The Unlikely Mockingbird In the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, there is a major theme of the wrongful persecution of innocent people, referred to as ‘Mockingbirds.’ The apparent Mockingbird in the novel is Tom Robinson, the African American wrongly accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. There are many other characters in the book that could be seen as ‘mockingbirds.’ One unlikely ‘mockingbird’ could be Mayella Ewell, the girl who made the rape accusation against Tom Robinson. Another major concept in the best-seller is coming of age. Scout, the story’s protagonist, matures as the story develops and is immensely influenced by the story’s ‘mockingbirds’. Mayella Ewell as a ‘mockingbird’ influences Scout’s coming …show more content…
of age. In the book, Atticus, Scout’s father, tells Scout “…it is a sin to kill a Mockingbird.”(Page 93) Miss Maudie, the protagonist’s neighbor, agrees with Atticus saying "Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”(Page 93) Some may argue that Mayella is the opposite of a mockingbird as she does harm in some way as she testifies against the main mockingbird, Tom Robinson. Nevertheless Mayella may be the character to suffer the most. This quote projects slightly how terrible her life may be as Scout wonders, “…if anybody had ever called her “ma’am,” or “Miss Mayella” in her life; probably not, as she took offense to routine courtesy. What on earth was her life like?” (Page 184) She reacts to proper manners as if she is being mocked which means she has never been treated respectfully. Mayella makes the most of everything she gets.
Mayella lives in a shabby cabin behind the dump with many children. Scout observes saying “Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson, had Miss Maudie deigned to permit a geranium on her premises. People said they were Mayella Ewell’s.” (Page 173) Mayella teaches Scout a good moral lesson: optimism. The geraniums are a sign of Mayella’s hopes and dreams. She hopes one day she won’t be an outcast in Maycomb, to not be dirty and poor but to be beautiful which is why she puts beauty in a dump. Along with the geraniums she also tries to make herself look better as Scout describes her father dirty looking but shares “…Mayella looked as if she tried to keep clean.” (Page 181) She doesn’t just make beauty but also makes happiness. It is mentioned in the book that she saved seven nickels, which took her an entire year to earn so the Ewell children can get ice cream. She is caring and hopeful in every …show more content…
aspect. Although Mayella is optimistic, life has treated Mayella bitterly or more specifically her father has treated her cruelly. Bob Ewell is unkind to her and some of her testimony may suggest he is abusive. For example when Atticus asks her if Bob is good to her she replies “’He does tollable, ‘cept when—‘ ‘Except when?’ Mayella looked at her father... He sat up straight and waited for her to answer. ‘Except when nothin‘…’I said he does tollable.’” (Page 186) This quote shows she was hiding something her father does to her as she says “except” and then looks to her father and neglects to say further into that. Aside from that Atticus states “…there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left.” (Page 208) This could not have been Tom as his left hand wasn’t capable of doing so which only left the other suspect who was present at the beating: Bob. Though her father neglects to work, he uses his energy for abuse as Atticus proves that Tom couldn’t have made her bruises. Bob was the cause of her injuries, if he wasn’t then perhaps he wouldn’t have neglected to call a doctor, as Atticus points out, “‘Didn’t you think she should have had a doctor, immediately?’ The witness said he never thought of it...” (Page 208) If he were so worried about his daughter that he needed to testify against her rapist, then maybe he would have felt worried to call a doctor. He clearly does not care about Mayella and her well-being, he is just a hateful man who would rather the real truth of what happened with Mayella and Tom be hidden at the expense of a man’s life; Tom. Physical abuse is too much for one girl to take, but more than that Bob Ewell sexually abused her. Tom Robinson mentions something Mayella said to him regarding kissing: “…She says what her papa do to her don’t count.” (Page 197) This evidence strongly suggests her father is sexually intimate with her. Mayella is oppressed figuratively where she is an outcast of the town and oppressed physically where her father physically and sexually abuses her. Truly, she is reluctant to testify against Tom and is pressured by her abusive father. Mayella is uncertain and fidgety as it takes her time to answer simple questions Atticus says to Mayella “‘It’s an easy question, Miss Mayella, so I’ll try again. Do you remember him beating you about the face?’ Atticus’s voice had lost its comfortableness; he was speaking in his arid, detached professional voice. ‘Do you remember him beating you about the face?’ ‘No, I don’t recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me.’” (Page 187) Mayella’s inconsistent answer can be an indication of her lies and her reluctance to lie. She is forced to lie by her abusive father as she looks for her father’s approval. Scout is very sheltered before the trial. She has a caring, kind, and respectable father. She doesn’t go hungry, her education is valued, and she never worked a day in her life. When Scout is introduced to Mayella, she doesn’t just meet another girl, she meets a girl who has had the exact opposite life she has had. Scout has never questioned her right to an education. Therefore, when she learns Mayella and the Ewell family haven’t been given the opportunity of a proper education, she can appreciate hers. She can appreciate the things she doesn’t realize is a gift: food, education, a doting father, and a clean home. She is introduced to the concept of rape as well, which is especially horrific to a young girl. Scout probably looked at the world with open eyes, never doubting its morality. Therefore when she learns what rape is she probably stops looking at the world with complete open eyes, doubting its morality. Overall Mayella Ewell is a mockingbird as she is a virtuous girl abused in every form: physically, sexually, and emotionally.
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
‘mockingbirds.’
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
Which is her red geranium, Scout says that they are well nurtured by Mayella. Mayella has six of these red geraniums in the corner of her yard. Mayella and her father live in the neighborhood of Negroes, and would never bother them except Tom because he's too nice of a person. “..white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes [the Ewells’ nearest neighbors] wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white..” Mayella would not be powerful in the role of class because of where she lived and what she worked.
Most would argue that Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird is an uplifting story about hope and youth. In reality, it is a sad story about two children, Jem and Scout, losing their innocence through treacherous life experience. To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming of age story about childhood in the deep south during the great depression. It speaks about the concepts of racism, innocence and justice as the protagonists, Scout and Jem, struggle with coming of age. The Finch children lose their innocence throughout the book in many ways, such as being involved with the trial, the lynch mob, and Bob Ewell's death. At it’s core, TKAM is a story about youth, and the loss thereof. When Scout and Jem are involved in the lynch mob, they lose their
Childhood is a continuous time of learning, and of seeing mistakes and using them to change your perspectives. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates how two children learn from people and their actions to respect everyone no matter what they might look like on the outside. To Kill A Mockingbird tells a story about two young kids named Scout and her older brother Jem Finch growing up in their small, racist town of Maycomb, Alabama. As the years go by they learn how their town and a lot of the people in it aren’t as perfect as they may have seemed before. When Jem and Scout’s father Atticus defends a black man in court, the town’s imperfections begin to show. A sour, little man named Bob Ewell even tries to kill Jem and Scout all because of the help Atticus gave to the black man named Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee illustrates the central theme that it is wrong to judge someone by their appearance on the outside, or belittle someone because they are different.
how is he misunderstood by societyIn literature, a symbol is a representative of several other aspects. Symbolism adds a deeper meaning than an object’s literal, direct interpretation. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, many of the characters introduced are represented by a harmless mockingbird. Mockingbirds are described to bring beauty to the world instead of causing any harm. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the author uses the symbolism of a mockingbird to show how certain characters in the novel are damaged by the injustices of the world.
One of the major events in Harper Lee’s award-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird is Tom Robinson’s trial. It is based on the Scottsboro Case that took place in 1931 in Alabama, in which several black men were accused of raping two white women. Both the Scottsboro Boys and Tom Robinson are unfairly judged, however, because of prejudice against colored people. The racial discrimination makes whites’ testimony more believable even when it contradicts itself. The same happens in To Kill a Mockingbird. As we delve deeper into the case and get increasingly closer to the truth, it is quite suprising to see that Mayella Ewell is the true villain rather than a victim. She shall and must bear full responsibility for her actions because she makes the decision to tempt Tom Robinson, gives false testimony in court that directly leads to Tom’s death, and has been well aware of the consequences of her behaviors.
She lived in an old, decayed house behind a trash dump. In Document A, section one, it says “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin…” Also in Document A, it describes what the outside of her house looks like. For example, it says “Its windows were merely open spaces in the walls...What passed for a fence was bits of tree-limbs, broomsticks and tool shafts...Enclosed by this barricade was a dirty yard…” By reading this quote, it shows how poorly Mayella lives. During this time, The Great Depression was also taking place. It caused people to live poorly, no places to live, and no jobs to be found. Overall, Mayella did not hold any power because she was the poorest of the poor, just like it declared in the Background
In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the story is told by a young girl called Jean-Louise Finch but also known as Scout aged five at the start of the book almost turning six who in the book is quite unique as she could read at the age of six and understand her fathers profession as a lawyer. The story is about Scout growing up in the southern state of Alabama in a small town called Maycomb with her brother Jem and her father called Atticus who is the lawyer. The main theme of the book is about Atticus defending a black man called Tom Robinson and he is accused of raping a white girl called Mayella Ewell and how it affects her, in the book she learns about racism and prejudice and the struggle of black men in life and she also learns about the ways of life and family traditions. The book is set in the late 1930’s so racial discrimination is at its peak in the southern states of America.
Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, is one of the main reasons Mayella deserves compassion. On page 31, Atticus tells Scout about how Bob treats his children and it is discovered that they are neglected: “‘…when a man spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from hunger pains.’” Mayella herself also admits her father’s abuse to the court; when she is asked if her father ever hurts her she says “‘He does tollable, ’cept when-’” This has implications that her father has physically abused her in the past.
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 has been mistreated a great amount throughout her lifetime.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, nine-teen year old Mayella Ewell is forced to go against Tom Robinson, an African American who is accused of raping her. Although it is obvious that the rape didn’t happen, the author portrays Mayella as a victim of circumstance. Lee makes it somewhat easy to sympathize with Mayella by describing Mayella’s homelife, indirectly characterizing Bob Ewell throughout the novel, and describing Mayella’s actions while in court.
Harper Lee’s only book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is the stereotypical tale of childhood and innocence, yet it successfully incorporates mature themes, like the racism in the South at the time, to create a masterpiece of a work that has enraptured people’s minds and hearts for generations. According to esteemed novelist Wally Lamb, “It was the first time in my life that a book had sort of captured me. That was exciting; I didn’t realize that literature could do that” (111). Scout’s witty narration and brash actions make her the kind of heroine you can’t help but root for, and the events that take place in Maycomb County are small-scale versions of the dilemmas that face our world today. Mockingbird is a fantastically written novel that belongs on the shelves of classic literature that everyone should take the time to read and appreciate for its execution of style and the importance of its content.
...heme of maturation in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, is conveyed through the characters of Scout and Jem, in conjunction with the assistance of their virtuous father Atticus Finch. Early in the novel, Atticus ascertains himself as a major facilitator in the maturation process of Scout and Jem by incessantly providing mature solutions to his children’s predicaments. Moreover, Scout, a major benefactor of the Boo Radley incident and Atticus’ wisdom, has helped her develop into a very tolerant and mature individual. Undeniably, Jem’s remarkable development into a broadminded and compassionate character can be directly attributed to Atticus’ kindness and Jem’s exposure to the Tom Robinson trial. In synopsis, it is evident that the individuals and social circumstances that surround an individual play a major role in defining the type of individual one will become.
The main section of Scout’s heroic acts is when she walks Arthur Radley home. This is a major part in the novel because prior to this Maycomb thought Arthur was a freak and a Murderer. For Scout to have the courage to befriend Radley is a massive step in the right direction. In this scene Scout risked a couple of things which proves her heroism. She risked her reputation which is the big one. Because she walked ‘Boo’ home, there was no doubt that she was being judged by the people of Maycomb. Throughout the novel we see Scout’s character change from a feisty, aggressive and judgy girl to a kind, open minded, less aggressive girl. There are numerous people and some experiences that took part in Scout’s change. But there is one lady that did Scout a whole lot of good, her name is Calpurnia. Calpurnia is a coloured woman and she is the Finch’s housekeeper. Throughout the novel there are different examples where Calpurnia has picked up on Scout’s behaviour at school or just in the town. This i first brought to the reader's attention when Calpurnia lectures Scout on the way she treats Mr. Cunningham jr. Scout would pick on his eating habits and she even got in a fight with him at school. Swiftly afterwards Calpurnia pulls Scout into the kitchen and gives her a stern talking to. During the narrative through
In fact, the idea of a Southern Belle corresponds greatly to reputation. Because Mayella is related to Burris Ewell, who Scout describes as “the filthiest human being,” one would expect an unkempt and dirty appearance from Mayella (Lee 35). However, one would not expect a middle class Scout to be “mud-splashed” and “covered with sand” in front of a group of Aunt Alexandra’s sophisticated Maycomb society friends (Lee 176). Scout’s filthiness and relatively carefree attitude contrasts the Southern Belle stereotype and proves Scout to be a tomboy. Rather than playing with tea sets and devoting free time to good deeds, Scout likes to get dirty and play outside with the boys. This comes as a disappointment to Aunt Alexandra and the rest of society, who expects Scout to conform to the gender stereotypes of the region due to her social status. On the other hand, Mayella and the Ewell family are considered white trash, which is lower in the social hierarchy, so people assume that Mayella is not a Southern Belle. Mayella differs in all aspects from a true Southern Belle. She is filthy, does not execute proper etiquette, and attempts to ruin Tom Robinson’s life by falsely accusing him of rape. The only difference between Scout and Mayella is that Scout chooses to be dirty, while