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

families’ economic situations are mentioned several times throughout the book. One of these times is when Scout returns home from her first day of school and asks Atticus why the Ewells has special privileges of their own. Atticus replies to her saying ,”it’s certainly bad, but when a man spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from hunger pains”(36). From this quote, it can be inferred that the Ewells are poor and does not always have food on the table. Moreover, it is revealed the children don’t have food not because they don’t have access to it, but because Bob Ewell spends it all his own personal pleasure. This is merely one of the many instances the Ewell’s economic situations are mentioned, therefor, Mayella Ewell is someone deserving of compassion.
Another reason Mayella Ewell is worthy of compassion is because of the experiences she goes through at home.

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

her.
One of the reasons Mayella Ewell is worthy of compassion is because of her loneliness and isolation. After Mayella Ewell answered Atticus’ questions, Tom Robinson was called up to wind up that afternoon. After Tom was asked some questions of his past by Atticus and starting to present his interactions with Miss Mayella, Scout thought,” When Atticus asked had she any friends, she seemed not to know what he meant, then she thought he was making fun of her”(227). Scout here touches upon one Mayella’s key traits, her loneliness. Mayella is a compassionate person from how she took care of her geraniums but that same act could be a way for here to fill the void in her heart. It is possible that the geraniums were her way of easing her loneliness.
In conclusion, Mayella Ewell is worthy of compassion because of her various difficulties but not at the cost of another’s life. The way Mayella is mistreated by her father and her lack of social interactions make her someone other’s feel pity and compassion for. Despite all of this, others should not pity her to the extent of accusing Tom Robinson of a crime he obviously did not commit. Cases like show that an ideal court is one where everyone is equal before the law but that is only in ideal situations. In reality, everyone holds some sort of prejudice no matter how small that can influence the final decision in a court case.