In society, people would usually associate with others who are the most similar to them since they tend to feel more comfortable around them. For instance, in the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, is a story of Mayella Ewell who is a poor, white woman living in a racist environment during the 1930s. Some people will say that Mayella isn’t sincerely powerful and others might disagree. On the contrary, Mayella doesn’t have much capability when it comes down to her low financial status and her gender; however, her race is what makes her highly powerful.
Mayella lives in a tremendously poor neighborhood since she “lived behind the town garbage dump”. (Doc. A) Therefore, because of her class, the community looks down upon her and her family. After winning the trial with Mayella accusing Tom Robinson, an African American of rape, Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, believed that he would be viewed as a hero but all he received was “okay, we’ll convict this Negro but get back to your dump.” (Doc. A) During the questioning of Mayella, Mayella assumed that Atticus was mocking her by calling her “ma’am” and “miss”. (Doc. C) The reason why she thought this was because she is not socially experienced since her own race doesn’t want to associate with her since she “lived among pigs”
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During the trial, Tom Robinson revealed that Mayella’s father verbally and sexually abuses her. Tom states “She says she never kissed a grown man before. She says what her papa do to her don’t count.” (Doc. B) After Mr. Ewell caught Tom and Mayella, he called Mayella a “goddamn whore” and threatens her by saying “I’ll kill ya.” (Doc. B) Additionally, based on circumstantial evidence, this substantiates MAyella was physically abused as well. Atticus states that Bob was left-handed and Mayella was “beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left.” (Doc. B) Overall, Mayella’s gender makes her defenseless to the abuse her father did on
He said that “she was beaten around the head” and there were “bruises on her arms”. Also, there were visible finger marks on Mayella’s gullet and her left eye was bruised. According to Mayella, she was certain that Tom had raped her. Mayella said that she was standing on the front porch of her house when Tom walked by, she sought his help to chop down an old chiffarobe as she was “not strong enough”.
When it is time for the trial to take place, Atticus forbids the kids from coming to it. This does not stop the children, however, as they show up and sit in the colored balcony with Calpurnia's, (the maid) pastor, Reverend Sykes. During the trial, Atticus demines the Ewell's credibility by proving that they are lying. During Tom's testimony, Atticus shows that Mayella was the one that advanced on Tom, and when Bob Ewell found this, he beat her. Atticus shows this through a few ways: First, he asks Tom Robinson to stand up and it is obvious that he could not have done it to Mayella; his left arm is a lot shorter than his right arm.
Journal Two Madison Loberg Pages Read Since Last Journal: 42 Pages for the quarter: 47 I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and I am on page 42. This book is about a girl who starts school in a southern, rural town. Along the journey of the book, she meets some crazy people including a boy from her school, and learns more superstitions about the Radley Family. In this journal I will be predicting and evaluating.
Mayella is not a sympathetic character because she lied under oath, “tempts” a married black man, and was the reason Tom died. During the trial Atticus asks Mayella if her dad ever has beaten her, or abused her in anyway.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird Mayella Ewell's is a powerful young teenager. In the 1930’s in Maycomb, Alabama Mayella set news to the small town, she made allegations of rape against Tom Robinson. Mayella is as powerful as the ocean when it takes you underwater. In Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird will show Mayella’s power by using Class, Race, and Gender.
Mayella is called up to the stands during the trial and shares her side of the story. Atticus then asks her, "' Who are your friends?' The witness frowned as is puzzled. 'Friends?'" (208). Although she lives in a large household, Mayella is described as the loneliest person in the world. Her lack of understanding of friends, displays how truly isolated and unloved she is.
Atticus keeps questioning Mayella until she says she does not remember what happened and starts crying. Mayella was speechless when Atticus was asking valid questions, “‘Where were they?’No answer. ‘Why didn’t your screams make them come running? The dump’s closer than the woods, isn’t it?’ No answer.
Atticus’s questioning reveals that Mayella is scared of her father when she abstains from answering. This makes it all more difficult for her to say the truth, especially since he is abusive. The lie of Tom Robinson raping her was more than likely forced onto her by her father as a perfect excuse to cover up what he did to her. Any compassionate person would have “a readiness to take action to relieve [her] suffering” (Jazaieri). If a compassionate person saw what Mayella is going through, they would be more than ready to help her, further proving that she deserves compassion and empathy from
Tom Robinson faces death for being accused of a crime he didn’t commit. Mayella Ewell claims Tom beat and raped her, but she barely has any evidence. Her father, Bob Ewell, is the real convict. He just needed someone to indict. Considering that Tom was black and that Mayella lured him into the house to “fix” the door, he chose him.
The Choice of Power Power is claimed to be a necessity when it comes to having control over a certain situation. In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell, a poor white girl who lived in the dump, claimed that she was raped by a black man named Tom Robinson. After a while, Tom was finally convicted for rape and sent to prison, while Mayella won the case. After she won the case, many people began thinking she was powerful, but unfortunately, she is not. Power is the ability to have power over yourself and others around you, and Mayella did not have that.
Ewell and his daughter, Mayella’s testimonies say that Tom jumped on Mayella, beating and taking advantage of her until she finally passed out. That is when Mr. Ewell came into the story. He came and saw that mayella was badly beaten and had been raped, but he never took Mayella to see the doctor. This sets off red flags. Bob Ewell noted that Mayella was badly beaten.
I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more'n the rest of 'em-’.” (Lee pg.197). From this quote one can understand that Tom Robinson meant no harm and only did what he thought was right. Although he didn’t do any harm to Mayella Ewell, Tom is arrested and charged for raping and assaulting her. At his trial Tom Robinson is found guilty, even though by evidence and the defense of Atticus (Tom Robinson’s lawyer), the jury should have found Tom not guilty.
At some point in an individual's lifetime, they will be faced with the judgement of race, class, and gender. These three classifications will cause people to be looked down upon, or become a praised individual. Also, you can receive unjust treatment in certain cases, such as someone thinking they are somehow better than another person. In “To Kill A Mockingbird”, there is a character by the name of Mayella Ewell, who is a poor, white woman that is abused. Mayella is a un-powerful character in the fact that she is a female, and she is very poor.
Lies of Protection “One must lie under certain circumstances and at all times when one can’t do anything about them,” Harper Lee wrote in her book. This passage epitomizes the message of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird; lying is necessary and pardonable when one is caught in a situation that could be dangerous or hurtful for oneself or others. Harper Lee provides satisfying evidence to prove this assertion, and there are countless examples of this theme in To Kill A Mockingbird. Most notably, when Heck Tate decides to lie about how Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell.
Mayella accuses Tom Robinson of rape, and uses the fact that she is a young woman to make herself sound more defenseless. Pointing out that she is incapable of fighting back, Mayella claims that “[tom] caught me and choked me and took advantage of me” (Lee 18). She uses her gender to her advantage during the trial, to portray as more defenselessness than