Examples Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

Earnest Hemingway states that “all things truly wicked start from innocence.” This quote applies to Mayella Ewell as she corrupted herself and her innocence throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Though Mayella may seem wholesome, she is a wolf in sheep’s clothing due to her part in the death of a virtuous, innocent man and then her part in the tormenting of the dead man’s wife. In chapter twenty-five, Scout realizes that “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed,” (Lee 323) while she was pondering how a clearly innocent man could be tried as guilty (Lee 323). This quote illustrates how Mayella seemingly did worse than kill a man; she also had him declared guilty of a false crime, staining his reputation. To outsiders it will seem as if he was righteously killed, and what
They would throw rocks at her which eventually caused her to walk a mile out of her way to arrive at work (Lee 333-334). Apparently there is something worse than having one’s reputation tarnished and then dying, and that would be having one’s reputation tarnished, dying, and then having people harass the family of the deceased when they’re no longer able to defend them. Not only is Mayella not standing up to her father for harassing the poor girl, but she is one of the few throwing the stones. No one besides a villain could allow their father to rule over them and force them to do such unwarranted cruel things without taking a stand. If Mayella cared enough she would have stood up to her father, but her innocence was corrupted into wickedness thus making her a villain. After causing more pain than just killing a man and then tormenting the poor fellow’s wife, Mayella can be considered nothing more than a villain. Though her father dictated her to, she didn’t stand up to him and that made her just as bad as him. Therefore Mayella should serve as a caution for all people to never let any person dictate their life and remember that every choice they make is one’s