To Kill A Mockingbird Character Analysis Essay

Mayella had a great amount of power in the courtroom during the trial of Tom Robinson. This completely classless manipulative woman used the disadvantages she was dealt in life to her benefit. She made advances toward this black man, when he did not reciprocate those feelings she accused him of rape. He is convicted and sent to prison because of her. Through this, she also gains power that removes her from her father’s sexual abuse. He does not want her because of the relations with a

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.

(“DBQ: Is Mayella Ewell Powerful?” 7). The Jim Crow Laws made Mayella’s accusation of Tom raping her even worse.

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

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

She goes through obstacles in her life on a daily basis and is believed not to be of much worth. Words such as dirty, poor, victim, and social outcast is used to describe Mayella. In measuring how much power Mayella holds, race, gender, and class shows herself having barely any power at all. Concerning her life at home with her abusive father, the way people see her, and how she is considered inferior as a person compared to males, Mayella cannot control her life the way she wishes. Throughout her life, she has experienced little to no respect and inappropriate actions involving her

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

On the other hand Mayella’s gender also made her powerless. As a woman in a low class she got abused, for example “Tom Robinson shut his eyes tight. ‘He says you goddamn whore, i’ll kill ya. (Doc. B).” is an example of both verbal and physical abuse. An example of emotional abuse would be “long’s he keep callin’ me ma’am (Doc. C).” One last example on how mayella is abused is

She is a female living with her father and six siblings. Her father is an alcoholic and can be extremely abusive when he is drunk around her. He has raped her and mistreated her throughout her life, and she has no power because she is a female and she is his daughter. At this moment Atticus almost made Myella spill the truth but, “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).

Tom Robinson, a hard working African American, was on his way home when Mayella asked him to come inside. She thought he would do her the attraction she never got. Tom felt sorry for her and pity toward her. “No, I don't recollect if he hit me” (185). She used his pity for her to end up getting Tom sent to prison for rape and killed in the end all because of the fear of her father's wrath.

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.

Her father was abusive, and she had no one to talk to. Every day, she would do all the work around the house, and take care of the children, with no help. Tom was most likely the only person to ever show her kindness and politeness, the only one to ever stop to help her and talk to her. The black people wouldn’t have anything to do with the Ewells because they were white, and the white people wouldn’t have anything to do with them because they lived like pigs, among the blacks. The prejudices other people held towards them was what caused them to act the way they did in the first place. We see that although what Mayella was doing was horrible, she had reasons to do it. She is a victim of social pressures, of prejudice, and the effects these things have on her family.

When it was her time on the stand, she lied on what happened between her and Tom. ” 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” (Lee 186). Mayella was fearful of her father and she anticipated the possibility that her father

I say Miss Mayella lemme outa here an’ tried to run but she got her back to the door an’ I’da had to push her. I didn’t wanna harm her…” (260).Through Tom’s testimony, it is evident that Mayella was trying to take advantage of Tom and abuse the fact that she had authority over him. With almost