Showing compassion towards someone may be difficult, especially if one has a preexisting bias against that person. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee explores this topic, including how to decide if one is worthy of compassion. The citizens of Maycomb can be quick to judge anyone who is “different”, without fully understanding that person’s backstory. Mayella Ewell is one character who is often subject to this judgment, specifically during Tom Robinson’s trial. During this eventful period, she gains lots of negative attention and is shown no compassion. Because the people of Maycomb see in “black and white”, they are unable and unwilling to fathom that there is another side to the story, thus depriving Mayella of the sympathy she deserves. Mayella Ewell is worthy of compassion because her father is abusive, she does all of the work at home, and she does not deserve her family’s poor reputation. Everyone in Maycomb knows that Bob is a cruel man, but only Mayella knows how …show more content…
Only a few people in Maycomb notice how hard Mayella works and feel sympathy for her, including Tom Robinson. While giving his testimony, Tom says, “Looked like she didn’t have nobody to help her...I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more than the rest of ‘em” (Lee 264). Explanation. When her mother died, Mayella had to turn her whole life around. Despite the fact that she is only nineteen years old, Mayella cannot go to school, and she has no real friends. Scout narrates Mayella’s background story, saying, “there was a lady who came around sometimes and asked Mayella why she didn’t stay in school- she wrote down the answer: with two members of the family reading and writing , there was no need for the rest of them to learn- Papa needed them at home” (Lee 245). Explanation. There is one more factor in Mayella’s life that causes her to deserve the compassion of
It’s interesting to see the ways different authors depict how a character matures. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mocking Bird we can easily see how she chose to do it. The novel is set in Alabama in the 1930’s, while black vs. white racism was a big issue and problem for many. Atticus is the father of Scout and Jem, young children who witness the discrimination first hand when their father, a white man, defends a black man in court. Lee does a great job developing the characters; especially the narrator, Jean Louise Finch (Scout). Scout’s thoughts, conversations, and actions, illustrate that she’s emotionally maturing from the innocent child that she was.
In the small town of Maycomb, Alabama lives Miss Mayella Ewell. She is a smart but helpless teen that accuses Tom Robinson of rape to escape from her father's abuse. In “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Mayella is powerful, as defined by class, race, and gender. All though in many circumstances, Mayella's class and gender make her less powerful than most, her race makes her more powerful than substantially all negroes.
Mayella is powerless because of her class. From a Document: At the beginning of Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout describes Mayella’s home, "Against the fence, in a line, were six…jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for… tenderly…. People said they were Mayella Ewell’s.” (Document A). According to the quote, she wants people to see that she is not like her father. The public does not care about her family and they
Tom see that Mayella has no one in the house that can take care of her take care of her because her mother died when she was young. She was also forced to be the woman of the household at a very young age and that means that she couldn’t enjoy being “young”. Tom lean that she didn’t get true respect in the house because Mayella got offended when atticus called her mama to pay respect but Mayella took that offensively.
Philosopher Albert Schweitzer explains, “The purpose of human life is to serve, and show compassion and the will to help others”(BrainyQoute.com) In order to follow the purpose of life you have to teach the purpose of life. Compassion is meant to be shared and spread throughout the whole world. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Atticus takes this moral upon himself, and teaches Jem and Scout about compassion in Maycomb. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee deeply develops her theme that compassion is understanding someone else’s perspective and following your own belief even if it contradicts the way of society.
What it Means to Kill a Mocking Bird: an in depth analysis of the morals in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird
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.
In the courtroom, Mayella is being asked questions in regards to her father. Based on Scout’s perspective, “Mayella looked at her father who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing he sat up straight and waited for her to answer,”(Document B). Mayella is a victim of violence; as a result, she fears her father because she has no control or dominance over him. Because of society and stereotypical people, females are generally conceived as dependent and fragile human beings. Her father expects her to be obedient and another stereotype in Maycomb. Mayella is left with no choice but to show submission and vulnerability. By doing so, she is acting like a puppet following the orders of her puppeteer. Her father is a constant reminder of her weakness. She is allowing society’s stereotypes to poison and take over her. Mayella conforms to being nothing but weak and invisible. Soon enough these ideals will invade her entirely causing her to feel powerless. All in all, it is evident that Mayella’s gender is another reason she could be classified as
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
Mayella Ewell is often mentally, physically, and sexually abused by her father Bob Ewell. Even though Mayella takes care of her siblings each day, she is lonely most of the time, considering nobody wants to be around her. Her father abuses her and beats her often, and Mayella wants the abuse to come to an end. Mayella comes up with and fulfills a plan to end the abuse coming from her father. Her plan involved a Negro man named Tom Robinson. Mayella accuses Tom of beating and raping her, and brings Tom to court, and goes up against him in a trial. Her plan was successful and came out in her favor because she was manipulative, and she knew what it took to win the trial. Mayella Ewell, a poor, white woman, who lives on a dump, is seen as
“she became what she was, a thick-bodied girl accustomed to strenuous labor” (page 239, Scout Finch) is how Scout describes Mayella. During her testimony, she says that Tom beat her and raped her. She said she invited Tom to come into her yard to help her chop up an old chiffarobe. She said she would pay him a nickel, but when she turned to face the house, Tom grabbed her and started strangling her. “and I turned around, and ’fore I knew it he was on me” (page 241, Mayella Ewell). She said she screamed, and the next thing she knew, her dad was standing over her, and then she blacked out. When Atticus starts asking her personal questions about her house and her dad getting drunk, she becomes scared and seems to soften up, like she’s going to admit something, but then she screams that Tom is most definitely
In the novel Mayella lives in an old Negro cabin, its windows are merely open places in the walls. Bits of tree lems, tool shafts as a fence.(Doc A, Pg 13) Mayella’s class of people treats her with no respect so when she went to the trial when Tom’s lawyer Mr. Finch call her “Ma’am and Miss” she was offended because she thought she was getting made fun of. Mayella also has little power white people in the higher class even her father. Mayella is so poor and lonely she has only the little things to hold on to, but with this in mind she tried to be better. Mayella was the one decent Ewell “Mayella looked as she tried to keep clean” she tired to grow and become better unlike her seven brothers who never cared about their future. In the DBQ Project: Pg 21, it states that “ Mayella must be the loneliest person in the world…. white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes [ the Ewells nearest neighbors] 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 because she was not very social because when she tempted Tom Robinson by kissing him on the cheek she said she never kissed a grown man before (DBQ Project: Pg
Whatever respect or sympathy the reader might have had for Bob Ewell is dispelled by his behaviour in the courtroom and the evidence that Atticus produces that he was the cause of Mayella's beating. Not only is he a self-righteous bully but he is prepared to sacrifice Tom Robinson's life for his own selfish ends. The reader is more likely to feel sympathy for Mayella as the trial progresses. Her loneliness and need for simple human contact are made painfully evident as Scout comes to understand that she is 'the loneliest
How can a story brimming with racism and resentment also be filled with compassion? Although the world is filled with people who do appalling things, there are still some out there who practice generosity and lead by example. In To Kill a Mockingbird, these people are characters like Scout, Atticus, or Tom. Throughout the novel, these characters and more take action to show humanity in circumstances that they don’t have to, and add a layer of compassion to the theme. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the actions of Maycomb County citizens during the harsh times of the 1930’s show that any given person, regardless of race or societal status, should be worthy of compassion. These principles are demonstrated in the story by the Cunninghams, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson.
The cruel nature and intentions of people can either hurt or harm individuals or it can bring about resilience and determination. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee revealed that humans often have other motives in life; some are born to be evil in nature, some are naturally innocent and then there are some that are born to protect the innocent. Lee utilized a variety of symbols and themes that correlated with each other and thus had the ability to create questions in the minds of the readers. Are humans calculatedly cruel or is there some moral good in each of us? The impiety of a few can create a movement, imprison the innocent or reveal the sincerity of others.