Sympathy towards those who have committed an unbelievable act, but have also encountered degrading misfortunes exists as a complicated and controversial issue. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a nineteen year old white woman, Mayella Ewell, attempts to seduce a black man, Tom Robinson and they both wind up in court because Mayella accused Tom of raping her. The final verdict of the trial stated that Tom was guilty and he was sentenced to prison. Some may say that Mayella shouldn't receive pity at all because she is the one who is at fault for causing Tom’s death. However, Mayella should be viewed as a sympathetic character in the novel because she has to endure an abnormal and stressful life at a young age and she is a victim …show more content…
She held the most responsibility at home ever since her father neglected the children. “... their relief check was far enough to feed the family, and there was strong suspicion that Papa drank it up anyway..”(244) Mayella’s imperfect life of poverty and early self- reliance dragged her social life away as well. Because of the constant chores at home, Mayella was incapable of experiencing a normal social life and had ended up wasting many childhood years feeling lonely. “When Atticus asked had she any friends, she seemed to not know what he meant ,then she thought he was making fun of her.”(256) Mayella was physically unable to socialize amongst others since taking care of the house at a young age hindered her desire to feel compatible with people around her own age. Mayella’s hardworking but depressing life is definitely worth sympathizing for especially since her father forced her into a gruesome and horrid …show more content…
This is because she purposely put Tom’s death on the line by accusing him of raping her. In reality, this isn't the case because Tom was the one who decided to end his own life. Plus, if Mayella's father were to financially contribute and help around the house, Mayella wouldn't have been so busy to the point where she lived in zero social contact with people her age. Mayella wouldn't have to accuse a social lower class, like Tom, if she had a friend or a significant other. Instead, she was desperate and lonely; it was difficult for her to control her sexual temptation and desire to kiss someone. In Atticus’ speech, he talks about how Mayella broke a certain code in the racist society that they were living in. “She knew full well the enormity of her offense,but because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted in breaking it.”(272) The reason why it's hard to withdraw from this kind of desire is because sex is part of human nature and it’s completely fine for a human being to be sexually attracted to another being. Tom Robinson was the only person whom she was acquainted and familiar with— besides her family; he was the only one Mayella was sexually aroused with. Putting the blame on her would be an immoral thing to do since she has dreadfully suffered through many evil and heartbreaking
Tom Robinson is a kind black man whom Atticus is defending against the charge that he raped Mayella Ewell. Atticus knows that he will lose because Tom is black, but he also knows that Tom is innocent and that he has to defend him. Tom Robinson is portrayed as a hard-working father and husband in the novel and he was only attempting to help Mayella since no one else would, but she made advances that he refused and her father saw them. On the witness stand, he testifies that he helped her because, "'Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun.'" (256). Even though Tom helps Mayella out of kindness and pity, Mayella is trapped and must accuse him of raping her to save her own life. Shortly after being wrongfully convicted
To Kill a Mocking Bird expresses the racist attitudes of Maycomb most dominantly in the court case involving Tom Robinson (who's lawyer is Atticus Finch) and Mayella Eule. The trial makes blatantly obvious to the reader that Tom Robinson, the black man accused of rape is innocent and yet the jury finds him guilty. It also establishes that Mayella was actually beaten by her father and although the evidence that points to this occurrence is circumstantial, it is made perfectly clear. The court case also clarifies to the reader the frightful nature and obvious abundance of racism within the small town of Maycomb.
First, I will show how she could not even control her home life “She says she never kissed a grown man before...She says what her papa do to her don't count”(DBQ:Is Mayella Ewell powerful?15).The second way I can prove Mayella was not powerful using gender is that she gets abused by her father”’I mean, is he good to you, is he easy to get along with?’,’He does tollable, ‘cept when-’, ‘Expect when?’, ‘Expect when nothin’, said mayela. ‘I said he does tollable.’,’Except when he's drinking?’ asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded.”(DBQ:Is Mayella Ewell powerful?.15). The final way I will prove that Mayella is not powerful with the use of gender is that” ...What did her father do? We don't know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left…”(DBQ:Is Mayella Ewell powerful?.15).So as you can Mayella has little to no power when it comes to her
Since she was not taught respect from her father, she would not know much about it. “Won’t answer a word you say long as you keep on mockin’ me,’ Mayella said. Mayella is not one of those other people in the small town of Maycomb that lives in a nice neighborhood. Mayella lives behind a garbage dump with her father and siblings. During the trial of Tom Robinson, Scout describes Mayella’s home.
With lots of children to take care of Mayella was only able to get two to three years of education and she had no friends. This is why when Atticus asks her about her friends she thinks he is making fun of her. After having to live a life like this we don?t know why Mayella would like to defend her hard-hearted father, but she probably did this because she was scared of what he would do to her if she told the truth. We feel sympathetic towards her at this point but there is still a sense of hatred towards her as she is letting an innocent person being jailed who actually helped her a lot when no one did.
While Mayella did lie which ended up killing Tom Robinson, she is still sympathetic as she demonstrates that she does not want want to be a dumb, dirty Ewell. She is isolated from society and a victim of domestic abuse. Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird leaves a lot of details in the novel for the reader to decide. Lee’s role, was to simply scatter evidence for readers to formulate their own conclusions on her characters, events and themes. Mayella Ewell’s personality and character was a scattered jigsaw puzzle and Lee created each individual piece which represents her words. Those who solve the puzzle correctly can conclude that Mayella is a very sympathetic character that was conceived to embody the evils of Bob Ewell and southern
Mayella uses this case to cover up the shame in her life because she is extremely lonely, has no self-esteem, and overwhelmed with the amount of unhappiness in her life. Mayella gets extremely defensive in this quote because she knows that everything Atticus has brought up is good evidence and she can’t hold her own. In the jury, it was full of all white men. Mayella acted timid and helpless and suggested in her comment that the man of the jury be brave and heroic. She becomes someone who is vulnerable, valuable, and needs to be protected.
To conclude, Mayella should be fully responsible for her actions. She is someone that should be condemned instead of pitied because she is conscious while deciding to kiss a black man, kills Tom Robinson by giving false testimony in court, and knows in advance the consequences of her actions. Tom’s miserable fate is in sharp contrast with Mayella’s, as this event in To Kill a Mockingbird is meant to reflect how white people are easily forgiven even when all evidence is pointing against them. Unfortunately, Scottsboro Boys’ end is the same as Tom’s – all but one of them were convicted and sentenced to death for something that did not happen.
Mayella Ewell is a character in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. She lives in the town of Maycomb, Alabama where the inhabitants are very sexist and judgemental. In the book Mayella is not powerful considering her class, race, and gender. The community members she lives near are a very large contributing factor to her powerlessness. Mayella is mistreated a great amount throughout her lifetime. After all that physical and mental abuse she faces becomes enough Mayella does something drastic. She accuses an African American man of rape knowing, her being a white woman, he would get in tremendous trouble. People cannot say whether it was right or wrong of her to do what she did. What they can say is that at the moment she was powerless to do otherwise.
Is Mayella Powerful? In this story or document Mayella isn’t really that powerful because of her class, race, and gender. This story took place in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. The reason why she is really not that powerful is because of her class, and gender. Her family is a poor pig farm family that lived in a Negro cabin that is behind the town’s dump.The reason why she does not have any power due to her gender and that is because she is a girl.
With this being said, even though Mayella was a low class female she inherited the superiority of being white making it easy for her during the trial. Mayella used her individualistic self pity against Tom Robinson. The little town of Maycomb Alabama knew the truth, but the Ewell’s plan backfired on them. They gained no respect, and are still considered white pieces of trash. As for Mayella individually, she’s not educated but she is very smart. Mayella did have power through race, class, and
For example, when Atticus was asking Mayella questions during the trial, the novel stated, “’Won’t answer another word you say long as you keep mocking me,’ she said. ‘Ma’am?’ asked Atticus, startled. ‘Long’s you keep makin’ fun o’ me.’ Judge Taylor said, ‘Mr. Finch is not making fun of you. What’s the matter with you?’” (Lee, 243). This quote easily shows the reader how Mayella was not very good at being able to tell Atticus’s polite gestures as rudeness. It can also show how, if Mayella could mistake politeness for rudeness, then she could easily mistake Tom Robinson’s sympathy for love. During Atticus’s closing statement he said, “’…her desires were stronger than the code that she was breaking.’” (Lee, 272). This shows that Mayella cared so much about not being alone that she pushed everything aside so that she could be with someone. It also exhibits how the loneliness that society subjected her to trumped everything, even her better judgement, which is why she tried to come on to Tom. All in all, it’s society’s fault that Mayella flirted with Tom Robinson because she was so
During the trial Tom said, “She says what her papa do to her don’t count… I didn’t want to harm her, Mr.Finch an’ I say lemme pass”(Doc B). As you can tell, this emphasized how Mayella allowed her own father to sexually assault her even though this should have never happened, and she should have stopped him. Scout then described Mayella during the trial and said, “Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing. He sat up straight and waited for her to answer”(Doc B). This demonstrated how Mayella was scared of her father and let him control her when she should’ve just told the truth. To sum up, this showed how Mayella was powerless since she allowed her father to control her during the case by making her say what he wanted her to say by scaring
“... Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s garden’s. They don’t nest in the corncubs. They don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (pg.103)Mayella is innocent because she grew up in an abusive household. The book gives hints that her father Bob Ewell sexually assaults her and leaves her to take care of her so called “brothers and sisters.” Mayella Ewell was put on stand and was made to lie to the judge and jury by her father, Bob Ewell, who beats her and abuses
While the novel does take place post-Civil War, racism is still an ever-present factor in America. Slurs such as “nigger” or “negro” are apart of the common vocabulary, such as when Cecil Jacobs says, “That nigger ought to hang from the water tank!” (102). Since the black community is looked down upon, kissing Tom was one of the worst decisions she could make in the public eye. As Atticus explains, “She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man … No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards” (272). Even in the judicial system which, by definition, is supposed to serve justice, has the odds stacked against African-Americans. When Atticus expounds upon this unjust bias he says, “When it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins” (295), rendering Tom Robinson’s trial practically useless. Because of the southern biases against the African American community, Mayella would be ostracized and shunned by society had she revealed her true actions. Everyone strives for acceptance, and will go to many extremes to achieve it, even at the expense of another. Therefore, one must give Mayella sympathy as she was only following her instincts as a