Essay on To Kill a Mockingbird Chapters 16-21 Questions

f. Atticus feels that the adults have made the world the way that it is and the children have to learn to live in that world. They can’t hide from it and need to be exposed to it as early as possible.

because of what Mayella did to him. What Mayella Ewell did to him, was what Tom

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.

Atticus discusses the Ku Klux Klan on pg. 149 and concludes by saying that the Klan is gone. Is this statement correct? Explain.

Tom is defended by Atticus no matter the trouble or cost Atticus has to take, whether it be putting his children or himself in trouble. Atticus believes every man is equal in the courtroom including the people who do wrong including Mayella and Mayella’s

Mayella is really terrified of her father because he beats her and doesn’t do any good for her.“It’s an easy question, Miss Mayella, so I’ll try again. Do you remember him beating you about the face?” “No, I don’t recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me.” “Was your last sentence your answer?” This was a conversation between Atticus and Mayella. Mayella was trying so hard to give the answers her father wanted that way her father wouldn’t beat her anymore. In the end Mayella is just a scared little girl who doesn’t want to get hurt. “I said come here, nigger, and bust up this chiffarobe for me, I gotta nickel for you. He coulda done it easy enough, he could. So he come in the yard an‘ I went in the house to get him the nickel and I turned around an ’fore I knew it he was on me. Just run up behind me, he did. He got me round the neck, cussin‘ me an’ sayin‘ dirt—I fought’n’hollered, but he had me round the neck. He hit me agin an‘ agin—” Mayella is contradicting herself here. She keeps going back and forth on whether or not she was beat by Tom or not. Lying can get you somewhere but not for long. You’ll start to feel guilty sooner or

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

Chapter 1 introduces readers to the town of Maycomb, its appearance, its inhabitants, and the particular attitudes of many of its people. Find a sentence or a paragraph which illustrates each of the following attitudes/ideas. Quote at least a portion of the sentence or paragraph and give the page number.

Mayella Ewell was a victim of abuse and neglect. She wasn’t able to go to school or make any friends. She was stuck at home and was beaten and neglected by her drunk father. She tried to have a normal life, but was held back by her father. It was so bad that an African American named Tom Robinson pitied her terrible life. Tom stated that he, “felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n

Tom Robinson went to the Ewell’s house because Mayella said “I will give you a nickel if you would chop up the chiffarobe.” Also I think that Tom went because mayella was tired and went to rest and take a break. And I think because Tom see her doing all the work around the house and want’s to help her.

a) Atticus Finch is a wise, single father. He is a qualified, intelligent and distinguished lawyer practising in the south of Alabama in a rural town named Maycomb. Atticus has a high moral integrity and is bred from an upper-class background. He has a brother named Jack Finch and a sister named Alexandra. Atticus has two children named Jean-Louise Finch and Jem Finch. Jem is a quiet, studious boy who loves reading and football. Scout (Jean) is a tomboyish, confident girl who loves rolling in mud in her overalls and reading any book she can get her hands on. Maycomb is a close knit, old and

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.

He asked him questions like “Did you do this to Mayella?” and “Why did you help her out at all?” Tom responded that he did not commit the crime he was being accused of and that he felt sorry for her, and that’s why he decided to help her out. Then Atticus asked if Tom could catch a cup with his left hand, and he said that he couldn’t because he was disabled in that arm, and then he noticed that the punch marks on Mayella’s face, were on the left and it wasn’t likely that Tom could of punched her.

Aside from being open, Tom is also a deeply good-natured man. He is exceedingly polite at all times, even above the bounds of the time period’s Jim Crow laws. During his testimony, Tom mentions the fact that he always tipped his hat to Mayella when he passed. He could have just avoided eye contact and hurried by, but instead he took the time to stop and acknowledge this woman who, to the rest of Maycomb, was considered no better than trash. It is also mentioned that when Mayella began to make advances, Tom wanted to get away, but he also “didn’t wanta be ugly... didn’t wanta push her or nothin’” (Lee 197). Granted, according to the Jim Crow laws, Tom could have been punished severely for striking a white woman. However, I believe that the way in which Tom repeatedly states he did not want to harm her seems to suggest a higher, more gentlemanly motive. I believe that even had Mayella not been white, or this particular piece of the Jim Crow laws not a threat, Tom would have wanted to avoid striking her if he could. It is just a part of who he is as a respectable man. As Scout indicates, in many ways his “manners were as good as Atticus’s” (Lee

This is done in order to engender pity and sympathy towards Tom Robinson in the courtroom and thus motivate the jury to return an innocent verdict.