The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Walter “Granddaddy” Tate is one of the main protagonists of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate. Granddaddy is a Civil War veteran who, after the war, became a recluse within his own home. After an encounter with a bat during a brutal battle, Granddaddy turned to science as his passion, locking himself away in his laboratory and library. During his career as a natural scientist, Granddaddy became a member of the National Geographic Society and worked with prolific scientists like Charles Darwin and Alexander Graham Bell. Throughout the novel, Granddaddy introduces many scientific concepts to Callie, of whom he grows more and more fond as the novel progresses. Granddaddy sees scientific progress as an inevitability, and he is enchanted by the idea of an “auto-mobile” and decides that he wants to drive one before he dies.

Granddaddy’s relationship to Callie is significant for both of them. Granddaddy has distanced himself from his family to the extent that he does not even know his grandchildren’s names, but one day, Callie decides to ask her grandfather about the new yellow grasshoppers that she has found in the front lawn. From there, Granddaddy and Callie become partners in their shared love of science. Granddaddy teaches Callie all the things that she has not learned in school because her curriculum is limited by her gender. He encourages Callie to defy social expectations, teaching her about the contributions made by women in science and showing his approval when she stands up to her mother. Granddaddy encourages Callie to defy her fate of becoming a debutante, and the pair celebrate the accomplishment of discovering an entirely new species together.

Margaret “Mother” Tate is Callie’s mother. She represents the feminine ideal of the post-Civil War southern society in which the novel is set. Mother is presented as one of the main antagonists of the novel. While she is not overtly antagonistic toward Callie, she is the main threat to Callie’s dream of becoming a scientist. Mother has a generally good relationship with the other characters; she is happily married, treats those who work for the family kindly, and loves her seven children, but she seems to dislike and avoid her father-in-law, especially when he declares that the fossil record and Darwin’s theories of evolution disprove what is written in the Book of Genesis, the story of creation in the Bible. Mother is often seen drinking a “tonic” that is meant to help with her headaches; however, Callie’s narration reveals that when she is older, she discovers that the “tonic” consists of over 20% alcohol.

Callie’s relationship with her mother is complicated. While the pair truly love each other, they have opposing plans for Callie’s future. Mother never had the opportunity to “come out” to society due to the economic devastation that occurred after the Civil War. While she eventually married Callie’s father, she always wished that she had the opportunity to be a debutante. Mother wants Callie, her only daughter, to have the opportunity that she herself has missed. However, Callie has no interest in this plan and does not want to learn how to manage a household. Mother’s belief in the traditional gender roles that were common during this time period limits Callie, and this dynamic threatens to foil Callie’s ambition to become a scientist. Callie eventually realizes that her fate is in her parents’ hands because they are able to control everything that she does; in this historical context, the dynamic of the family holds parents as the ultimate power.