Bob Ewell's Power Of Evil In To Kill A Mockingbird

Do you know what it feels like to be powerless? A white nineteen-year-old woman named Mayella Ewell Falsely accuses a black man of raping her in Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930’s, and is rendered powerless, due to being recessive in her social class, race, and gender. She does so in hopes of escaping her abusive father, and a chance to have a better life. Although Mayella is white, she has been shunned by African Americans and other white people. Mayella is a very young woman that does not own anything nice, nor clean, besides geranium flowers. During the 1930’s, men were the dominant sex, as a female, Mayella has to obey her father, Bob Ewell. As a result, Mayella was mistreated and abused. Mayella Ewell is a social outcast without a niche. Corresponding to her drowning financial state and unclean physical

Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, Bob Ewell shows countless acts of controlling and intimidating Mayella. Involving Mayella’s life at home, there is reason to believe she is being abused by her father, especially while he is drunk. During a conversation between Mayella and Tom, Tom asks if Bob is good to Mayella, and she replies “He does tollable, ‘cept when-.” (Lee, Chapter 18). While she is ending her statement, Bob was intimidating Mayella while waiting for her to answer, to express that she may not say anything to defame Bob. As Tom reviews his discussion with Mayella in the trial, he tells the court, “she says she never kissed a grown man before…. She says what her papa do to her don’t count.” (Lee, Chapter 19). In this context, interpreting this statement concludes that Bob has done inappropriate things to Mayella. Previously stated in the second paragraph above, Bob calls Mayella a whore for kissing Tom. Bob is portrayed as a racist person, so Mayella having any interaction with Tom will get her into more