Chapter 18: Mayella begins her testimony, she is nineteen and relatively clean compared to the rest of the Ewells. She lives with seven younger siblings who do not help with any chores and an alchoholic father. She also does not seem to know what friends even are. She says that she had offered Tom Robinson a nickel the evening of the incident to break up a chifferobe for her. Atticus questions her story. Like why she didnt put up a better fight or why the children didnt hear her screams, and most of all how Tom managed to do this with only his right arm. Atticus pleas her to admit that there was no rape and it was her father who beat her but this only leads to anger and yelling. She then starts to cry and refuses to answer more questions.…
According to the book on page 255, Tom visited the Ewell’s house in the first place when he was on his way to work, Mayella called him over to help her chop down the chiffarobe for a nickel and Tom said to her was “ No ma'am , there ain't no charge.” Also she wanted him to fix the door cause she thought it was broken.…
Power is when someone or something can have control over life or what you do. Mayella Ewell is a 19 year old girl in Maycomb, Alabama in 1930’s. In the 1930’s segregation was still going on. Mayella lived with her father Bob Ewell and her 8 siblings. She accused Tom Robinson of raping her. Atticus Finch is Tom Robinson’s Lawyer and Mr. Gilmer is Mayella and Bob’s Lawyer. Based on the evidence it shows that her father played a role in her getting badly hurt. Mayella Ewell is powerless based on her Gender and Class…
The ability to do something or act in a particular way is the power you have. The book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ tells a story about a poor white girl ( Mayella) that claims a black man (Tom) has raped her. Well Tom is wrongly convicted of raping Mayella. Someone's class, gender, and race affect their lives.Mayella has power over Tom in the novel because she is a white female, but she does not have power because of her class.…
Mayella doesn’t have power, although she is white, because she is a female living behind a dumpster.Why does her gender effect her in the early 1900s? Does her race give her some power? Does mayella have power to control herself?…
Lubet characterizes Scout’s story as “a love story pure and simple.” Scout puts her father over everything by saying that he can do no wrong. “All his choices are brave and noble” (n.pg). From Scout’s perspective, Mayella and her father are lying about the rape and that Mayella is lying out of shame. She also shares with the reader that Atticus claimed them to be “white trash” (qtd. in Lubet).…
The feelings and exhibited concern and empathy for other is too extreme. When defending Tom Robinson, during the court case he questions Mayella Ewell with courtesy and respect. Mayella is an uneducated girl whom Atticus believes is lying about being raped by Tom Robinson. Mayella is rude to Atticus saying "Won't answer a word you say long as you keep on mockin' me." (page 200). However Atticus remains calm and polite, never attempting to trick her. He addresses her as "miss" and his own daughter Scout "wondered if anybody had ever called her ma'am or 'Miss Mayella' in her life." (page 201). Atticus shows an empathy towards Mayella, he knows she is like a wounded animal and he doesn't want to hurt any further. The caring and concern presented by Atticus Finch is too idealistic. This extreme idealistic portrayal extends to his role as a single father and a…
Women can be taken advantage of quickly, specifically by men. People view Mayella as a weak and unstable women who be an easy target for men. Although this sounds like a disadvantage to Mayella, it actually helps her. Since Mayella is an easy target, it becomes more believable that Tom Robinson really did rape her. Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father, has Mayella intimidated of him. In chapter 18, Mayella is about to reveal that her father is not always good to her. So Bob sits up straight in his chair to scare her so she wouldn't reveal any information. Mayella is scared of her father since he is a older, stronger…
Although Tom felt sorry for Mayella because of her predicament of being less fortunate it put him in a situation in where he ended up losing everything. Both Atticus and Tom underestimated the Ewell family and was deeply hurt in the end. Atticus being a white respected lawyer in the community gets misjudged about his loyalty for the choice he made. Atticus risked losing both of his kids because Bob Ewell had it out for Atticus since he took on the case. “Run, Scout! Run! Run!” (Lee, 351). Bob went for Atticus by going after the two most important things in his life, Jem and…
Truly Mayella lacks power because of her class.¨He thought he’d be a hero, but all he got for his pain was… okay, we’ll convict this Negro but get back to your dump (Doc A). ¨ shows she has little power because of her class and where she lived. ¨ As Tom Robinson gave his testimony, it came to me that Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world… : white people wouldn't have anything to do with her because she lived among; Negroes wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white… Tom Robinson was probably the only person who was ever decent to her (Doc E). ¨ says that she lacks a chance or power, because of where she lives. ¨Mayella looked from under lowered eyelids at Atticus, but she said to the judge. ´Long’s he keeps on callin´ me ma’am and sayin´ Miss Mayella. I don’t hafta take his sass, I ain’t called upon to take it (Doc C). ´¨ Talks about how unfairly Mayella thinks she was being treated. Because of her class she…
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…
The old "taxation without representation" argument said it all. Colonists were tired of having things like taxes passed onto them in Parliament all the way out in England without any representation. It was as if they were being treated like second class citizens who had no say in their own rights within the colonies. But instead of listening to its citizens, England decided to clamp down even further on the colonies, sparking even more grievances. The war was the result of the political American Revolution. Colonists galvanized around the position that the Stamp Act of 1765, imposed by Parliament of Great Britain, was unconstitutional. The British Parliament insisted it had the right to tax colonists. The colonists claimed that, as they were…
In “To Kill a Mockingbird” a black hardworking man named Tom Robinson, is accused of raping a white women named Mayella Ewell. The truth of this matter is Tom Robinson, is Mayella threw herself at Tom. Mayella was a lonely women whose father abused her. She wanted to have intimacy with Tom Robinson, which “brings shame to her family”. When her father finds out Mayella tried to throw…
Mayella Ewell is the first minor character I shall discuss; a beacon of racial prejudice and the injustice of the courthouses. She is considered to be trash along with the rest of the Ewell's; despite the fact that she is one of the few Ewell's who can read and write. As well as being literate she tries her best to make that most of what she's got, "the quote about the flowers she keeps". Despite her decency compared to the others in her family Mayella still only cares for her own wellbeing.…
Mayella Ewell shows how racial inequality can have horribly negative effects on one's life. Although it is hard to pity Mayella after the inhumane thing she did, she is worthy of pity, for what she did was not because of her own will, but because of the circumstances. Mayella Ewell, never having gotten a single spec of attention in her lonely life, felt important when with Tom. He cared about her and showed interest in what…