Compare And Contrast Bob Ewell's Mistreatment Of Women In To Kill A Mockingbird

The act of prejudice is one that everyone experiences. Whether it be, a person who is distributing hate, or a person who is receiving hate, everyone has contact with it. Although it is present all over the globe, it is prominent in the United States. Both in the present and the past, endless acts of discrimination have taken place and left a monumental impact on the country. The effect that it leaves can be seen in the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. In this story, sexism, racism, and isolation, are demonstrated in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930’s. As the story progresses, Lee compares these concepts to one another and uses them to make a statement about the problematic nature in America.

The main issue of the section we are acting out of Chapter 11 in “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is the prejudice that Ms. Dubose holds. She is both sexist and racist, both forms of prejudice that were common back in her generation, but were finally starting to change at that time. Aunt Alexandra and Ms. Dubose, most likely having been raised in the same time period, were both offended by Scout wearing pants. Ms. Dubose specifically asked ‘What are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady!’ (Lee, 101), which is greatly reminiscent of what Alexandra said at Christmas. Obviously, they were both raised with the same morals about having to wear dresses, causing them to be unintentionally sexist and myopic.

tries to give us an insight into what it is like for these very civil

The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is an American classic and has been a staple in high schools for many years. The main storyline that this novel follows is of Scout, a young girl, living in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. It follows the case of Tom Robinson, an African American man, and how he was accused and convicted of rape. In prison, Tom was shot and killed because he was said to have tried to escape. While Mayella is the one who is saying that Tom raped her, the real person who should be to blame is her abusive father. As is quite apparent, Bob Ewell is the person who is most responsible for the death of Tom Robinson.

A white woman would never admit to doing what the character Mayella Ewell does, breaking a “time-honored rule” by kissing Tom Robinson, a black man. After being caught, she seeks to save herself from the scorn of society by accusing him of raping her. Such an accusation was a death sentence for an African American man. “Rape was the central drama of the white psyche,” said Diane McWhorter, author of the Pulitzer prize–winner Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution. “A black man raping a white woman justified the most draconian social control over black people.” The punishment for such a sin was hanging, as would have been the case with the mob of white men, smelling of whiskey and pigpen who went up to the jail to cart away Robinson. Even though they are stopped in the book, because Scout Finch shames them, many real incidents went unchecked. Mockingbird paralleled at least three cases that were objects of disagreements in the Monroeville of her childhood. Lee once commented how, in the novel, “the trial, and the rape charge that brings on the trial, are made up out of a composite of such cases and charges.” Seven years before Harper’s birth, the senior Lee defended two blacks accused of murder. At the time, “the idea that someone like Lee would represent a black was in no means abnormal or

“But remember, it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (119) The mockingbird represents the symbol of pure innocence and beauty in the book, while the bluejay represents the vicious and the ruthless of society. "People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for..."(232) This quote represents how people view mockingbirds and blue jays. Although there are many shameless ‘mockingbirds’ the two that stand out the most are, of course, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. Unlike the several ‘mockingbird’ characters, there is one clear blue jay, which is Bob Ewell. Representing the symbol of the mockingbird, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are significantly impacted by Bob Ewell, the symbolic bluejay.

Do you know what it feels like to be powerless? A white nineteen year old woman named Mayella Ewell falsely accuses a black man of raping her in Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930’s, and rendering her powerless comes from being recessive in her social class, race, and gender. She accuses Tom Robinson of rape in hopes of escaping her abusive father, and a chance to have a better life. Although Mayella is white, African Americans and other white people shun her throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Mayella is a very young woman that does not own anything nice, nor clean, besides geranium flowers. During the 1930’s, men were the dominant sex, as a female, Mayella has to obey her father, Bob Ewell. As a result, Mayella is mistreated and abused.

Mayella Ewell is a tragic character in To Kill a Mockingbird. She is faced with many struggles involving her family and the people around her. Although Mayella is a poor white woman with an abusive father, no mother, and six siblings to take care of she does have power. Mayella Ewell is powerful as a character and continues to gain power in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird when it comes to race, class and gender. Despite Mayella being very poor and in a lower class of the society in Maycomb Alabama she uses her status as a white female to manipulate others into deciding in her favor when dealing with her court case against Tom Robinson regarding him being wrongfully accused of

I am reading the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. This book is about a girl named Scout Finch who lives with her brother, Jem, and her father, Atticus, during the Great Depression. They live in a small town called Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is a town where everybody knows everybody. There is currently a trial taking place; Mayella vs. Tom Robinson. Tom has been accused of rapeing Mayella. Tom has pleaded not guilty for the crime he has been accused of. In this journal I will be evaluating Tom’s character and questioning why the Ewells may be lying.

In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” Scout Finch is the narrator (DBQ Project, p.7). She tells about the different things that happened in the town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s (DBQ Project, p.7). She also talked about the people in the town. Scout talked about a specific trial that completely rocked the town. The case involved a white girl named Mayella Ewell and an African American man named Tom Robinson (DBQ Project, p.7). Mayella Ewell had no friends, she was poor, and because of her gender was not looked at as superior, although under those circumstances she was able to have influence within the case based on her class, gender, and race (DBQ Document A, p.13).

Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, shows how life was for those in the southern part of the United States, during a time when racism ran rampant throughout the land. Many injustices were committed to those of “Negro” descent, and it was up to those behind the law to protect them as well as those who lived by the law. Atticus, attorney at law, defender of the people, and father to Scout and brother Jem is safeguarding Tom Robinson, accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. As the story continues though, Mayella’s accounts of the facts aren’t quite as how they actually happened. Together, Scout (Jean Louise Finch), Jem and Atticus show courage to stand up for what is right, defend the innocent until proven guilty, and how to remain

The trial itself provides Harper Lee with the opportunity to examine the attitudes of people like the Ewells and the presumably more respectable members of the jury. Bob Ewell emerges as a drunken, bullying, child-abuser with little respect for the law and even less for truth and justice. But however low in the social order he is, Bob Ewell can still look down on black people. At the beginning of his testimony he complains about a 'nest' of them near him bringing down the property values of his shack by the town dump. Tom's account of Mayella's actions suggests that he may have indulged in some form of incest with his daughter, but the taboo against relationships between white women and black men is so strong that even Bob Ewell is shocked and horrified by it. He responds first by savagely beating his daughter and then by accusing Tom Robinson of rape.

The novels: To Kill A Mockingbird and When A Girl Is Born show a common feature of having the courage to call in question the social norms of their society. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus challenges Maycomb's ways as he defends a black man accused of raping a white woman. By doing so, he is accepting the impossible by admitting that a black man is innocent and hence accusing a white folk of being guilty. As a result of doing so, he attracts many hardships. For instance, Bob Ewell disrespects Atticus by spitting on him, in return Atticus says, "So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take." This quote shows how Atticus considers the ignorant and cruel paradigm

Mayella Ewell falsely accused Tom Robinson of rape when there was no evidence against Tom. Harper Lee compares this to real life with the Scottsboro Case. The case is about how nine young black men were riding a train when two deputies pressured two white women to falsely accuse the black men of rape. The accusation led eight of the black men to death while one was in prison for life. Tom Robinson was killed due to Tom being ‘guilty’.

Do you honestly think a crippled man could beat and rape a strong young woman? Tom Robinson was physically incapable of doing such a thing. His left arm was twelve inches shorter than his right arm, and the person who beat and raped Mayella Ewell had to be left handed. Bob Ewell, however was left handed and in good physical shape. Assuming that Mayella had been beaten bad, someone should have called a doctor. If Tom Robinson really beat her Mr. Ewell would have called a doctor. Why didn’t he? Because he knew that Tom Robinson did not beat his daughter.