Sophia McDonough
Mrs. Lindsay
Language Arts
13 March 2023
Racism and Ignorance in To Kill a Mockingbird There are many themes in literature. Some themes include irony, selfishness, and greed. In novels, themes go hand-in-hand, like racism and ignorance. Racism is defined as discrimination towards a certain group of people. Ignorance is a lack of knowledge or information. Racism and ignorance were abundant in the American south in the 1930s. Set in this time period, the novel To Kill a Mockingbird expresses the theme of ignorance and racism.
Ignorance and racism in To Kill a Mockingbird is represented by the case of Tom Robinson.Tom Robinson was a black civilian who was accused of raping a white woman. Atticus Finch was Tom Robinson’s lawyer.
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The Ewells are a father daughter duo. Bob Ewell is the father and Mayella is the daughter. Mayella Ewell shows a lot of ignorance by accusing Tom Robinson of raping her when he did not. When Mayella’s dad looked in the window he saw a black man with his daughter and got angry. Mayella’s dad saw Tom Robinson in the house with his daughter. Bob Ewell just saw a black man in his home so he just assumed that Tom Robinson was raping his daughter so he started yelling and running around the house to try and get in. Atticus says that he thinks Bob Ewell beat up his own daughter. In To Kill a Mockingbird even though the Ewell’s show to most ignorance the dad Bob shows the most. If you think about it, kids learn from their parents, Mayella learned from her dad. Bob Ewell was the most ignorant out of him and his daughter; he was so ignorant that he had to beat up his own daughter. When in the courtroom when Bob Ewell spit in Atticus’s face Atticus was kind of happy because if he got his anger out on him then he would save Mayella from another beating. Bob Ewell was so ignorant and lazy that he could not even keep a job. Bob Ewell applied for a job and got in then he got fired after one day because of how lazy he was. Bob Ewell was so ignorant and lazy that he could not even keep a job, and was fired for
(Doc. A) Therefore, because of her class, the community looks down upon her and her family. After winning the trial with Mayella accusing Tom Robinson, an African American of rape, Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, believed that he would be viewed as a hero but all he received was “okay, we’ll convict this Negro but get back to your dump.” (Doc.
The alleged crime took place on the evening of 21 November last year, near the town garbage dump where the Ewells have been living for years. Mr Bob Ewell, the father of Mayella, said that he was “coming in from the woods” when he heard her scream so he ran as fast as he could. Mr Ewell then saw Tom taking advantage of his daughter, however, Tom ran away when he saw him coming. Mr Ewell was “too distracted
Ewell also developed a hatred towards Atticus after hearing the disclosure about the trial. After the trial Mr. Ewell met Atticus , “spat in his face, and told him he’d get him if it took the rest of his life” (217). I think Bob found such an appalling behavior necessary because even though he was found innocent the people of Maycomb knew he was guilty of rape. Although Atticus received negative relationship changes he also gained positive relationships with people, specifically from the black community.
But, that was not the end of Atticus. He asked, “What did your father see in the window, the crime of rape or the best defense to it? Why don’t you tell the truth, child, didn’t Bob Ewell beat you up?”(Lee 251). It is very evident now that Atticus is very suspicious of Bob Ewell. Mayella did not respond to the question but she did insult the whole jury.
Bob Ewells files a case on Tom Robinson, a black man, for raping nineteen-year-old Mayella Ewell, claiming that Tom had raped Mayella and severely beaten Mayella on the right side. Atticus points
During the trial of Tom Robinson, Atticus is the defending lawyer. He tries to turn the jury towards Bob Ewell the father of the rape victim. Atticus shows the jury that Mr. Ewell could have easily beat his daughter. The main idea that Atticus uses is that Tom Robinson didn’t hurt Mayella Ewell it was Bob Ewell. Although, at the end of the trial, Tom is found guilty and Bob Ewell grows a personal vendetta against Atticus.
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, a young woman by the name of Mayella Ewell suffers under her father’s manipulation. Mayella grew up with a terrible home life, no mother, 7 children to raise, and a drunken father. Throughout the book, Mayella displays strong characteristics of being abused and lonely. She had little kindness in her life, but the one person who showed sympathy toward her was Tom Robinson. Tom slowly grew on Mayella, so she tried to make a move on him, and her awful father, Bob Ewell, caught them in the act.
With their unbeknownst number of kids the Ewell brood, specifically Bob Ewell becomes jealous and outright angry that Atticus would oppose him in the court of law by representing Tom Robinson. Although against the odds Atticus feels empathetic towards the Ewells not necessarily Bob but instead for Mayella, he understands what she is being put through, Suffering through domestic abuse, and in court Atticus even goes so far as to state that he feels sorry for Mayella. To add to this he implies that the man truly guilty of beating Mayella is in the courtroom (Bob Ewell). This did nothing to calm Bob Ewell’s seething manner instead it only escalated it, and in an attempt to get back at atticus he tries to kill his children whom are saved by an unseen and unknown force which killed Mr. Ewell. The precursor towards this however was when Bob Ewell spit on Atticus but even through this Atticus was rational, he thought about it.
The Ewell’s are a very poor and lazy family that live in the town of Maycomb like Scout and her family. The father, Bob Ewell, claimed to see Tom run away from his house and Mayella was beaten on the floor. Tom needed a volunteer lawyer to help him win the case, Atticus Finch, Scout’s father took the position. Atticus is a very noble and wise man and he explained that even though there was no chance of them winning because of Tom’s race, it was worth a try to do what's right. In court the sheriff Heck Tate was defending Mayella and explained that he was called to the house where he found bruises around Mayella’s neck and a black eye on the right side of her face.
Bob Ewell spat in Atticus’s face and threatened to take his life. Flooded with emotions of anxiety and trepidation, Jem and Scout hurry home to Atticus, only to find him unflustered and smug. Atticus assures them of his safety, but their fear of various furtive future events persists. To ease his children, Atticus obligingly explains his thought-process: “[i]f spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a controversial trial between a white family and a black man during the Great Depression is depicted. Bob Ewell, who lives in a run down house by a dumpster, comes home to see his daughter, Mayella, being taken advantage of by Tom Robinson. When their case arrives in court, Tom Robinson argues that he was merely trying to help Mayella Ewell when she tried to kiss him. Although Mr. Robinson was found guilty, Bob Ewell still wants revenge on the attorney representing Tom Robinson, Atticus, and decides to attack his children.
Bob Ewell, Mayella 's father, gets drunk and abuses Mayella. He possibly even sexually abused Mayella. Not to mention, Mayella had enough of the abuse and got an idea. In addition to this, Mayella thought since she was a white woman she could blame an African American man, Tom Robinson, of rape and if her father sees, he will
Mayella Ewell’s family was in the wrong for using Tom Robinson. In To Kill A Mockingbird Mayella Ewell is a young girl in Maycomb county who lives with her seven siblings and her daddy Bob Ewell. She claimed to be raped by an African American man named Tom Robinson while he was asked to help her around the house. Tom Robinson’s lawyer, Atticus Finch, later contradicted these words in court.
The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” was written in 1960 by Harper Lee in the point of view of a young innocent girl named Scout. One of the main messages that Lee has (need a new word than – indicated or set out) is racism, it plays an important role which strongly impacts many character’s lives unfairly and changes the relationship between two. Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” shows that it is wrong to hurt someone who does no harm to you, for example, black people are innocent but no way did they have as many rights as white people did. Black people lived hard lives because society was judgemental, irrational and most importantly, racist. As Scout and Jem grow older they learn to cope, take responsibility and are introduced to new aspects of life, one of which is racism.
100) Scout soon learns that Bob Ewell is the prosecutor in the case. In chapter 18, Atticus proves that Bob was actually the person who beat up mayella. It takes an enormous amount of courage to beat you daughter and then blame it on someone else. At first, he said Tom assaulted her, but then changed the charge to rape.