Mayella Ewell

Mayella Ewell, a 19 year old girl, uneducated, unaware, and unnoticed. Forced to live in a broken home with an alcohol driven father, and seven motherless siblings. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird Mayella Ewell, a 19 year old girl from Maycomb, accused a black man, Tom Robinson, of rape. Tom Robinson is then put on trial with Atticus Finch defending him. After lListening to a combination of Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson’s testimoniesfy during the trial the reader can only realize the victim Mayella Ewell had become in this entire situation. Mayella was living with a three year education, and was desperate for the slightest bit of positive attention from anyone. At first glance, the character Mayella Ewell, in the novel To Kill
Some of the effects of PTSD are behavioral, Psychological, and their mood. People begin to isolate themselves after this has happen. Bob Ewell, the father of Mayella, has created an unsafe environment for his oldest daughter. Mayella being the only mother figure around there strong chance Mayella has gone through years of physical and mental abuse from her father. Because of this she has shown symptoms of many disorders that are found to be the outcome of abuse. Mayella does not have say the words clearly for the reader to realize clearly that she has become a victim of her father's abuse. “‘Do you love your father, Miss Mayella?”... “He does tollable, ‘cept when –“ “Except when?” Mayella looked at her father and he sat up straight and waited for her to answer. “Except when nothin’,” said Mayella. “I said he does tollable.” Mr. Ewell leaned back in his chair again. “Except when he’s drinking?” asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded. “Does he ever go after you?”...“When he’s – riled, has he ever beaten you?”...“My paw’s never touched a hair o’ my head in my life,”...“He never touched me’” (Lee 56). During the trial when asked question by Atticus, Mayella would give bland and unhelpful answers. This usually happened when she was asked about her father beating her. Mayella has been traumatized and knows that if she was to speak out and expose her father, she would be beaten and disowned by him. The reader can see that when Mayella comes close to confessing her father immediately leaned in giving her no way to tell the truth. Mayella has become a victim in her own home. She is a young lady confused about her own safety and what she is allowed to claim the truth is. Her father is the only parent she has left but she is being used by him to take his anger out while always coming home drunk. There is no way one could disagree that