Mayella Ewell Character Analysis

In To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee, a young and hardworking African American is accused of raping a white woman. To Kill a Mockingbird is about two young children going through their journey to adulthood, Jem and Scout. Jem and Scout’s father, a lawyer, is appointed to defend Tom Robinson in a court case that cannot be won in part because of the prejudice of those in the jury. Mayella Ewell, the women he is accused of raping, is a young woman who has had hardly any interactions with others and has a compassionate heart despite her being part of the Ewell household. Mayella Ewell is worthy of compassion, but not at the cost of Tom Robinson’s life despite her economic, social, and familial difficulties. Mayella Ewell is someone worthy of compassion because of the economic difficulties she has. The Ewell

Very little of what happens within the Ewell’s house is told to us but we learn a little though Tom Robinson’s trial. During Atticus’s cross examination of Mayella Ewell in his trial, she tells us much about herself and what her life was like. After Mayella Ewell answered Atticus’s questions, Atticus said,”’What did your father see in the window, the crime of rape or the best defense to it? Why don’t you tell the truth, child, didn’t Bob Ewell beat you up’”(231)? Atticus’s words here tell us he believes Bob Ewell was the one who raped Mayella Ewell. In fact, some of Mayella Ewell’s other answers also point to Bob Ewell beating her or at least mistreating her. Based on Mayella Ewell’s actions throughout the trial, such as her subtle action of glancing at her father before answering some of the questions, it could be said that all or most of her answers were memorized beforehand or are false because of her fear of her father. Her father’s mistreatment of her at home is one of the best reasons for other’s to feel compassion for