Unveiling Identities: Mrs. Dubose, Calpurnia, and Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Mrs. Dubose, Calpurnia and Dill have other identities which are revealed later. To Scout and Jem, Mrs. Dubose is a mean old lady, Calpurnia is their strict housekeeper, and Dill is their friend with a dad that loves him. As the children mature, they find out the true identities of each person. People are not who you think they are until you put yourself in their situation.

Mrs. Dubose lives two doors down the street from Scout and Jem’s house. At first, she is critical and vicious about every action they do: “’Where are you two going at this time of day? Playing hooky, I suppose. I’ll just call up the principal and tell him…Makes no difference if it’s Saturday. I wonder if your father knows where you are?’” (Lee 101). In a way, Mrs. Dubose is like Aunt Alexandra in that she commands what the kids should be on the outside. Soon, all of her remarks drive Jem crazy, causing him to cut off all of Mrs. Dubose’s flowers, resulting in his punishment of having to read to Mrs.

Dubose for a month. As Scout and Jem read, they learn that Mrs. Dubose is a morphine addict and that she is dying: “We had not seen Mrs. Dubose for over a month. She was never on the porch any more when we passed. ‘She’s dead, son,’ said Atticus. ‘She died a few minutes ago…Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict. She took it as a pain-killer for years’” (Lee 111). After this is revealed to Jem, he asked, “’Did she die free?’” (Lee 111). This shows his concern for Mrs. Dubose’s well being after he finds out her situation. Before Jem put himself in her position, he never really knew what Mrs. Dubose was going through, and as a result he was ignorant of the truth.

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Mrs. Dubose is not the only person that constantly nags at Scout and Jem. Calpurnia provides the Finch’s household with a motherly figure to look after Scout and Jem. She looks after them, gives them advice, and corrects their mistakes: “‘There’s some folks who don’t eat like us,’ she whispered fiercely, ‘but you ain’t called on to contradict ‘em at the table when they don’t That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear?’” (Lee 24). Calpurnia scolds Scout after she questions Walter Cunningham’s dinner habits. Her image in the children’s mind has always been unsympathetic and harsh. Nearly one year later, however, Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to her church, and while being there, Calpurnia uses some language not appropriate for one of her stature: “‘What you want, Lula?’ she asked, in tones I had never heard her use. She spoke quietly, contemptuously.

‘I wants to know why you bringin’ white chillun to n*** church’” (Lee 119). Scout is surprised by Calpurnia’s actions at the church. She simply replies that there is a place for speaking “white-folk’s talk and colored-folks talk” (Lee 126). This shows Calpurnia’s views about how people talk and where they are supposed to talk. As Scout and Jem learn more about Calpurnia, they become more mature from gathering wisdom from her.

From Scout and Jem’s point of view, Dill is their friend who tells big tales about himself. At first, Dill bragged about himself and his family a lot: “His family was from Maycomb County originally, his mother worked for a phorographer in Meridian, had entered his picture in a Beautiful Child contest and won five dollars. She gave the money to Dill, who went to the picture show twenty times on it” (7). Scout and Jem started to doubt his claims, as they found them difficult to believe. Unlike Mrs. Dubose and Calpurnia, whose situations the children had been ignorant of, Scout and Jem had already prejudged Dill and concluded that all of his stories are not plausible. Further insight into Dill’s life is provided when Dill appears under Scout’s bed: “‘The thing is, what I’m trying to say is – they do get on a lot better without me, I can’t help them any’” (143). Here Scout discovers that Dill isn’t wanted by his parents, which is why he comes in the first place. However, when Dill reveals that he left without telling his parents, Jem finds him irresponsible. This further reinforces the view that Dill is sometimes dishonest.

“Beware, so long as you live, of judging men by their outward appearance.” (de la Fontaine). On the outside, Mrs. Dubose was a spiteful woman that commented at Scout and Jem every day, but on the inside she struggled to overcome the burden of life. Initially Calpurnia seems to be a figure of justice and respectful behavior, but her actions at the church show that at other places she doesn’t follow her code of conduct. Dill was already shown to be a liar and big mouth, but Scout and Jem learn more about his family and personal life. Judgment of a person is almost always flawed before you get to know them.

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