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Miss Maudie Atkinson
The Finches’ black cook. Atticus has employed her for years, and following the death of his wife, Calpurnia essentially raises Scout and Jem. Scout initially sees Calpurnia as tyrannical and horrible, but as she begins to grow, she comes to understand that Calpurnia truly does love and care for her. Calpurnia is unique in Maycomb, as she’s one of the few black residents who’s literate—she taught Scout to write in cursive and taught her son, Zeebo, to read. She’s fanatical about policing Scout’s manners, which irks Scout to no end since she believes that Calpurnia doesn’t correct Jem nearly as much. When Scout and Jem attend the local black church with Calpurnia and hear her speaking differently to the black parishioners there, they realize that Calpurnia leads something of a double life—she speaks one way at home and speaks very differently when she’s at the Finches’ house. This increases Scout’s respect for Calpurnia, and she becomes even more supportive of Calpurnia when Aunt Alexandra arrives and makes numerous bids for Atticus to fire Calpurnia. Atticus, however, insists that Calpurnia is like family and that he’ll never fire her.
Calpurnia Quotes in To Kill a Mockingbird
The To Kill a Mockingbird quotes below are all either spoken by Calpurnia or refer to Calpurnia. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3
Quotes
“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!”
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Chapter 12
Quotes
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?”
[...]
When I looked down the pathway again, Lula was gone. In her place was a solid mass of colored people.
One of them stepped from the crowd. It was Zeebo, the garbage collector. “Mister Jem,” he said, “we're mighty glad to have you all here. Don't pay no 'tention to Lula, she's contentious because Reverend Sykes threatened to church her. She's a troublemaker from way back, got fancy ideas an' haughty ways—we're mighty glad to have you all.”
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Calpurnia Quotes in To Kill a Mockingbird
The To Kill a Mockingbird quotes below are all either spoken by Calpurnia or refer to Calpurnia. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3
Quotes
“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!”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12
Quotes
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?”
[...]
When I looked down the pathway again, Lula was gone. In her place was a solid mass of colored people.
One of them stepped from the crowd. It was Zeebo, the garbage collector. “Mister Jem,” he said, “we're mighty glad to have you all here. Don't pay no 'tention to Lula, she's contentious because Reverend Sykes threatened to church her. She's a troublemaker from way back, got fancy ideas an' haughty ways—we're mighty glad to have you all.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
