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How Does Mayella Ewell Effect In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Things in Maycomb, Alabama were pretty normal. Until one day, when news went around saying that Mayella Ewell had been sexually assaulted by an African American named Tom Robinson. This struck the town by surprise because the Ewells were not exactly the most admirable family. Mayella had very little power because of her race, class, and gender. Ordinarily being white back then was of higher rank, but considering where she came from, her race did not do her any good. She was looked down on by both blacks and whites. During the trial, Mr. Gilmer is questioning Tom Robinson. While answering questions about his interactions with Mayella he says “ Yes, suh. I felt sorry for her…” (Lee, Chapter 19). Consequently, by saying this, he had made a big mistake. Tom Robinson had made it seem like he was above Mayella, and seeing that he was black and she was white, no one was happy with his answer. This displays that Tom felt bad for Mayella because she lived in such a dump and had a terrible family. This is a case of …show more content…

Scout says that “...Enclosed by this barricade was a dirty yard…” (Lee.Chapter 17). This gives us a look in on Mayella’s life. She had kept six jars of red geraniums. That gives us a clue that maybe Mayella tried to keep clean because she did not want to be like the rest of her family. Bob Ewell thought that turning in Tom Robinson would gain him social points and make him more respectable. To no avail, the people of Maycomb did not think differently of him at all. “ He thought he’d be a hero, but all he got for his pain was...okay we’ll convict this Negro but get back to your dump.” (Lee. Chapter 27). While Mayella was being questioned by Atticus, he kept referring to her as “Miss Mayella” and “Ma’am”. She took offense to this because she was not used to being called those things. The fact that Mayella had never been treated like a lady, proves that she was among the low class in

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