In chapter 12 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Calpurnia brings Jem and Scout to First Purchase African M.E. Church on Sunday because their father, Atticus, has been summoned to an "emergency session" outside of Maycomb and could not be home to bring the kids to church himself. Calpurnia worries about Jem and Scout going to their church alone because of an earlier incident where the children, unsupervised, tied up a peer in the furnace room of the church and forgot about her:
"Left to its own devices, the class tied Eunice Ann Simpson to a chair and placed her in the furnace room. We forgot her, trooped upstairs to church, and were listening quietly to the sermon when a dreadful banging issued from the radiator pipes, persisting until someone investigated and brought forth Eunice Ann saying she didn’t want to play Shadrach any more—Jem Finch said she wouldn’t get burnt if she had enough faith, but it was hot down there. "
On Saturday night, Calpurnia makes sure Jem and Scout are spotlessly clean, stating that she didn't want anyone to think she didn't care for her children. When Jem and Scout arrive at First Purchase, it's unlike anything they've ever experienced:
"First Purchase African M.E. Church was in the Quarters outside the southern town limits, across the old sawmill tracks. It was an ancient paint-peeled frame building, the only church in Maycomb with a steeple and bell, called First Purchase because it was paid for from the first earnings of freed slaves. Negroes worshiped in it on Sundays and white men gambled in it on weekdays."
The building is old and run-down, and Scout cannot understand why there are no hymnals in the pews, which is an important detail that Lee includes in her character. Scout, because of her youth and naiveté, cannot comprehend that the church is too poor and uneducated to afford (or need) something as luxurious as individual hymnals. This theme of innocence punctuates the novel as Scout grows and learns about her world of racism, oppression, and injustice in fragmented anecdotes, such as First Purchase's lack of hymnals, thus creating for the reader a slow, steady, jarring, and quizzical revelation of 1930 southern America's grand, completed world.
It's also important to note that First Purchase is named such because it was "paid for from the first earnings of freed slaves," and yet "white men gamble in it on the weekdays." The church serves as a poignant symbol of injustice and privilege. Nothing belongs to the black community--not even something that was bought and paid for with money, time, and blood. White men can still do what they wish with this building because they were born with the "correct" skin color.
In chapter 12, Atticus travels to Montgomery, and Calpurnia decides to take Jem and Scout to Sunday service at First Purchase African M.E. Church. Jem and Scout enjoy their experience at First Purchase African M.E. Church and gain valuable insight into the black community of Maycomb. The Finch children are shocked to discover that the majority of the congregation cannot read and use a technique called "lining" to sing hymns in unison. They also notice how Reverend Sykes calls specific individuals out for their sins and locks the church's doors until the congregation raises ten dollars for Helen Robinson's family. Jem and Scout also discover that Calpurnia lives a "modest double life" and is one of the most educated women in her community. Overall, Jem and Scout enjoy their visit to First Purchase African M.E. Church and gain valuable insight into the black community of Maycomb.
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