Calpurnia
takesandto her church in Chapter
Twelve of . The night before the service,
Calpurnia
bathes both Jem and Scout, and she reviews their clothing (a suit for Jem and a
dress
with petticoats and a pink sash for Scout) and treats the material with
starch the morning of.
Jem wryly comments that with all this fuss, "It's like
we were goin' to Mardi
Gras."
The church that Calpurnia
takes them to is First Purchase
African M.E. Church in the Quarters; the
building was purchased with the first earnings of freed
slaves and contains
the only steeple and bell in all of Maycomb.
When the
trio first arrives at the church, the men take off their hats and the women cross their
arms,
which Scout describes as "weekday gestures of respectful attention."
One woman, Lula,
is not amused that Calpurnia has brought white children to a
black church. Jem and Scout want to
leave to avoid causing trouble, but
another church member, Zeebo, assures them that they are
welcome
there.
Scout and Jem are surprised at the lack of decor,
hymn-books,
or traditional instruments for church music. Despite these
superficial differences, the sermon
is much the same as the one given at
their own church... with the exception of the calling out
of individuals who
have sinned in some capacity. The service closes with continued
money-collecting on the behalf of Helen Robinson, who cannot find work due to
people's
skepticism about her as the wife of Tom Robinson.
This experience is
significant because, as Scout puts it, the
children discover "[t]hat Calpurnia led a modest
double life... a separate
existence outside our household... having command of two
languages." This
recognition of Calpurnia's private life and multidimensional existence as
a
human being is critical; she is no longer viewed by Scout as merely the black woman who
works
in the Finch household. She is a person beyond her housekeeping and the
color of her skin, one
with very real desires, needs, principles, cultural
values, etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment