Names In To Kill A Mockingbird

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.

Minor characters are often more important than they initially seem, and can be just as engaging and complicated as major characters. Furthermore, protagonists are isolated without the people that surround and influence them subliminally. This applies to the intriguing minor characters one has the privilege of discovering in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Specifically, Lee uses minor characters to effectively disprove stereotypes and establishing setting. Not only do they influence the direction of the plot, but also Scout and her development as a character. Lee carefully selects minor characters to send important messages and reinforce themes by using characters as symbols. Fundamentally, the minor characters in “To Kill a

To Kill A Mockingbird was published in the summer of 1960 and it could be considered one of the greatest novels created. Harper Lee, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman, wrote these novels because of many personal experiences influencing her. One being the Scottsboro Boys case where an African American was falsely accused of raping a white woman where he was sentenced to death. This influenced the racism and prejudice in this novel. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee created a character named Boo Radley to develop a theme in this novel. Boo, a man that was living in the shadows, thought to be a scary and harmful person but actually being very friendly, shy and innocent. In To Kill A Mockingbird,

“You aren't really a nigger-lover, then, are you?" (Lee 107-09). "I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody... I'm hard put, sometimes—baby, it's never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn't hurt you.” (Lee 107-09). This quote is one of many that show how racism is used in the story. In this quote Scout has heard someone call Atticus a nigger lover because he is Tom Robinsons lawyer and he is trying to his best job to help him as he can (Lee). Scout doesn’t really understand at first what a nigger lover is until Atticus explains it to her.

Throughout history, different people have many struggles with their identity and trying to figure out who they are. When I was younger, I struggled with my identity and who I was to my family and my friends. I did not know how to be myself without being called names or being looked at funny. At the house I would act one way towards my parents and my siblings, and at school I would act differently towards my friends to fit in. This time period of my life is well conveyed throughout different characters in many books. Harper Lee demonstrates the struggle of identity greatly in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Throughout the novel, the author develops two characters, Calpurnia and Dolphus Raymond, that struggle with their identity to

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

For example, when Atticus addresses Mayella as “ma'am” or “miss,” she believes it is a sign of Atticus mocking her. Proving that Mayella was never greatly respected or at all throughout her life. Mayella owns geranium flowers that Scout emphasizes for being so well cared for, because she realizes that Mayella looks like she is trying to keep clean, and one may believe that Mayella wanted more than to live in a Negro cabin where its windows were spaces in the wall with a dirt yard behind the town’s garbage dump. Scout also notes the geraniums because she believes that Mayella uses them to separate herself from the rest of the Ewell family. Bob Ewell is an alcoholic and an abusive father. Presented in To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus says “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.” (Lee, Chapter 27) Stating that although Bob is white, he is still unwanted by others even after Tom Robinson’s conviction. Mayella suffers from her life at home by being abused, let alone is thought of and expected to be lower than everyone else as a reflection of her polluted appearance, her family’s low income, and her father’s

Just like gender, Mayella has power when it comes to her social class. Throughout the trial, Mayella was always called Ma’am. “I will not answer a word you say, as long as you keep mocking me.” (“DBQ: Is Mayella Powerful?” 17) Mayella was not used to being called Ma’am, which is why she thought that she was being mocked by Atticus. This shows that Mayella is usually not respected by anyone, including her father. In addition with Mayella being called Ma’am, the judge calls Tom Robinson by a certain name, which shows that he is from a lower class. “That old Mr. Gilmer doing him thataway, talking so hateful to him, the way that man called him “boy” all the time and sneered at him.” (“DBQ: Is Mayella Powerful?” 17) When considering the social class factor, Mayella is very powerful. Mayella’s social class gives her power because with her class, she is well respected by others, and especially by Negros. People respect her more than they do Tom Robinson, which gives her an advantage in the trial. At another point in the trial, Tom was asked why he

Mayella is a poor white girl that isn’t highly educated. This is shown during the courtroom scene where Atticus questions her. “Long’s he keeps callin’ me ma’am and Miss Mayella”. The judge had to elucidate this quote so Mayella would understand. This quote shows she never gets called those names before. Mayella has little power because of her class.

Matt Berman from Common Sense Media commented, “This richly textured novel, woven from the strands of small-town life, lets readers walk in the shoes of one fully realized character after another.” To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one of the major messages is identity. Harper Lee lets the people look into the perspectives and identity of some of the characters that make it seem very life-like. In the novel, many characters possess both admirable and dislikable qualities which are shown through their actions. With the nurturing of her father, Scout contains the charming qualities of being courage and mature for her age. The father that instilled these characteristics in Scout, is Atticus Finch. While dealing with the stressful case of Tom Robinson, Atticus maintains to keep the likable aspects of sympathy and strong will. The antagonist in this novel fighting against Tom Robinson is Bob Ewell. Bob Ewell has instilled, in him, the terrible qualities of cruelty and racism. These life-like characters that Harper Lee illustrates gives people a clear vision of who the characters portray.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a beloved American classic set in 1930’s Alabama. The novel follows the lives of two children, Jem and Scout, as they grow up. However, the theme of this story is cultivated by two secondary characters-- Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. From them, we find out that things are not always as they seem to be.

Atticus, the main character teaches his children how to handle the cruelty of others. He tries to explain to his daughter the bad terms that are used in Maycomb to show her that they really have no meanings their just used to be hurtful or harmful. Atticus explains to Scout that, “nigger lover is just one those terms that don’t mean anything- like snot nose It's hard to explain—ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves”(Lee 107). This Quote connects to the theme of racial stereotypes because they use a rude term to describe the love of loving a person determined by their melanin skin tone. This matters because people shouldn't judge others by the pigment of their skin nor should they feel superior but people still do it without even thinking.

I don’t hafta take his sass, I ain’t called upon to take it.” This evidence shows Atticus questioning Mayella during the trial, but because she has never been treated with respect, she believed that he was mocking her when in reality, he was only speaking to her politely. In spite of the fact that she was treated respectfully (even though she is a woman), Mayella didn’t see this as being polite which shows just how she is treated by others not only for her gender, but also because of her low social status.

One of the characters the reader can most easily follow through this change is the protagonist, Scout. Scout begins the book as an innocent young girl who finds no wrong in the world around her, but as the trial commences and tensions run high, Scout soon learns of the evils the world possesses. Society’s hatred for the blacks is shown so commonly in everyday life that all the children in the novel use the word nigger in an innocent way. Society has taught these kids at a young age that calling the negroes niggers is the cultural norm and that they are expected to use it. Atticus reminds Scout not to use the term, but Scout points out the prevalent usage in their world. “‘Don’t say nigger, Scout. That’s common.’ ‘’s what everybody at school says.’’From now on it’ll be everybody less one—’‘Well if you don’t want me to grow up talkin‘ that way, why do you send me to school?’(77). This conversation shows the reader that the influence on kids to use racist terms is heavy, even the kids can see it. Scout’s brother, Jem, is also influenced by the public’s thoughts. Scout overhears Atticus telling their uncle that he hopes he can get Jem “‘through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease’” (91). The disease Atticus is referring to is the racism the town shows toward negroes. He recognizes that it is common in the town around them, but

In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Mayella Ewell, a young woman as well as the daughter of Bob Ewell, lives a life of insolence and isolation in the town of Maycomb. As a Ewell, which they are familiarized as being vulgar, uneducated, and indigent, Mayella is disrespected by the people of Maycomb as well as by her father. During the court case, Atticus shows courtesy towards Mayella by addressing her as a miss and a ma’am, which is not surprising for his values of equality. Mistaking his manners with sarcasm, she replies with, “Won’t answer a word you say as long as you keep mockin’ me” (pg.181). Harper Lee is demonstrating the amount of disregard Mayella faces in her life, so much that courtesy can’t be identified as just that. Mayella finds that Atticus is ridiculing her for what she doesn’t have, respect from others. With a reputation such as Mayella’s, people treat her like an outcast. Her lonely life can be a reason to explain why she always asked for Tom Robinson’s company, she wanted to experience friendship and perhaps love for the first time. Her loneliness was so clear to see, even Scout, who still has their childhood-innocent mind, can see through it. Scout compares Mr.Dolphus Raymond’s “mixed children” to Mayella because they both don’t know where to stand in their social class, “white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn’t have anything to do with her