Friday, September 24, 2010

What does Zeebo look like in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Zeebo is Calpurnia’s son.  He is the town garbage man.  Since he is Calpurnia’s son, obviously he is black. However, since he is Cal’s son and she is educated, he is one of the few black people in Maycomb who can read. 


Zeebo is not physically described very often, but his personality is subdued and polite. He seems to know the Finch children fairly well, since his mother works for them.  When Cal takes the Finch children to church, they see Zeebo and are surprised when he leads the entire congregation in song, one line at a time. 



Zeebo cleared his throat and read in a voice like the rumble of distant artillery:


“There’s a land beyond the river.”


Miraculously on pitch, a hundred voices sang out Zeebo’s words. The last syllable, held to a husky hum, was followed by Zeebo saying, “That we call the sweet forever.” (Ch. 12) 



Zeebo is patient, and the whole congregation follows his lead.  He does this several times throughout the service, so that the people can sing without knowing how to read.


Scout asks Calpurnia about this, and she explains to Scout that she did teach Zeebo to read, because there was no school for blacks when he was young. 



Zeebo was Calpurnia’s eldest son. If I had ever thought about it, I would have known that Calpurnia was of mature years—Zeebo had half-grown children—but then I had never thought about it. (Ch. 12)  



So all we really know about Zeebo is that is old enough to have "half-grown children," he is a garbage collector, he is one of only four blacks in Maycomb who can read, and he has deep voice “like the rumble of distant artillery.”  Even though it’s not a physical description, it does tell us a lot about him and his important role in Maycomb, from garbage collector to church line reader.

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