Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, mentions countless lessons that Scout learns while growing up. She learns these lessons from the adults in her life, which includes her African American caretaker, Calpurnia. Without an actual mother around to guide her, Calpurnia becomes the motherly figure in Scout’s life who guides her. The interactions between Calpurnia and Scout affects the way Scout goes about her daily life as a result of what she learns from Calpurnia, like writing, understanding black culture, and keeping an open mind in relation to other people. One of the most crucial lessons that Calpurnia taught Scout was how to write. In chapter two, Scout says, “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” (Lee 18). In this quote, Scout explains how Calpurnia taught her how to write by having her copying chapters from the Bible and writing the alphabet. The fact that she can write, causes Scout to stand out because during her first week of school, her teacher took an immediate dislike to her since she could write. In addition to her teacher disliking her immediately, …show more content…
Calpurnia teaches Scout this lesson in chapter three, when Walter Cunningham is at their house for dinner. Walter Cunningham comes from a poor family, and he was invited to have dinner at the Finch's’ house. During dinner, while Walter is pouring syrup all over his food, Scout begins to complain. Then, in the kitchen, Calpurnia scolds Scout and tell her, “There’s some people who don’t eat like us...that boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear”(24)? In this quote, Calpurnia tells Scout that some people are not unfortunate like them, like Walter Cunningham. All in all, Calpurnia is teaching Scout that she has to accept people for who they are and how their lives