Who is Calpurnia in To Kill a Mockingbird?

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Book cover for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, featuring a silhouette of a child under a tree and a large moon, with the title in script and — To Kill a Mockingbird This book cover is one of many given to Harper Lee's classic work *To Kill a Mockingbird* (1960). The novel won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and the next year was made into an Academy Award-winning film.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Calpurnia is the African American housekeeper for the Finch family. She plays a significant role in the upbringing of the narrator, Jean Louise ("Scout") Finch, and her brother, Jem, serving as a maternal figure and a source of guidance in their home in Alabama.1

As a central adult in the children's lives, Calpurnia is one of the individuals whose sayings and perspectives help shape Scout’s observations and understanding of the world around her.1