Mayella Ewell Research Paper

No one has ever shown Mayella respect or any sign of friendship. Which is the reason why she does not understand routine courtesy and is often lonely and desolate. For example, during Atticus’s cross-examination on pg198 Mayella says, “Won’t answer a word you say as long as you keep on mockin’ me.” In addition, on pg209 Jean Louise states in her realisation. “…Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world” this is because when Atticus asked about her relationships she seemed to not know what he meant. No one besides Tom Robinson has given her an opportunity to establish a relationship; it is obvious from this that the citizens of Maycomb make substantial perceptions towards others because of their lifestyle, therefore, Mayella does not belong to the Maycomb society.

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.

This can be seen when Atticus announces to the judge, “I have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state, but my pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man’s life at stake, which she has done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt” (Lee 271). Atticus is almost positive that Mayella is trying to cover up what she did, but Atticus does not poke around too much. Atticus reveals what is necessary to help his case and nothing more. While Atticus could have targeted Mayella to get her to reveal more information, he simply infers what he thinks happened. Atticus is very fair to Mayella in the fact that he doesn’t destroy her reputation by continuing on further with his idea of the way things went one night when Tom was at her house. Atticus believes that Tom and Mayella need to be treated equal, regardless of whether Mayella is going to hurt Tom or not. Atticus says that he has no sympathy for Mayella, but the rest of the book says otherwise. This shows how Atticus treats everyone equally, whether it be Tom Robinson, Mayella, or even the

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 is forced to stay in her house and do chores and take care of her siblings since her father was too drunk to ever take care of them and their mother is dead. ¨Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world. She was even lonelier than Boo Radley, who had not been out of the house in twenty five years¨ (256 Lee). The only person she ever comes in contact with is Tom Robinson because ¨white people wouldn't have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs: Negroes wouldn't have anything to do with her because she was white¨(256 Lee). The Ewells were the lowest class of whites, they lived in a black community and had no money or education. The only people they had power over where the colored people, such as Tom Robinson.

Annie Easley was born on April 23,1933, In Birmingham Alabama. Easley and her brother were raised by thaier single mother Mary Melvin Hoover. Her mother was one of her greatest inspirations and her role model, she always encouraged her to get a good education. In an oral history interview with NASA, she said that her mother always used to tell her "You can be anything you want to. It doesn't matter what you look like, what your size is, what your color is. You can be anything you want to, but you do have to work at it." Annie Easley attended school in Birmingham and graduated as the valedictorian of her grade. At that time Easly Wanted to become a nurse because she thought it was one of the only careers open to black women. However, later on

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

Mayella Ewell is living in a racist southern community in the 1930’s. During this time no one was treated the same because of their skin color or if they were intelligent. Mayella has one thing that makes her powerful, her race. Laws back then was harsh. Between white and Negroes, both were wrong and mean to each other. Whites had more power than the Negroes because of the history it has behind them. They were not considered to be equal citizens. Atticus even knows the trial should not be happening, he knew the jury was going to side on with Mayella because she’s white. As Atticus is closing his argument he says, “[The Ewells]....have presented themselves to you, gentlemen, to this court….confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption-the evil assumption- that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women…”as said in chapter twenty. Mayella only goes through all of this because of her father.

Aside from tugging at the heartstrings of his listeners, Atticus discusses ethos with the characters of his opponent and the accused. First, he described Mayella’s mentality in the matter. As stated above, she had lived a difficult life and, consequently, this had shaped her character into a desperate one. She possessed a desperate character and when paired with a

The reason scout think that Mayella Ewell is cut off kid because As stated on page p.256 “when Atticus asked if she had any friends she thought he was making fun of her.She was as sad, I thought as what Jem called a mixed child; white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she live with the pigs. Negroes wouldn’t have anything because she is white.”Also I think that she has no time to make friends.

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

When Atticus asks Mayella ‘who are your friends?’ (p.245) she is perplexed by the question demonstrating to us how she must be ‘the loneliest person in the world’ (p. 256). Furthermore, Lee clearly explains to us she is accustomed to being treated poorly as when Atticus refers to her as ‘ma’am’ and speaks to her politely she believes initially that he is ‘mockin’ me’ (p.243). Reflecting on how Mayella is trapped in her improvised, friendless state with nobody who respects her, we realise it would not have been difficult for her to become fixated on and fantasise about Tom Robinson, as he ‘was probably the only person who was ever decent to her’ (p.257). We are also able to understand why she lies about Tom raping her during the trial when we take into consideration that Mayella is living in fear of what her drunk and abusive father, Bob Ewell, would do to her if she was truthful. As she has already been ‘beaten savagely’ (p.272) and possibly raped by her father, after she ‘kissed a black man’ (p.272), her trepidation is unsurprising. By climbing into Mayella’s skin and walking around in it we see Lee is helping us to learn the importance of considering people’s circumstances before judging their actions.

She got beat and she would get beat again if she admitted to the truth. It truly shows how people act towards other people who are “different”. Mayella didn’t want this to happen Atticus could tell too. Everything in life happens for a reason it may not seem fair

In the 1930’s Mayella Ewell is a white daughter of an abusive father, Bob Ewell. She is sexually abused and physically abused by Mr. Ewell on the right side of her face.. They live together on a pig farm that is part of a run down negro hotel, their backyard is a garbage dump.Mayella accuses Tom William of rape. Tom William is an African American male, who cannot use his left arm due to an injury at work. Mr. William helps Mayella with work around her house. When Mayella hugs and kisses Mr. William, Mr. Ewell sees this happen and he gets very upset with Mr. William. Mayella set him up, because she knew what time Mr. Ewell would be home, knowing that the Jim Crow Laws try to keep blacks and whites seperated. Mayella Ewell

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