Mayella Juxtaposition In To Kill A Mockingbird

Although not entirely good, Mayella is more a victim of circumstance than a bad person

Harper Lee, before the reader meets Mayella in person, uses her family and home environment to portray her as an impoverished but aspirational woman, revealing some of her more redeeming qualities before the trial has begun. She then goes on to demonstrate some of Mayella’s negative characteristics during the trial, when Lee portrays her as cowardly, emotionally unstable and racist at times. By the end of the trial, the reader is left to make their verdict on Mayella Ewell; should she be blamed for what she did or is she simply a victim of circumstance?

At the beginning of the novel, Lee uses Mayella’s home environment to generate sympathy for her. The

phrase ‘the diseases indigenous to filthy surroundings’ illustrates the deplorable conditions that the Ewell family are forced to live in and demonstrates the detrimental effect on health caused by living in such an environment. The adjective ‘filthy’ (as narrated by Scout) gives the reader an impression of society’s views on families like the Ewells, that people like Mayella may be ostracised due to the first impressions people are given. This in turn starts to give us an insight into the potential isolation Mayella may live in. Scout’s narration is important in this passage in particular because it gives us Maycomb’s rather blunt and unsympathetic view on the Ewell family as a result of their poverty.

Later on in the same passage, Lee begins to delve into Mayella’s character as an individual person rather than as a member of the Ewell family.

Lee uses juxtaposition to explore the contrast between Mayella and the rest of her family. In one corner of the yard there are ‘six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums’ said to belong to Mayella. The adjective ‘chipped’ reminds us of the disorderly nature of the Ewell yard and symbolises their impression on society. However, the imagery of the ‘brilliant red geraniums’ could symbolise Mayella’s aspirations to make something of herself and to give a good impression, or it could be the personification of Mayella herself. This concept inspires awe in the reader for Mayella as, despite her financial deprivation, she strives for something beautiful. This entire passage is of great significance because it helps the reader to understand and perhaps validate some of Mayella’s less redeeming qualities that will be explored later on in the

novel.

Another member of the Ewell family we learn about more in-depth is Mayella’s father and their relationship.

Lee uses this relationship to mitigate some of Mayella’s bad qualities as the reader gradually comes to understand what Mayella’s upbringing must have been like. During Bob’s testimony, he describes Mayella as ‘screamin’ like a stuck hog’. The use of zoomorphism with the word ‘hog’ gives us the impression that Ewell must lack any empathy for her should he refer to her in such a derogatory manner. This adds to the idea of Mayella being raised in a hostile environment, clear from his indifference to her suffering. The adjective ‘stuck’ also could reveal how Ewell thinks of the power balance between them. This word gives connotations of helplessness, especially disturbing since Bob portrays Mayella in such a way in a fictional story. This generates sympathy for her not because Ewell portrays her as powerless, but because the reader can only imagine why he portrays her as such. Perhaps her father intimidated her to the extent that she truly was helpless and cowardly, from this we can understand why she may lie to the

court.

Lee finally introduces Mayella’s character during the testimony where we get to see some of her more unpleasant character traits. During the testimony, Mayella accuses Tom Robinson of violating her, addressing him through racial slurs and more importantly condemning him to death. The metaphor ‘like a steady-eyed cat with a twitchy tail’ portrays Mayella as someone who is capable of lying skillfully but with hidden anxiety. Mayella continues to lie throughout the testimony, the adjective ‘steady-eyed’ reinforces the idea that Mayella accuses Tom with the full intention of passing on the blame for her injuries to him. On the other hand, the adjective ‘twitchy’ suggests that there are underlying issues that need to be addressed. All through the book, Lee emphasises the co-existence of good and evil. In this particular case we can not only see the good in Mayella’s character (through her aspirational attitude) but we can also begin to understand her bad qualities, such as cowardice.