Harper Lee uses a profusion amount of literacy features in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. From the extract on pages 38 and 39 from chapter 3, Jean Louise, also known as Scout, is home in Maycomb after a rough day at school, with Atticus, her father and Calpurnia, her cook and mother-like guardian, trying to comfort her. In this extract, Harper Lee portrays tenderness and devotion through the use of sensuous imagery and personification.
Firstly, the use of the different imageries expresses the affection Calpurnia and Atticus shows Scout. Calpurnia realizes Scout may find her first day of school difficult, therefore she prepares Scout a surprise for when she returns home from school. Scout says: “It was not often that she [Calpurnia] made
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crackling bread” (Lee 38). One can visualize the time and effort Calpurnia put down, to make the crispy crackling bread.
Calpurnia realizes Scout needs comfort, after a rough day at school. Doing what one loves, can help them forgot about the misfortunes they face. Calpurnia shows an act of kindness, by making Scout crackling bread. Crackling bread is one of Scouts favourite food. Having the food she loves, can help her forget the negativity that she experienced at school. When one faces a dire situation, others shall show benevolence towards them. Moreover, Atticus goes out to the front porch with Scout, and finds out she wants to drop out of school. Atticus sits and thinks: “He [Atticus] waited in amiable silence, sought to reinforce my [Scout] position” (Lee 39). The author uses auditory imagery to show the gracious silence Atticus is sitting through, while thinking. At times, it is the best idea for one to remain silent and ponder, before drawing a conclusion. Atticus cares for his daughter and wants her to continue learning. Atticus realizes that Scout had a difficult time at …show more content…
school. Thus, he wants to approach at her in a thoughtful manner, to make her feel better about the thought of going to school. By sitting down with Scout, Atticus is able to find out why she does not want to continue school. Since Atticus uses his precious time and shows affection towards Scout, at the end he convinces her to go to school. When one ponders and spends time with another to overcome a problem, one can easily draw a conclusion. Furthermore, the use of personification showcases the compassion Calpurnia has over Scout and her brother, Jem.
Calpurnia explains to the children how much she missed them when they were at school. Calpurnia found herself isolated from them and says: “The house got so lonesome ’long about two o’clock I had to turn on the radio.” (Lee 38). Harper Lee portrays personification, to describe how empty the house was. The human feeling of loneliness, is given to the house. This shows how severely Calpurnia missed the children she loves. Even though Scout and Jem may cause her trouble, in the end, a couple of hours without them was tough for Calpurnia overcome. When a parent-figure truly loves their children, the parent-figure suffer every minute, they are away from their children. Also, Calpurnia shows more affection towards Scout, as she feels she had a rough day. Calpurnia tries to cure Scout: “Calpurnia bent down and kissed me… She had wanted to make up with me, that was it… I was weary from the day’s crime.” (Lee 38). The usage of personification, describes how tired Scout is after her first day of school. The day is given the human ability to commit a ‘crime’. The ‘crime’ was the challenges Scout faced at school. After Calpurnia makes Scout crackling bread, she also kisses Scout. Calpurnia does these actions to comfort Scout even more. A kiss is a small and quick action, but has a strong meaning. A kiss has the power to change a negative day into a positive day. A kiss
generally shows that one has true devotion over another. Calpurnia loves Scout, thus she tries to find different methods to change Scout’s mood. When one truly loves another, one would do everything they can to reassure and make the other feel positive. In this excerpt, the author showcases benevolence and affection the character have on each other, through the use of sensuous imagery and personification. When one shows love and kindness to another, relationships can grow stronger.
Scout does not heed Atticus’ advice in Chapter 4 of To Kill a Mockingbird, as she continues to express her biased hatred for Calpurnia, and also openly contradicts Jem, without considering the perspectives to which they are taking. As stated by Harper Lee, “...Calpurnia’s tyranny, unfairness, and meddling in my business had faded to gentle grumbling of general disapproval (45)”. This quote expresses the many ways Scout thinks of Calpurnia, a great many of which as terrible and controlling. This biased description of Calpurnia shows how Scout is still unable to understand why Calpurnia consistently disciplines her, and from what standpoint she is doing so. Also stated by Lee, “Jem stamped his foot. “Don’t you know you’re not suppose to even
one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it is a sin to
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. You know Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was misperceived at first. All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names, but after he led Santa’s sleigh, they loved him. Misperceptions like this happen all throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. As you read the novel you see original judgments made about characters transform into new conceptions and new understandings. Some characters twist your views of them on purpose, others do it involuntarily. To Kill a Mockingbird shows this happening over and over again. All you have to do is look for it.
“Naw, Jem. I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.” (Lee, page 304.) This is one of the famous quotes in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. In the book there is an important character named Calpurnia. Calpurnia is the Finch’s housekeeper and cook. Calpurnia is also the bridge between the whites and the blacks for the Finch family children, she is an important female role model, and she also teaches the children important lessons on respect, kindness, logic, and finally discipline. Without Calpurnia, the book would not be the same.
Why?’ ‘He didn’t have any lunch,’ I said, and explained my involvement in Walter’s dietary affairs” (27). Scout is also very mischievous and has a devious mentality towards Calpurnia. She describes Calpurnia as a tyrannical presence, and she does everything she can to get her out of the house. One time Scout does this is when Walter comes over to her house to eat dinner.
The story “To Kill a Mockingbird” is about Scout Finch and her family and how they are affected throughout the court case of Tom Robinson. In chapters 12-15 of the novel Atticus is preparing for the court case of Tom Robinson. Aunt Alexandra also decided that she is going to stay with them for a while so she could give Scout and Jem a “feminine influence”. Jem and Scout go to church with Calpurnia and Aunt Alexandra doesn’t like it. Dill shows up after running away from home because he says his parents aren’t paying enough attention to him. Aunt Alexandra tries to push Atticus into getting rid of Calpurnia but Atticus refuses. A group shows up outside their house and talk with Atticus. Atticus goes to Tom Robinson's cell and the kids follow.
Jem and Scout are going to Calpurnia’s First Purchase church for the first time. Jem and Scout are the children of Atticus, a prominent white lawyer in Maycomb, and Calpurnia is their African American cook and nanny. Scout, the narrator, is describing her less-than-flattering view
Little by little Jem, Scout, and Dill get exposed to the real world; changing their perspective and their attitude towards people and subjects. This event focuses on Scout and Jem, Atticus is away and Calpurnia decides to take them to her church. While they are at the church Jem and Scout notice, Calpurnia talks a different way to negros than to whites. “‘Cal,’ I asked, “why do you talk niggertalk 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 somebody around knowin‘ more than they do. It aggravates ’em. 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.’” (167) Calpurnia
Patrick Rothfuss stated, “When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, Lee shows that with age and experience, one attains comprehension of the harsh realities that surrounds them, realities that they have disregarded and overlooked for years. In Lee’s novel, Scout Finch is seen as an innocent little girl, uncorrupted by the racism and prejudice that surrounds her. Through her profound experiences with various individuals such as Miss Caroline, Walter Cunningham and Boo; her world expands to view the true nature of human beings, and to reassess the world she thought she knew with a new perception. Scout begins her journey as completely innocent to the world she lives in, to the commencement of realization of the reality around her, to finally achieving that wisdom and understanding she needs in order to mature.
Throughout all those years as the kids were growing up, Calpurnia has shown and given an immense amount of love and support towards the children, just as a mother or a motherly figure should. Atticus sees her as a faithful member of the family, and he refused of letting her go when Aunt Alexandra suggested firing her. In addition, Atticus trusts Calpurnia with the children; he trusts that she will look after them and cook them food when he is not able to. Calpurnia and Scout have grown closer as Scout grew up because often times Jem would exclude her. For instance, when Jem became close to his teenage years, he would act out often and tell Scout what to do. Scout burst into tears after one argument where Jem told her that she ought to start acting more like a girl. As a result, she fled to Calpurnia, where she offered to keep Scout company whenever she needed: “...so you just come right on in the kitchen when you feel lonesome” (131). Also, Scout stated how Calpurnia seemed glad when she appeared in the kitchen. This shows how Calpurnia is always loving and supportive when Scout needs a shoulder to cry on, and how Calpurnia cheers Scout up when she’s not having the best of days. Besides from making Scout and Jem meals everyday, Calpurnia demonstrates exceptional mothering towards Scout on a daily
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by a beloved author, Harper Lee. Despite dealing with serious issues of rape and racial inequality, this novel is renowned for its moral in the value of friendship and family. Lee writes about a young girl, Jean Louise Finch, who is also acknowledged as Scout. Scout grows up in the small fictional town of Maycomb County in the 1930s. She lives with her older brother Jem, their housekeeper Calpurnia, and her widowed father who is an attorney that is faithful to racial equality and later on defends Tom Robinson, a black man charged with raping a white woman. Scout has a basic faith in her community that they are good people but then throughout the novel especially during Tom Robinson's case her faith is tried-and-trued by the hatred and prejudice that looms in the hearts of the people in her community and her perception of the world is changed forever.
Miss Harper Lee has chosen Scout as a first person narrator in this story. This narrative technique has many strengths and some weaknesses. Scout is a bright, sensitive and intelligent little girl. For all her intelligence, she is still a child and does not always fully understand the implications of the events she reports. This is sometimes amusing, as the time she thinks Miss Maudie's loud voice scares Miss Stephanie. Scout does her best to inform us of the happenings at the Tom Robinson trial. Yet, she is not certain what rape is, and is neither aware of the prejudice state surrounding her. Ultimately she represents the innocence within society.
Scout initially lacks an understanding of her nanny Calpurnia; but after enduring a difficult experience, Scout learns who Calpurnia is and how she has helped her by being both a mother figure and a role model. Early in the novel, Calpurnia witnesses Scout criticizing the way her peer ate his lunch, and Calpurnia attempts to correct Scout’s poor behavior. Scout defends herself, leading to a heated argument. After the fight, Scout vows that, “when [Calpurnia] wasn’t looking [she]’d go off and drown [herself].” (25) At the outset, Scout is a typical self-centered child who is thoughtless as to how her actions impact others, especially those close to her, like Calpurnia.
Told through eyes that did not match the voice, Harper Lee tells the story with a first person narrative, through a memory, to include important details such as qualities about the town and the behavior of the neighbors while still giving Scout a “no filter” opinion about the topic. She shows that within the first chapter while building the characters. Scout’s impacting opinion, “Our mother died when I was two, so I never felt her absence” (p. 7). This shows the contrast between the child’s eyes and the woman’s voice telling the story. A child that has no memories of her mother would not see the importance of this absence especially when she has Calpurnia as a surrogate mother watching out for her. The adult woman telling the story knows of the importance of the family situation when she is recalling the memory. Further more, the entire first part of the book would seem irrelevant if being told by child Scout. The older voice knew that for the bo...
The main section of Scout’s heroic acts is when she walks Arthur Radley home. This is a major part in the novel because prior to this Maycomb thought Arthur was a freak and a Murderer. For Scout to have the courage to befriend Radley is a massive step in the right direction. In this scene Scout risked a couple of things which proves her heroism. She risked her reputation which is the big one. Because she walked ‘Boo’ home, there was no doubt that she was being judged by the people of Maycomb. Throughout the novel we see Scout’s character change from a feisty, aggressive and judgy girl to a kind, open minded, less aggressive girl. There are numerous people and some experiences that took part in Scout’s change. But there is one lady that did Scout a whole lot of good, her name is Calpurnia. Calpurnia is a coloured woman and she is the Finch’s housekeeper. Throughout the novel there are different examples where Calpurnia has picked up on Scout’s behaviour at school or just in the town. This i first brought to the reader's attention when Calpurnia lectures Scout on the way she treats Mr. Cunningham jr. Scout would pick on his eating habits and she even got in a fight with him at school. Swiftly afterwards Calpurnia pulls Scout into the kitchen and gives her a stern talking to. During the narrative through