Examples Of Mayella Ewell In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are given the traits of the mockingbird; the innocence, abuse, wrongful violence, and the bringing of happiness. The motif in the book is to see that many people who we consider ‘bad’ are truly just misunderstood. One mockingbird that many people never seem to acknowledge is Mayella Ewell. Mayella is seen as an antagonist and a persecutor against an innocent Tom Robinson, but she is truly one who is also persecuted. First, when Atticus, through proven demonstration, shows the court that Bob Ewell is indeed left handed, it matches up perfectly with the marks on Mayella’s neck. Her abuse at the hands of her father is apparent and seems to be a common factor in her life, judging by behavior. Mayella is …show more content…

Jem, is different though. He shows his innocence and persecution in a form far more natural than any seen in the other characters; he matures. First, when the kids are walking by her house, Mrs. Dubose insults the entire Finch family including Scout and Atticus. Jem has never done anything to insult Mrs. Dubose; furthermore, Atticus is doing nothing wrong and is only defending an innocent black man. Because she attacks him without cause, he is a victim of undeserved violence. Second, after Jem is given multiple gifts from an unknown person in the knothole of a tree, Jem is on his way to put a thank you note in the knothole only to find that Mr. Radley has filled the hole with cement. Jem only wanted to make Boo, the giver of the gifts, happy. Furthermore, even though this is not a physical attack, it’s still an emotional attack to s rip from both of them their only means of communication. Jem realizes how terrible Nathan Radley is, to cut off Boo like this; and Jem is punished for being nothing but kind. Finally, when Bob Ewell tries to kill the Finch children, Jem pushes Scout out of the way of Bob, shouting “Run, Scout! Run!”(206) Jem is readily willing to die for Scout, bringing happiness as the mockingbird does. Jem has another staple of the mockingbird under his proverbial wing, being the victim of undeserved violence. Bob knows that the

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    Scout Finch, the youngest child of Atticus Finch, narrates the story. It is summer and her cousin Dill and brother Jem are her companions and playmates. They play all summer long until Dill has to go back home to Maridian and Scout and her brother start school. The Atticus’ maid, a black woman by the name of Calpurnia, is like a mother to the children. While playing, Scout and Jem discover small trinkets in a knothole in an old oak tree on the Radley property. Summer rolls around again and Dill comes back to visit. A sence of discrimination develops towards the Radley’s because of their race. Scout forms a friendship with her neighbor Miss Maudie, whose house is later burnt down. She tells Scout to respect Boo Radley and treat him like a person. Treasures keep appearing in the knothole until it is filled with cement to prevent decay. As winter comes it snows for the first time in a century. Boo gives scout a blanket and she finally understands her father’s and Miss Maudie’s point of view and treats him respectfully. Scout and Jem receive air guns for Christmas, and promise Atticus never to shoot a mockingbird, for they are peaceful and don’t deserve to die in that manner. Atticus then takes a case defending a black man accused of rape. He knows that such a case will bring trouble for his family but he takes it anyways. This is the sense of courage he tries to instill in his son Jem.

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    One could jump to many different conclusions when reading this book, but in order to completely understand the thoughts of the characters, we have to put ourselves in the shoes of the main characters Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson. One should also take into consideration the time the story takes place which was during the great depression when racism was real and slavery still exists. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Mayella and Tom were both known to be outcast and would be considered at the lower level of the hierarchy. They lived in one of the poorest towns in Maycomb County, in southern Alabama. Both characters, Mayella and Tom, were not thought of very highly (as you can tell from their place in the hierarchy)

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    Her father abuses her in a physical and sexual way. Additionally, she is emotionally damaged from her father’s cruel ways with her and emotionally damaged from being an outcast in her town. To say Mayella Ewell is not a mockingbird is equal to saying Tom Robinson is a white man. Through her oppression, Mayella Ewell impacted Scout’s coming of age. She taught her optimism, appreciation, and how demoniac the world can be. In a world of black and white, Mayella can be seen as the villain of the book but perhaps people should stop focusing on the blacks and whites of the world and see the book’s point; there is no black and white. There are no villains; there are just misunderstood humans. There are

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    Ewell’s sly and overly confident account of the event only provides more affirmation to the idea of him using his own daughter for his racist and destructive purposes. He pinpoints his own evils onto Tom Robinson, even things that would be physically impossible. A large piece of evidence is the fact that Mayella’s left eye is swollen, while Tom Robinson’s right arm is completely disabled. He still tries to argue with the idea that just because Tom was black he took advantage of Mayella; “Mr. Ewell could’ve beaten up Mayella… if her right eye was blacked and she was beaten mostly on the right side of the face, it would tend to show a left handed person did it” (Lee 178). Atticus made sure the whole community knew the beating scars left on Mayella’s face were strictly from her own father. He keenly exhibited Mr. Ewell’s dominance of his right hand, thereover making it the perfect strike to his own daughter’s face. Along with this, Atticus also utilizes the fact that no one went to retrieve a doctor; he demonstrates that any caring family member would do the simple thing of getting medical help. “‘Did you, during all this running, run for a doctor?’ (Lee 175). Mr. Ewell argues there was no need for a doctor because he had seen who caused Mayella’s injuries. Though his testimony is clearly not the truth, Atticus portrays it would still make sense to seek a doctor in any situation of the sort. Nevertheless, Mr. Ewell is more steadfast in his testimony than Mayella, he still

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    Overall, Mayella is not a powerful figure in To Kill a Mockingbird. Even though she was powerful because of her race, the areas she lacked in was her social class and gender. Despite the fact that Mayella won the trial, the only reason why she won was due to her race. She is also a very weak character since she even allowed her own father to assault her and just the way she lived in general. For the most part, this is important because if this trial happened in a different time period like today, then it would’ve been certain for Tom Robinson to win the

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    In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, many themes contribute to the idea of the destruction of innocence. Mayella Ewell is one of the many characters that help to teach readers a contributing theme to the death of innocence. Her characterization appears later in the novel during the Tom Robinson trial. Mayella Ewell comes from a family shunned by all inhabitants of Maycomb, eventually ceding to her feelings of loneliness and powerlessness, and falsely accuses Tom Robinson of raping her after failing to engage in a relationship with a man other than her abusive father, Bob Ewell. Miss Ewell is, in a way, an example of corrupted innocence. The character of Mayella Ewell is used to represent the theme of hope for a better future,

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  • Theme Of Maturity In To Kill A Mockingbird

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    Jem Finch demonstrates growing maturity throughout the novel. After Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout reveals Jem’s feelings. “It was Jem’s turn to cry.” Scout uncovers, “His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd,” (TKAM 284). Jem understands the trial is not fair because of race. He is mature enough to realize this while Scout is not. Another example of Jem’s maturity is exemplified when he is fulfilling his obligation to read to Mrs. Dubose. Scout describes, “ ‘So you brought that dirty little sister of yours did you?’ was her greeting… ‘My sister ain’t dirty and I ain’t scared of you’, although I noticed his knees shaking,” (TKAM 141). Rather than Jem replying to Mrs. Dubose with an insult, he dismisses her comment. Furthermore, this showcases his patience and tolerance, which comes with maturity. Finally, Jem validates his maturity when the Finch children find Dill under Scout’s bed. “You oughta let your mother know where you are.” announced Jem, “You oughta let her know you are here…”(TKAM 187). At this point Jem knows the right way to handle this situation is to let an adult know where Dill is. Even though Scout believes she can keep him under her bed forever, Jem recognizes the reality. When Jem’s maturity is put to the test he demonstrates good judgment and decision-making.

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  • To Kill A Mockingbird Quotes

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    credibility at the trial, if he has any to begin with.” To me this quote shows that Jem might have some resentment for Bob but Atticus knows that after this Bob will not be seen as the same person that people thought he was besides being a drunk. In the well known novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Children Jem Finch and youngest daughter Scout Finch children of Atticus Finch face troubles and challenges and mostly always a shocking reminder of things are not always as they seem. A universal theme in TKAM is that not everyone is who they seem to be. This theme is shown in many parts of the book, Examples of this theme is when Boo was mistreated when all he wanted to do was help the children, another example was the way Ms.Dubose was treating

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