Essay On Mayella Ewell In To Kill A Mockingbird

As a woman in the 1930’s she faced beatings from her father who she says “does tollable” “Except when he’s drinking.” (Doc B). She is also more open to being a victim of sexual assault from people such as an abusive father “she says what her papa do to her don’t count.” (Doc B) This shows that Mayella as a woman is more vulnerable to beatings and even sexual assault which would not be such an issue if she was a man.

Admittedly, she is a young girl who doesn’t know what a friend is, and had been placed under responsibility for her younger siblings and caring for the house her whole life. Although she is lying with intent to cover for her father, she may not know what else she could have done because of the two to three years of education she received. However, Mayella should have had the whole image of what she was doing in her mind. It is true that Mayella has never had much of a social life, but because her father implied what was wrong with her physically, she could have learned what was right. Placing the blame on a man who could easily be prosecuted for her injuries is something that can not be pitied and sympathized

Mayella Ewell was a poor white girl who lived in a junkyard with her father and siblings, who told a lie that ended up killing an innocent black man. She accused Tom Robinson of rape. Since Tom was a black man the people of Maycomb saw Mayella a young white girl as the victim. Mayella’s gender, race, and class made her powerful in this situation. Harper Lee the author of To Kill A Mockingbird wrote about a young girl who accused a black man of rape.

One day in Maycomb, Alabama during the great depression a young girl named Mayella Ewell was raped. This shows Mayella is one powerful young girl in the story To Kill A Mockingbird. It will show how she is power through class, race, and gender. First Mayella is powerful through her class ranking. In the story it said that the “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin…”.

Mayella is a poor person, but her status gives her power because she is seen as someone who has values above materialism. Furthermore,

Everybody has two different sides to him or her- one that is seen by others and one that is buried in their personal lives, completely hidden from others. People tend to perceive themselves as how they are seen by other people, but can open up or be exposed when they are put in that position. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, both of Mayella’s sides are evident. On the outside, she can be dismissed as a lying cheat, as she lied while on the witness stand.

“Atticus said the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations” (Lee 33) The reason he told Scout this is because he knew it for a fact, Atticus only said things that he witnessed or knew, and how the Ewells treated people led him to believe that they are bad people. Atticus also said that they live like animals” (Lee 33) Most of the time when people live in a bad place or have been raised negatively they will act differently. People pick up on behaviors, especially from their parents or guardians, the way they are raised really says a lot about the person that they will most likely become. Another thing he told Scout was, “they lived by their own rules because they didn’t care about how it would affect others” (Lee 34).

In the novel: To Kill A Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell, a poor white woman, accused Tom Robinson, an African American, of rape. The Ewell’s are very indigent and her father, Bob Ewell, gets drunk and abuses Mayella. Since Mayella is very poor, this makes her not so powerful. In Maycomb, Alabama, A poor white woman named Mayella Ewell who lives behind the town garbage dump, accuses Tom Robinson, an African American, of rape.

By saying this, Mayella reminds the jury that as men, it is their job to protect their women. So even though they may not think Tom is guilty, they convict him anyway for

Although due to being a poor, uneducated woman whom is treated like an object, Mayella is not a powerful character. For 19 years of Mayella’s life she has been

Is Mayella Ewell powerful or not? Mayella Ewell, the poorest girl in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, living on a pig farm with her abusive father and in an abandoned Negro shack. The Ewell’s are the lowest of the low in the town of Maycomb, in rank wise and are not respected too much either. Bob Ewell, father of Mayella Ewell is an abusive man, sexually and physically and has an alcoholic problem. Mayella is usually beaten and sexually assaulted by him, especially when he is drinking, but Mayella has a plan that will let her be free from Bob.

Although Mayella is powerless when it comes to class and gender, her race ultimately makers her powerful. When it comes to class Mayella is powerless. Mayella and her father live in a dump and not in opulence. When the trial ended Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father thought he’d be a hero, but instead everything turned back to normal. “He thought he’d be a hero, but all he got for his pain was… okay, we’ll convict this Negro but get back to your dump(DocA).”

Next, it is easy to tell that Mr. Bob Ewell and his daughter were more concerned about arresting Tom Robinson rather than the actual case. They were quick to point fingers, but they had trouble paying attention during the trial. When asked by Mr. Gilmer (the solicitor) if he was ambidextrous, Mr. Ewell responded by saying, “I most positively am not, I can use one hand good as the other.” Also, Mayella didn’t hesitate to accuse Tom of hitting her left eye even though Mr. Heck Tate clearly stated that her right eye was blackened. The two witnesses were ignorant and nervous throughout cross-examination.

In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee took the minor character of Mayella Ewell and made her into a sympathetic role to her readers in a latent way. Mayella's life at home is told through the story's background and foreshadowing references. This is how Lee made Mayella memorable enough to the reader to know who she is and her family situation without needing her point of view of her side of the story. Once Mayella enters the storyline, her actions will become understandable to the reader and generate sympathy. One way Lee makes Mayella a sympathetic character is how before entering her into the story, one of Mayella's younger siblings was introduced.

Bob Ewell, is Mayella’s father, the villain of the novel and most figures that struts hatred to the African Americans. Bob Ewell has no money, no education, he wants his life to be better, and he pours his anger on whoever is weaker than him. He bashes his daughter when he discovered her intentions towards Tom Robinson; he also tried to hurt Scout and Jem. "I see that black nigger yonder ruttin' on my Mayella!" (84)