The quote appears in the opening chapter when Mr Radley coffin passes their house. Calpurnia's words surprise the children. Usually, she wouldn't dare make any comment about "the ways of the white people." She shows further hatred towards them by spitting on the ground.

It seems that she feels the same way as everyone else in the town. Mr. Radley destroyed his son Boo by first agreeing for the town to lock Boo up in the basement of the courthouse and then by keeping in the house when Boo finally arrived home. Though the writer doesn't state it directly, Calpurnia's words suggest that the only reason Mr. Radley agreed to all this was that he wouldn't give up the money to send Boo to an institution.

The result was that Boo turned from being a hyper, fun-loving teenager into a town rumor. After he arrives back home, no one sees him again. There are even whispers that Mr. Radley chains him to the bed. However, Atticus tells the children that there are "other ways of making people into ghosts."

Boo has risen to mythical status in the eyes of the children. According to Jem, his hands are stained with blood from the number of raw squirrels he catches and eats.