How Did Mayella Ewell Have A Fair Trial In To Kill A Mockingbird

This story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the year 1929. A young white girl, Mayella Ewell, tries to seduce an African-American man, Tom Robinson. Later she accuses him of raping her. She knew she would win the case because she was a female and the jury would lean to her side, considering it was an all white jury. Also, the Ewells were known for being the poorest family in Maycomb. In her mind, Mayella thought people would be sympathetic towards her. Mayella Ewell was powerful and she knew how to use it to her advantage. The Ewells were the most suffering family in economic resources in Maycomb, so Mayella knew people would feel soft-hearted towards her and elicit their support. When describing the Ewell residence Scout Finch said,

No one would have believed a black man if he were to say that a woman, especially a white woman, tried to seduce him. White women were viewed as the weaker sex, helpless, unable to do anything right, or do any harm. During the trial, when Atticus was questioning Mayella Ewell, her father went from being in a relaxed position, leaning his chair on the railing, to sitting up straight and glaring in her direction. Later on Mayella went on to saying that her father was “tollable” meaning that he treated her fairly except for when he was drinking. Indicating that he would savagely beat her. When Atticus was questioning Tom Robinson and Tom recalled his version of the incidents with Mayella, he remembered that when she started to kiss him Mayella said, “she [had] never kissed a grown man before [and] what her papa do to her don’t count”. Tom without realizing had just accused Bob Ewell, a white man, of abusing his daughter sexually. These events conclude that Mayella was being treated horrendously by her father, in a matter a parent should never treat their child, because he not only abused her physically but also sexually. This was causing Mayella to be intimidated by her own father, a feeling a child should never experience from a parent. All these implications are clear that Mayella Ewell wanted to escape her current situation of constantly being downgraded and

These laws stated that there was to be no intimate relations between white females and African-American males. Mayella knew she could frame Tom Robinson and have everyone believe her, after all Tom was an African-American. Anything Tom said could be misinterpreted and used against him. Which was the situation that Tom was in. Automatically a black man and a white woman together would raise assumptions, usually that he would be in the process of harming her, even though this was not the case. Another reason why Mayella was sure to come out as the victor was because of whom the jury consisted of. This particular jury was formed by “your everyday Joe” of the south during that time, which was usually described as a white man in overalls who rarely ever bathed and were prejudiced, which was correct for most of the men sitting in the jury’s section of the courtroom. In an all white jury in a court where the case was a black man’s word against a white man’s, it was impossible for the black man to win, even if he was not guilty. This was a tremendous benefit for Mayella because she was white and when being tried against Tom, a black man, in front of a crowd of white people during the year 1929, she was sure to win. Prejudice would blind these men and they would not be able to see the truth and have justice