Lisa Mwewa 101
In “To Kill a Mockingbird” we meet a family of three that consists of Atticus Finch, Jem Find and Scout Finch. Although Scout has no mother, she has many Female influences in her life that play an important role in her character and character development. These women go by the names of Alexandra Finch, her aunt, Calpurnia, the Finch’s housekeeper and Miss Maudie, their neighbour. In this essay I’ll be discussing each woman and their influences on Scout’s character.
Due to the fact that the children’s mother died when she was very young, Calpurnia is somewhat a mother figure to Scout and Jem. At the beginning of the story we see that Scout thinks of Calpurnia as a “tyrannical presence”, but throughout the story her opinion changes and she realises that Calpurnia is a positive influence. In the book we learn that to keep Scout busy, Calpurnia had her copy bible verses and the alphabet and if this was done adequately she would be rewarded. Scout and Calpurnia’s relationship was strengthened when they visited her church and Scout realised that Calpurnia leads a double life. Scout admires the way Calpurnia dealt with Lula at the church and stood up for her and Jem. When returning from church Scout expresses an interest in Cal’s other life and asks to visit her home. The relationship Scout has with Cal later on affects her view on the trial of Tom Robinson.
Aside from Calpurnia, Scout has the m...
