Mayella Ewell Character Analysis

Sympathy. A complex and multi-faceted emotion encompassing the perception, understanding, and reaction to the distress or need of another being. In the case of humans, Sympathy requires three key factors: attention to a subject, the belief that a person or group is in a state of need, and social and/or geographic proximity. In To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, one such character meets all three criteria: Mayella Ewell. She commands the reader’s attention via her prominent role in a controversial court case, and is an abused, disadvantaged child forced to commit perjury for fear of her alcoholic father, Bert Ewell. Through her relatability as a lonely and naive teenage girl, Mayella also satisfies the third criterion. Ipso facto, she deserves
Mayella had been beaten mostly on the right side of her face, meaning she was attacked by a left-handed person. However, Robinson’s left arm was crippled by a cotton gin at a young age, making the idea that he could restrain, beat, and rape Mayella highly unlikely. As an alcoholic with a temper, Bert Ewell is now a prime suspect in both Atticus’ and the readers’ eyes. He was the only person present at the Ewell house capable of beating Mayella, both in terms of physical and emotional strength, and is a left-handed man. Mr. Ewell is further incriminated by Tom Robinson’s testimony, in which Robinson states that Mayella told him that “she [had] never kissed a grown man before… what her papa [does] to her [does not] count”(260). Albeit indirectly, Mayella accuses her father of sexually abusing her, and does so in a manner that suggests it is a common occurrence; this is evident by her casual tone and use of the present-habitual tense. Robinson also testifies that Bert Ewell called his daughter a “... god-damn whore”(260) and threatened to kill her. This eye-witness account, along with previous evidence, all but cements Bert Ewell as his daughter’s assailant and long-time