Analysis Of Mayella Ewell In To Kill A Mockingbird

Mr. ________ beats her to exercise his pent-up frustrations (since he could neither marry Shug Avery nor Nettie), and his son, Harpo beats his wife so that she should mind. But Sofia has the real angst “to kill”—to kill her husband’s subjugation, to kill her pathetic emotions, to kill the racial prejudices and to kill the socio-cultural injustice. Whether she succeeds or not is not the concern of the text, but how she confronts the violence behind the closed doors of her house and in the open road of Georgia is the plot of resistance. Her physical strength symbolizes the new forms of revolt against the so called man’s right to beat his wife. She is a woman who dares to call “hell no” to a white mayor’s wife and knocks him down straight on the road.

In the 1930’s, in Maycomb, Alabama a small town is alerted with rape charges, from Mayella, who an African American, Tom Robinson is guilty for. Tom Robinson is not as powerful as he thinks when he takes the stand to plead not guilty, is he really?Mayella does take the stand and plead not guilty, Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird, tells us that her class, race, and gender find her not guilty. In general,... ”White people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs;Ewells negro neighbors wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white”("DBQ: IS Mayella Powerful?" 21)…

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays Scout a tomboy who contradicts the stereotype of the southern ideal little girl during the 1930’s. As Scout is a fighting, masculine, and cursing tomboy. For instance, Scout gets angry at Walter Cunningham, and she starts “rubbing his nose in the dirt” fighting Walter Cunningham (Lee 30). An act forbidden by the social norms of the southern belle. Furthermore, the ideal little “girls didn’t resort to violence” or profanity (Johnson 152).

She doesn’t know how to see the harm in what she does, and in the book it said, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed,” (page 323). Mayella destroyed one of the only things she cared about, and that’s because she didn’t learn the value of the truth. Mayella Ewell’s life is made up of many lousy things which all come together and shape her as the erroneous girl that she is. She is uneducated, has no values, and because of this, doesn’t deserve to be treated with equality. All of these things are part of the themes that make up the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, and

MayElla Ewell, a deceptive snake, made up false claims about poor Tom, and framed him for a felony he would never dream of committing. Oblivious Tom came when called into the Ewell house, where only MayElla currently remained, the whereabouts of the rest of her family unknown at the time. When she started making impetuous advances on him, he tried to stop her, but would never dare hurt a white lady. Nevertheless, when Bob Ewell observed this and questioned his daughter about it, MayElla insisted that Tom raped her, a false claim. Tom Robinson did nothing wrong, and he needed a strong lawyer such as Atticus to prove that.

Another reason why Scout’s saviour is Atticus is related with her acknowledgement over the superficiality and restrictions of being a Southern female, for example when Mrs. Dubose tells Scout: “You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady! You 'll grow up waiting on tables if somebody doesn 't change your ways ...” (page 135; To Kill a Mockingbird). Meaning that if Scout does not ‘woman’ up she will forever be rejected. This quote is one of many illustrations in the novel where our narrator communicates to us Lee 's criticism of Southern women and their ignorance concerning gender roles.

Take Mrs. Dubose, a recovering morphine addict: she vows that she'll die beholden to nothing and nobody. She's pursuing her own dream of being a free human being because she knows deep down that its right. To Kill a Mockingbird focuses on that gut instinct of right and wrong, and distinguishes it from just following the law. Even the titular quote: "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" is in itself an allegory for this message.

She will have status and power even though she is the only woman in the ranch and her husband makes her rejected by all the ranch men. Nobody want to have conversation with her because they all afraid of her husband and they tried to avoid her every

Tom comments, "She says what her papa do to her don't count" (Lee 260). Tom’s testimony suggests that Bob Ewell sexually assaults his daughter, which is disgusting and possibly the worst thing a parent can do to their

Macbeth believe and fall for the witches which made him think that no one can harm him. "I bear a charmed life, which must not yield and to one of woman born" (5.8.12-13). As Macbeth and Macduff are fighting each other, Macbeth tells him to leave, for he does not want the blood of another Macduff on his hands. Macduff refuses and charges at Macbeth. Macduff reveals that he was not woman of born, but from his mother's womb.

By doing this, Calpurnia ignored the social class order for she believes that ‘guests no matter who they are must be treated well’. On the other hand, when Scout wants to invite Walter Cunningham over a second time under Aunt Alexandra’s supervision, Aunt Alexandra makes it very clear that it would be an inappropriate invitation because according to the social order of Maycomb, ‘he is trash’. By Calpurnia allowing Walter to visit and Aunt Alexandra forbidding Walter to visit, the social prejudice system is made obvious. Calpurnia also allows Scout to wear overalls whereas Aunt Alexandra encourages Scout to wear dresses as it is more ladylike. This is once again an example of how these two women are involved in social prejudice; Calpurnia is trying to do what is best for the children when Aunt Alexandra is only trying to obey the social class order.

According to the book To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, I believe Tom Robinson is innocent. The crime that Tom Robinson is getting charged for is that he had raped Mayella Ewell. There are many reasons of why I believe Tom Robinson is not guilty. For instance, Tom Robinson’s left arm was not strong enough nor working, so he didn’t have the strength to do what Mr. Ewell and Mayella said he did. One reason why it is believed that Mayella was raped was because she had said, “I said come here nigger, and bust up this chiffarobe for me” (Lee 241).

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Mayella Ewell is a powerful character. Mayella get’s her power from her class,race,and gender. Her power mostly comes from her race. Tom Robinson has been accused of rape by Mayella Ewell. Mayella race is where most of her power comes from.

CRT #1 Perspective is the way in which we see the world, it is how we perceive the issues of our world based on the moments we have experienced throughout our lives. It is these experiences that have shaped what we think and how we feel, it forms the beliefs people have. In the Novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Harper Lee demonstrates the significance that one’s perspective plays on affecting personal beliefs. She demonstrates this by exploring the lives and points of view of The Ewells, The children, and the common people of Maycomb.

When you read To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, you meet Mayella, a white woman that lives with her dad and her siblings who gains power throughout the story. Mayella gets this power using her race, gender, and class in the society in the story. Mayella uses her power from being poor and by everyone feeling sorry for her and making people help her out. Mayella is white so she has power over the black people in the story, Mayella is a woman so she gets respect from the people in the society. Now you know more about Mayella and her lifestyle more, is Mayella powerful?