There are many times in life where a person’s actions, while dishonest, will not have a large effect on the lives of other people and can therefore be considered insignificant.
However, this is not the case regarding Mayella Ewell, a young girl who lied during the testimony of her own rape case, leading to the wrongful conviction of the defendant, Tom Robinson.
The following arguments will explain why Mayella should be held fully and solely responsible for her actions regarding the Tom Robinson case.
Due to her deliberately dishonest testimony, her intent to act upon a path that would bring the most harm to all persons surrounding the case, and the prolonged harm her actions caused, Mayella Ewell deserves condemnation, not pity.
During
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When Scout first gives the reader an observance about Mayella, she mentions that Mayella owns “six … jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson” (228).
Mayella’s care for her flowers prove that she desires to better her life in some way, to escape the dark life she has always led.
Has Mayella had behaved differently during the trial, her own life and the life of her siblings would have take a large turn for the better.
If Mayella testified against her father instead of covering up for him, Bob Ewell would have been found guilty for both familial abuse and making unsubstantiated accusations against Tom Robinson.
She would then be free from the reaches of her abusive father and would be able to start anew with her life.
While sad, because Mayella allowed circumstances under which she would still have to live with her vicious father, she in a way chose to continue the same life she had always lived.
Even after the trial, Atticus mentions, “So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take”
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A large reason why Tom was convicted was due to Mayella’s testimony, because she was a teen-aged white girl crying on the witness stand.
As Scout explains after his death, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella opened her mouth and screamed” (323), proving that Tom’s life had always been in Mayella’s hands.
Mayella’s lies during her testimony led to the death of an innocent man, for which she should be held responsible.
Another consequence of Mayella’s dishonesty, as mentioned above, was the ability for her father to live life as a free man.
After the trial, Bob Ewell swears to Atticus that “he’d get him if it took the rest of his life” (290).
He then attempts to murder both Jem and Scout, succeeds in seriously injuring Jem, and then gets murdered himself.
All of the three events above would have been avoided if Mayella had been honest during the trial, putting the responsibility on Mayella.
Her dishonesty prolonged the aftermath of the trial for much longer than necessary and caused a domino effect of tragic events, none of which were desirable in any way.
As shown above, the actions of Mayella Ewell during the trial of Tom Robinson prove that ultimately, she is more villain than
On the other hand, Grace Fortescue, Thalia’s mother, is innocent in the Massie Case of 1831-32; contrary to many beliefs. First off, it was merely Grace’s “motherly instincts” to yearn for Justice of her raped and beaten daughter. For example, as it states in “The Massie Case” by Rich Budnick that, “Darrow said Mrs. Fortescue “acted as every mother would act… And here she is in the courtroom, waiting to go to the penitentiary.” Representing that Grace Fortescue only had the intentions of revenge and justice; not initially planning to murder anyone.
Her race ultimately makes her powerful. Mayella from now on is going to have a strict life because Tom won the trial and leaving Mayella still poor, no family, and embarrassed because they chose a black man instead of a white
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you are here because one person in this courtroom decided to take law into her own hands. The defendant, Mrs. Dominique Stephens, murdered the man that she vowed to love. This sole act by the defendant is violation of all morals and her husband’s right to live. Afterwards, she even felt guilty about this violation of justice and called the cops on herself, and she later signed a written statement stating that she is guilty of the murder of Mr. Donovan Stephens. Then the defendant later recanted this statement and said that she only killed Mr. Stephens in self defense.
Tom merely happened to be at the scene at the wrong time, and was put on trial for his life unfairly because of his race. He had even come to Mayella’s aid multiple times, had his own family whom he cared for, and even had a job. Despite it being obvious that he had not committed any crime, the jury pleaded “guilty”. Tom was convicted, and days later he attempted to escape prison. “”Tom’s dead.”
The saddening thing is, that the whole scenario started because Mayella attempted to seduce Tom, and her father found out. Filled with rage, Mr. Ewell beat his daughter, he found it unacceptable that his daughter fancied a black man. Then, he claimed that Tom raped his daughter to cover everything up. There are even cases such as Tom’s happening to this day, such as the case of Miguel Angel Peña Rodriguez Vs. Colorado. The jury was corrupted by bias thoughts which resulted in an unfair trial.
“Atticus was quietly building up before the jury a picture of the Ewells’ home life… and there was a strong suspicion that Papa drank it up anyway.” (Narrator 244). Atticus portrays Mayella’s life at home, he tries to get the jury to feel sorry for her which helped him to be successful in the trial. Since Atticus was acting so nice and acting like he relates to Mayella, she eventually let her guard down and got cornered by Atticus. Atticus “trapped” Mayella, and the only reason he was successful in doing so was because of his solicitude.
By saying this, Mayella reminds the jury that as men, it is their job to protect their women. So even though they may not think Tom is guilty, they convict him anyway for
Mayella was was just a poor girl who had never been to school a day in her life and suffered so much abuse from her father, she didn’t give herself the opportunity to be powerful. In a time of oppression and depression Mayella standing up would have been a monumental change but she never seized it and took advantage, she let everyone else take advantage of
Tom Robinson is a mockingbird in that he doesn't do one thing wrong. All he does is provide help to the people he interacts with. That is exactly how he got in trouble. Tom Robinson was helping Mayella with some chores. He was humming a melody and when he chopped up the dresser drawers.
Mayella was only anxious because she had something to hide: she had kissed a black man. Mr. Ewell saw the scene and decided to bring an innocent
Tom was accused of raping a white woman who was Mayella Ewell, Mayella said he raped her while he was helping her with chores. She later on tells the readers that it was false allegations. The reason why she didn 't tell the truth at her first trial was because, Mayella was afraid of being embarrassed because she kissed a black male. She rather have an innocent man get charged with a crime than that. “However, Robinson was transferred from the state prison to Maycomb 's county jail on Saturday, two days before he stood trial on Monday, and Atticus had to defend him against a lynch mob”.
Mayella father must have been an alcoholic and raped her during the month of November. Mayella wants to try to protect her dad from getting accused of raping her when it actually happened and falsely accuse Tom Robinson.
In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee took the minor character of Mayella Ewell and made her into a sympathetic role to her readers in a latent way. Mayella's life at home is told through the story's background and foreshadowing references. This is how Lee made Mayella memorable enough to the reader to know who she is and her family situation without needing her point of view of her side of the story. Once Mayella enters the storyline, her actions will become understandable to the reader and generate sympathy. One way Lee makes Mayella a sympathetic character is how before entering her into the story, one of Mayella's younger siblings was introduced.
Her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking. When she tried to put the evidence of her offense away, instead of being honest, she had put a man’s life in danger. However, Mayella is not a criminal. She is simply a woman who carries a heavy burden with no one to support or respect her. Mayella is a victim of abuse and
When Mayella, and Bob Ewell, lie to the jury, they do it to make themselves look good. They went out of their way to make an official case about the scenario. Therefore it put Tom Robinson’s own life on trial for something he did not commit. Bob, got to do The only reason Mayella, and what they did, was because of the racial discrimination during that time. Everything that took place in the courtroom shows the loss of childhood innocence and extreme racial prejudice.