gonna change any of them by talkin’ right, they’ve got to want to learn themselves, and when they don’t want to learn there’s nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Jem, Scout, and Calpurnia), Chapter 12, Page 143
“Atticus’s voice was even: “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.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Atticus Finch about Calpurnia), Chapter 14, Page 155
“she’s been harder on them in some ways than a mother would have been… she’s never let them get away with anything, she’s never indulged them the way most colored nurses do. She tried to bring them up according to her lights, and Cal’s lights are pretty good—and another thing, the children love her.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Atticus Finch about Calpurnia), Chapter 14, Page 155
“Calpurnia said, “Because you ain’t familiar with the law. First thing you learn when you’re in a lawin‘ family is that there ain’t any definite answers to anything. Mr. Finch couldn’t say somethin’s so when he doesn’t know for sure it’s so.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Atticus Finch about Calpurnia), Chapter 24, Page 267
How does Calpurnia help Scout mature quotes?
“It’s not necessary to tell all you know. It’s not ladylike — in the second place, folks don’t like to have someone around knowin’ more than they do. It aggravates them. You’re not gonna change any of them by talkin’ right, they’ve got to want to learn themselves, and when they don’t want to learn there’s nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language.”
~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, (Character: Calpurnia), Chapter 12, Page 143
What does Calpurnia teach Scout in Chapter 12 quote?
In Chapter 12 of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Calpurnia teaches Scout about the complexities of communication and social dynamics within different contexts. She instructs Scout that it’s neither necessary nor advantageous always to share all knowledge.
Moreover, she underlines that people must desire to learn, and if they lack such willingness, it is often more prudent to remain silent or adjust one’s language to suit their understanding.
What does Calpurnia symbolize in TKAM?
In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Calpurnia symbolizes knowledge, understanding, and the moral compass in Maycomb. She teaches the Finch children about respect and kindness amidst the racial tensions that engulf their society.
Her ability to read and write in an era where it was rare for black individuals reflects perseverance and resilience towards sociocultural barriers.
Harper Lee highlights the essence of compassion and equality through her character, elevating Calpurnia as a maternal figure and educator rather than just a servant in the Finch family.