Calpurnia Quotes

"It's right hard to say," she said. "Suppose you andtalked
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? They'd think I was puttin' on airs to beat
Moses."

This is Calpurnia explaining to Scout why
she talks differently at church from how she talks at home. Calpurnia effectively has a double
identity, as a black housekeeper serving a white family and as a member of Maycomb's
African-American community. She finds it necessary, then, to switch between different speech
registers depending on whom she's talking to. That explains why she doesn't talk the same way to
Scout as she does to her fellow worshippers at the black church she attends.

Unlike , Calpurnia doesn't have the luxury of being herself. As an African American
woman living in the Deep South, she's acutely aware of her lowly place in society. That being
the case, she has to be extra careful about what she says and to whom she says it. Among other
things, this means not putting on airs and graces, which is what she feels she would be doing
were she to talk at church the way she does at home.

What's motherly about
this quotation is that it shows Calpurnia's anxiety to ensure that Scout grows up to be a fine,
upstanding lady. Part of being a lady, in Calpurnia's eyes, is to act and talk appropriately at
all times. Were she to act and talk at church the way she does at home, that is to say showing
that she knows better than everyone else, Calpurnia would not, according to her values, be
acting in a ladylike manner. This has especial relevance for Scout, who, as well as being a bit
of a tomboy, is very intelligent for her age. There's nothing wrong with intelligence, thinks
Calpurnia, but it's not necessary to show it off at every opportunity.

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