Mayella Ewell Research Paper

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 Ewell has been 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 involves 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 is successful and comes out in her favor because she is manipulative, and she knew what it took to win the trial. Mayella Ewell, a poor, white woman, who lives in a dump, is powerful, when considering certain factors such as her social class, her race, and her gender.

One small gesture that Tom Robinson made was immediately questioned by the majority of the court room; being a black man in a white society, he was supposedly in no situation to feel sorry for Mayella who is a white woman. He does not know much about her situation, but he has the ability to understand where she is coming from and see that she deserves help. “Looked like she didn’t have nobody to help her… yes suh. I felt right sorry for her.” Pg. 217.

As a result of the Ewell’s living behind the Maycomb county dump, Mayella is looked down on. “We’ll convict this Negro but get back to your dump (Doc A).” This quote shows that though Mayella had won the case against Tom Robinson, the Ewells were still thought of as nothing. “White people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes [the Ewell’s nearest neighbors] wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white (Doc E).” Powerful white people looked down on Mayella because she lived in filth; black people would not either because she was white. “Long as he keeps callin’ me Ma’am and sayin’ Miss Mayella, I don’t hafta take his sass (Doc C).” Mayella is not used to being respected as she is poor and is not treated fairly. This shows how Mayella’s class ties with her power.

Mayella does not have power because she is a white female, being the lowest class. Mayella is a white female living in Maycomb, Alabama. Mayella has some power being white, but not in her class and gender prevents her from having any power. Mayella is an eighteen year old taking care of her younger siblings. She does not have any power.

During the trial, Mr. Gilmer begins to question Tom and his actions. Mr.Gilmer does so by asking, “Were you... scared of arrest, scared you have to face up to what you did? No, suh, scared I have to say something I didn't do,” (Doc D). Privileges are only given to those who are born into them. In most cases, it would be white people. White people will always be given priority because they are seen as innocent human beings. Preconceived notions have caused white people to devalue the lives of blacks and allow them to formulate assumptions that are not necessarily precise. This affected Tom because he had no power to get himself out of the lies that the Ewell has thrown upon him. Tom comprehends that in a dark, corrupted society there is little to no chance to achieve justice. This trial was self-contradictory because racism was utilized to cloud their judgment. Mayella’s filthy white skin has poisoned the eyes of justice. In addition to that, Tom Robinson was yet again demeaned and belittled. Mr. Gilmer emphasizes, “You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her? ”(Document E). Tom’s sympathy for Mayella leads him into more trouble. Blacks and whites are not socially equal. Therefore, they should not assimilate accordingly. White people have blind spots that cause them to misinterpret Tom’s actions. Thus, Tom’s acts of innocence were taken as

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

In to kill a mockingbird the defendant Tom Robinson is a young black man and the plaintiffs is Mayella Ewell, a young white girl . Through colorism black people seem to appear as “bad” whereas white people are seen as “good”. Tom Robinson has the poor event of being judged .

To begin, "The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box" (Lee 224). Tom Robisnon becomes a victim of racism when he is wrongly convicted. Tom is wrongly convicted of raping Mayella Ewell because of the color of his skin. Jury members only convict Tom because he is black, not because of the evidence presented in the trial. Secondly, "If I hear one more peep outa my girl Helen about not bein able to walk this road I'll have you in jail before sundown" (Lee 253). This is important because Mr. Ewell harasses her on her way to work for Mr. Deas, he does not even let her walk in front of his house, he even threatens her to not go to work. This shows that Helen has had a hard time finding work because she is associated with Tom. If Tom had not been wrongly accused of raping Mayella, then Helen would not face the harsh discrimination from the Maycomb community. All in all, Helen and Tom Robinson have a really hard time because of the effects of racism on them.

When Tom Robinson was convicted of a crime and sent to a trial that he had no chance at winning, he had lost any bit of innocence that he would ever get. In a time where the black community faced constant prejudice and discrimination, it was near impossible for any African American to be let off as innocent for any crime. And the sad part to it is that a lot of the blacks sent to trials and jail weren't even guilty of any crime at all, they were innocent. Tom Robinson was sent to a trial for the rape and beatings of Mayella Ewell. No one believed Tom on his innocence and when Atticus, his lawyer at the case, hands down proved his innocence, he was still going to be convicted as guilty. If it had come down to where they had to sit in front of another jury and do the same thing over and prove his innocence again, he still would probably be convicted as a guilty man. In the end Tom would be sentenced as guilty on not fact, or logic but by wrong prejudice ideas. With the broken judicial system and sideways beliefs of the time Tom Robinson lost any little hope he could ever wish for, he was completely stripped of his innocence.

The Ewells are an underprivileged, ill-educated, and troublesome family. They are considered the lowest of the low in Maycomb County, so as that society virtually disregards them. They live amongst a black neighborhood; what exclusively keeps them apart from plummeting to their status is that the Ewells are white. Such as every person who was in their stature, The Ewell family want a better life. Mayella Ewell, as the eldest daughter, accuses Tom Robinson (a black man) of sexually assaulting her. At this point, It leads to Tom’s eventual conviction, and then death. However, little would they expect that this would become a turning point for Maycomb County. Mayella and Bob Ewell are both proven liars and Tom Robinson’s trial sheds new light and hope for the succeeding future. Instead of gaining respect and a semblance of acceptance, the Ewell’s reputation is further cemented. The question for Mayella’s fate hangs in the air, does she deserve sympathy? At 19 years young, despite the reprehensible act she has committed, gambling a man’s life in favor of gaining privilege, Mayella Ewell is not entitled to the amount of contempt readers bear for her.

When I first read this novel I was affected by how instinctive Tom Robinson was. Tom realizes he is an African American man in deep-south Alabama, and there is nothing he can do to win this trial. He is willing to try anyway, for the sake of the town and his beloved family. Tom is attentive, he is a realist, and conscientious. He has seen what has been going on in his town and in the world. Mr. Robinson is conscious of his trial, his mistakes and the opposing counsel's mistakes. But he knows for the color of his skin he will not get to see his children again or see his wife, parents, or friends. Tom understands he does not get the same opportunities as a White man. As Scout says, “... I did not understand the subtlety of Tom’s predicament: he would not have dared strike a white woman under any circumstances and expect to live long, so he took the first opportunity to run…” (page 260-261). Although hitting a woman without provocation is unacceptable no matter what race, the fact it was a Black man supposedly hitting a White woman stood out to the jury and rest of the town. Tom Robinson is also a dutiful person. He does his work and does it to the best of his abilities, he always tries his best. For example, when Mr. Gilmore says “‘You did all this chopping and work from sheer goodness, boy?’ ‘Tried to help her, I says.’..... ‘You’re a mighty good fellow, it seems- did all this for not one penny?’”

Accused of having affairs with a black man named Tom Robinson, her entire reputation drifted to the ground like the leaves in late autumn. Along with her went my family, tied to my dearest sister like an anchor. My father desperately clung to the hope that the town would believe that he saved all of its white women from a dangerous black man, and all for the small sliver of optimism that he may be thought of in a slightly better way. I, however, knew much better than to believe my father and his manipulative ways. That poor black man, he was never guilty of anything. What most don’t know is that Mayella longed for the danger of a forbidden relationship with him, longed for the ability to make her own decisions, longed for power over the only people worth less than we were. My father and sister had finally lived up to their reputations, and I couldn’t be more embarrassed. We were

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee presents Mayell Ewell as a complex, round character with traits that evoke various feeling from the reader. In one light, “she seemed somehow fragile-looking” (179). She is scared of what would happen to her if anyone found out she was lying. The questioning became too much and made her “stare at (Judge Taylor) and burst into tears” (179). The crying showed her emotional and fragile side of her. The fact that there was a bigger, more powerful being forcing her to act a certain way scared her. She continued to cry at certain times and didn’t answer some of Atticus’s questions. She was scared of what would happen if they didn’t win

Mayella Ewell had a very specific way of getting what she wanted at the time that she wanted it. Although she was very poor and did not have much money, most people felt extremely sorry for her. Mayella had a very poor social life, she did not have that many friends, she was extremely poor and she lived behind a trash can. Mayella’s class contributed to her power, because she was a white woman, and the man that she accused of raping her was african american. Mayella has power over Tom Robinson and she has a higher class than him, he calls her “ma’am” and she gets extremely offended by it so much that she tells the judge he is “making fun of her”. (Doc C.1)