”There goes the meanest man ever God blew breath into,” murmured Calpurnia, and she spat meditatively into the yard. We looked at her in surprise, for Calpurnia rarely commented on the ways of white people.

Even here we cannot be entirely certain, but the textual cues are pretty strong.  And it speaks volumes about how Scout and Jem have been raised by their father.  They appear to be as color-blind as people living in that part of the country at that time can be.

This whole “spitting” thing has a pretty significant presence in the text. One wonders whether in this situation Calpurnia is setting a charm, warding off the “evil eye” of dead, mean ol’ Mr. Radley. Among the Ancient Greeks (and today, too?), that was one function of the act of spitting. And elsewhere in the story, Scout uses spitting in the palm and shaking hands as a means of sealing a deal—one of those lady-like habits of which her aunt wants to cure her.

Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum. (6)

This reminded me of the years Laurie and I lived in Charleston, South Carolina. My Navy uniforms were starched to the point that I feared the fabric would crack if bent; and, within minutes of putting them on, they looked and felt as though there were NO starch in them at all. It was very hard for anyone to pass inspection while we were there unless they were wearing those plastic bags known as polyester perma-press. Problem was, those things would kill you slowly through bodily suffocation.

Our friend, Shelley, told us then—for me the first time hearing this—that “horses sweat, men perspire, and women glow.” It sounds as though Ms Lee was trying to give us the same impression.

In Maycomb, if one went for a walk with no definite purpose in mind, it was correct to believe one’s mind incapable of definite purpose.

Man, these are serious folks.

Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.

Authors must struggle for a book title and I would suppose that many are written with a working title and hope that somehow some great thought emerges from the manuscript. Harper Lee backs her title with a beautiful sentiment that speaks to the nature of the book:

Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.