Yet another factor contributing to Mayella being pitiful is that she is very lonely. Mayella's lonesome is due too many reasons namely, she has no companions. During the trial, Atticus asks her if she has any friends, and she appears to be confused and feels insulted even by the question. (Lee, ?) She is so lonely, she can't even comprehend the concept of having friends. She thinks Atticus is belittling her by asking this question. Additionally, Mayella is the eldest of many siblings, she has seven (Lee, 244). Mayella has the role of being their caretaker, not a friend or playmate. This creates a social divide between Mayella and the younger Ewell children.
In addition, Mayella's mother is dead and she has an absentee father. Atticus asks her how long her mother had been dead and she replies “Don't know-long time.” (Lee, 244). No one is around to be a parent to Mayella. The absence of a mother in Mayella's life subtracts from her life.
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In conclusion, the causes of Mayella Ewell's loneliness can be contributed to a few things and a lack of a confidant is the main reason, with zero friends, nor a close sibling and no responsible parental figure,
A) During the questioning of Mayella, Mayella assumed that Atticus was mocking her by calling her “ma’am” and “miss”. (Doc. C) The reason why she thought this was because she is not socially experienced since her own race doesn’t want to associate with her since she “lived among pigs”
Along with that Mayella has been given many chances to call out her father for his wrongdoing. She needs to protect herself and Atticus has been asking her multiple questions to help her. “You seem sure enough that he choked you. All this time you were fighting back, remember? You kicked and hollard as loud as you could,
Mayella has gotten verbally abused because Atticus asked her “except when he’s drinking? Asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded. ”(Doc B) Mayella has also been physically abused because Atticus said “What did her father do? We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left. ”(Doc B)
One day in Maycomb, Alabama during the great depression a young girl named Mayella Ewell was raped. This shows Mayella is one powerful young girl in the story To Kill A Mockingbird. It will show how she is power through class, race, and gender. First Mayella is powerful through her class ranking. In the story it said that the “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin…”.
Mayella was born in the lowest class. Being poor in Maycomb wasn’t uncommon but as poor as she was, it was a little much. Mayella tried to be normal compared to her family. When being described, “Mr. Ewell had a scalded look; as if an overnight soaking had deprived him of protective layers of dirt… Mayella looked as if she tried to keep clean,” (Lee 239) Mayella tried to be a decent person unlike the family she was born into.
Because of her race, gender, and class, she is considered a powerful character in the novel In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella’s race gives her an incredible advantage, because society
“Atticus was quietly building up before the jury a picture of the Ewells’ home life… and there was a strong suspicion that Papa drank it up anyway.” (Narrator 244). Atticus portrays Mayella’s life at home, he tries to get the jury to feel sorry for her which helped him to be successful in the trial. Since Atticus was acting so nice and acting like he relates to Mayella, she eventually let her guard down and got cornered by Atticus. Atticus “trapped” Mayella, and the only reason he was successful in doing so was because of his solicitude.
Mayella was not favored by the people in Maycomb. She was extremely poor and never spoke on any harassment she suffered from her father. Tom Robinson attempts to get the truth out in the open when he is giving his testimony, “She said what her papa do to her don’t count” (Doc B). Mayella doesn’t fully understand that her father is physically abusive towards her. To her it’s just love.
One would say she is not powerful because she is enclosed from the world, beaten by her father, and not very respected. For example, as Atticus asked Mayella to see if her father is good and tolerable to her, but she says “He does tollable, ‘cept when-”, ‘Except when he’s drinking?’ asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded. ”(Lee, Chapter 18) This would prove that Mayella has less power than usual when her father is drunk because, his gender as a male has the power over her and gets violent when drunk.
Love in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, is demonstrated through esteem and fairness which is connected by family and friends. The author, Harper Lee, indicates this love through Atticus, who reveals his love by they way he treats Mr. Cunningham and Tom Robinson. As well as, the unbreakable bond between Dill, Scout, and Jem is a lifelong friendship, and Atticus's fatherly love towards Scout and Jem. Throughout the novel love is shown in numerous ways. One example of the way Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird is considered a love story is through the way Atticus treats Mr. Cunningham and Tom Robinson.
In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Power can be refer to as the ability to influence or change one’s opinion base on how an individual is being viewed by the human specie. The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is simply about a girl, Scout, whose life is influenced both positively and negatively as a result of how society was created. In this book there is a side character, Mayella,; and because of her class and gender, she is powerless, but her race makes her powerful. With this in mind, powerless is a result of poverty, the reader can understand how Mayella’s class makes her powerless; she cannot not fit in due to her lack of money and her lack of hygiene and that makes everyone want to avoid her thus, makes her powerless. “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town dump the town dump in what was once a Negro cabin….(Document
Mayella was powerless in gender because she was always abused. “Mayella was beaten savagely by someone who lead almost exclusively with his left” (Document B). Based on this quote it shows that Mayella’s father had beaten her sexual, verbally, and physically. Tom Robinson also was crippled in his left hand which shows her father beat her. During the trial Atticus questions Mayella about if she loves her father and she response “he tollable, except when he is drinking” (Document B).
Is friendship key to the book called “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. The story “To Kill A Mockingbird” is about friendship, in the story there is a lot of people helping each other out and being there for your friend. The main idea of the story is friendship because there were a lot of dialogue between people that were nice with each other like Atticus and Jem. In the book i found some quotes that help explain friendship one is “Don’t pay attention to her just hold your head high and be a gentleman.” I think that quote really explains friendship to the book and shows people how friendship is and how people care.
In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee took the minor character of Mayella Ewell and made her into a sympathetic role to her readers in a latent way. Mayella's life at home is told through the story's background and foreshadowing references. This is how Lee made Mayella memorable enough to the reader to know who she is and her family situation without needing her point of view of her side of the story. Once Mayella enters the storyline, her actions will become understandable to the reader and generate sympathy. One way Lee makes Mayella a sympathetic character is how before entering her into the story, one of Mayella's younger siblings was introduced.
Mayella Ewell is a victim. Mayella is a victim of her father, Bob Ewell, because he is an alcoholic that abuses her. During the Tom Robinson trial, Atticus proved Bob Ewell to be left-handed. Based on Bob and Heck Tate’s testimonies, Mayella’s right eye was blackened