Seeing Calpernia speaking in a less educated way then is possible for her, puzzles Scout. Calpernia takes Jem and Scout to a black church. While she is there, she interacts with her peers in a way much different then how she interacts with white people. She speaks in a less educated manner than she can. Scout is very startled by hearing the way Calpernia speaks to others. She has only ever heard intelligent Calpernia. I think its so startling to Scout because never even considered that Calpernia really had a life outside of the family. She always thought that she knew Calpernia, that she understood who she was. Seeing her speaking "black" Scout considers that she might not know Calpernia as well as she always thought. "Calpurnia led a modest double life never dawned on me”(Lee 167). The reason why Calpernia speaks like that at church is simply that she thinks it snobby and inappropriate to talk that way in a setting in which it is not required. "Suppose you and Scout talked colored folks talk at home, It'd be out of place wouldn't it" (Lee 167). This is just one more thing in changing things in Scout's life.
Will this effect the way Scout see's Calpernia?
Is this a significant change in Scouts life or just one more thing in growing up?
This does effect the way Scout see's Calpurnia. In the beginning of the book, Scout thought that Calpurnia was "All angles and bones." (Lee 6) and that "[Scout] had felt [Calpurnia's] tyrannical presence as long as [she] could remember." (Lee 7) Scout thought of Calpurnia as a mean woman with no life other than ordering Scout around and screaming at her. Later, as Jem starts groing up and wants Scout to leave him alone, Scout grows closer to Calpurnia, as she has no one to play with now that Jem is changing, and Dill didn't come over for summer. Calpurnia says "You just come right on in the kitchen when you feel lonesome. We'll find lots of things to do in here." (Lee 154) After this, Scout changes her opinion on Calpurnia. She now thinks that Calpurnia is a nice person who is essentially part of the Finch family, but is not that interesting. Scout's views on Calpurnia change again when Calpurnia brings Scout and Jem to her African-American church because she does not want to leave them alone at home. Scout hears Calpurnia talking like the rest of the people in her church even though she knows better. Scout and Jem are puzzled and ask Calpurnia why. Calpurnia replies "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?" (Lee 167) Scout then realizes that Calpurnia leads a "modest double life" (Le 167) and is more interested and Calpurnia. She now sees Calpurnia as a nice, interesting person who has a life, and friends.
ReplyDeleteI believe this will be an important part of Scout's life, although not in the way most people will think. I think it will open up both Scout and Jem's mind even more then it is right now. The scene when Calpurnia is talking like the other black people at the church (Lee 158) shows that anyone can show a different side of themselves when provoked by the right stimuli. It could cause them to think about people more than how they just see them. It is probably a very significant thing in the life of Scout and Jem, and might help them more often than once throughout their lives.
ReplyDeleteI believe that in these chapters Scout is able to see the side of Calpurnia that is trying to mix with a black community and not a white one. This opens up Jem and Scout's minds to see how Calpurnia talks and shows a different side of her. The main reason that Calpurnia talks like that is because no one else talks proper English and she does not want to stand out in the community for acting like a white person. It also shows Calpurnia as a person with a life outside of their house who has good friends and a family. We see her as a warm and kind person who looks out for Jem and Scout at her church in this chapter
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