Mayella Ewell Fear

Child abuse has been an issue for hundreds of years and thousands of children experience the devastating abuse. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell goes through a great deal of physiological trauma due to the abuse from her father, Bob Ewell. Mayella, forced by her father, has to testify against that Tom Robinson, a black man, raped and abused her, although it was actually her father who performed the acts. Mayella has to go through her abuse and neglect with no laws protecting her and the psychological effects worsening over time. Because of the abuse, Mayella Ewell will have impaired growth from her fear and abuse in the form of a physiological trauma called social anxiety.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell experiences a great amount of fear towards her father when she almost messes up the story Bob Ewell, her father, forces her to say in court. Because of this fear, Mayella will

develop social anxiety. Mayella seemed psyched out and afraid when “[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” (Lee 208). By putting sitting up and waiting for an answer, Bob Ewell inserts a position of dominance over Mayella which, therefore causes Mayella to tense up and become scared. This fear that Mayella has developed of her father, can lead into a serious mental disorder like social anxiety. WebMD defines social anxiety and its development as “an anxiety disorder in which a person has an excessive and unreasonable fear of social situations… The development of social anxiety disorder may stem from embarrassing or humiliating social experiences in the past, such as being bullied or neglected by peers” (WebMD 1-2). Since Bob Ewell causes Mayella to fear him, she risks the development of fears of not only him but people in general, creating a case of social anxiety. Mayella’s growth as a person will then be impaired due to social anxiety.
Mayella Ewell was terrified of Atticus Finch at the beginning of her questioning during the trail.

She was scared of Atticus due to her impaired growth from her social anxiety that developed from the abuse. Mayella had to have reassurance that “[Mr. Finch] has no idea of scaring you” and before the questioning “[Mayella] gave [Atticus] a final terrified glance…” (Lee 204-205). Before Atticus could even speak to Mayella, she was freaked out about him trying to scare her. Mayella needed outside reassurance that she would be safe in a situation before the situation even occurred. When people have social anxiety, they have an “intense fear of interacting or talking with strangers (and) fear of situations in which [they] may be judged” (Mayo Clinic Staff 1). Mayella Ewell had never met Atticus Finch before and she was terrified of him and being questioned by him. People who have social anxiety do not like to speak with strangers and Mayella was not an exception. This shows how Mayella’s growth has been impaired due to the social anxiety caused by her fear and

abuse.
After the questioning has gone on for a while, Atticus Finch begins to ask Mayella about her screaming and why she did not scream when Tom Robinson allegedly first touched her. Mayella then stops answering, up until Atticus asks “why don’t you tell the truth, child, didn’t Bob Ewell beat you up?” to which Mayella reacts by “(showing a face that) was a mixture of terror and fury” (Lee 213). Mayella realizes that her father’s plan failed and she begins to panic by showing signs of a panic attack. When people with social anxiety have panic attacks they “can be characterized by an excess of physical symptoms, where the body somatizes emotions, which means they are being expressed physically” (Berent 1). Mayella, although she may not realize it, has a panic attack during the public trial due to her fear of her father and being questioned in public by Atticus. Mayella’s growth of being able to speak in public and talk to strangers has been impaired due to the social anxiety she developed from her father’s abuse.
Mayella Ewell develops a severe case of social anxiety over To Kill a Mockingbird, rooted from the deep physiological trauma caused by her father. She can no longer speak in public, talk to strangers, or talk to her father because her growth has been impaired. At the age of nineteen, Mayella Ewell struggles to grow as a person due to her impaired growth from the physiological trauma of social anxiety caused by her fear and her father’s abuse.