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

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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 …show more content…

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

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The jury learns that in the Ewell household, they were uneducated, which Mayella says, “There was no need for the rest of them to learn- Papa needed them at home” (Lee, p.245) This proves that they, especially Mayella, did not know literature and laws. If she had learned the laws, she would have known it was illegal for a white woman to kiss a black man. If she were to acknowledge the law, she would not kiss Tom Robinson and this situation would not occur in the first place.

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Next, it is easy to tell that Mr. Bob Ewell and his daughter were more concerned about arresting Tom Robinson rather than the actual case. They were quick to point fingers, but they had trouble paying attention during the trial. When asked by Mr. Gilmer (the solicitor) if he was ambidextrous, Mr. Ewell responded by saying, “I most positively am not, I can use one hand good as the other.” Also, Mayella didn’t hesitate to accuse Tom of hitting her left eye even though Mr. Heck Tate clearly stated that her right eye was blackened. The two witnesses were ignorant and nervous throughout cross-examination.

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492 Words | 2 Pages

In court, they said “ Now don’t you be so confident, Mr.Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…”. This quote is saying because she is a white person that means that she will always win in court or get her way over a colored person. The people in the court say “that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes, men are not to be trusted…”. The quote is said, because that African Americans are liars that no one should trust or believe anything they say or do. Mayella most power is race because she is a white person and white people are the better people during this time.

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At some point in an individual's lifetime, they will be faced with the judgement of race, class, and gender. These three classifications will cause people to be looked down upon, or become a praised individual. Also, you can receive unjust treatment in certain cases, such as someone thinking they are somehow better than another person. In “To Kill A Mockingbird”, there is a character by the name of Mayella Ewell, who is a poor, white woman that is abused. Mayella is a un-powerful character in the fact that she is a female, and she is very poor.

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1245 Words | 5 Pages

Because of Mr Ewell’s way of life and his pattern of abusive behaviour, Mayella and her siblings “lived like animals”. This sad living situation is what led to Mayella’s desperate attempt at a relationship with Tom, therefore bringing the blame back to Mr Ewell. Though it is not stated it the text explicitly, it is likely that it was Bob Ewell, rather than Mayella that came up with the plan of accusing Tom of rape, as it would give Mr Ewell a chance to simultaneously publicly denounce a black man and make himself out to be the hero of the story. This is why, despite Tom’s conviction, Mr Ewell is infuriated by the results of the trial, as Atticus was still able to destroy “his last shred of credibility”, the exact opposite of what Bob had planned for the trial. This would suggest that Bob Ewell was willing to have Tom killed, not because he truly believed he had committed a crime, but rather so he could promote his own prejudiced narrative at the trial and restore to himself the power that the social structures of Maycomb had taken away.

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Power, isn’t it something we all want? This court case, we set in a rape crime that has supposedly been committed by a young black fellow named Tom Robinson. The victim of this crime is Mayella Ewell and she’s white and a young girl. In the 1930s racism was a big factor in this case. Now does Mayella have more power because of race?

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”Lee 238 this is saying that he could be left handed and could be the one the abused Mayella. This might cause the unbiased audience to feel and think that Bob could have done it. Another reason is that Bob did not call the doctor when he found Mayella the evidence is that in the book it says “It wouldn’t dress any, Mr. Finch.

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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.

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885 Words | 4 Pages

Then some people thought that Tom was innocent but the judge decided to make Tom go to prison. In the book it said that Mayella hugged and kissed Tom on the cheek. From this I can infer that Mayella is desperate and can get away with this because Tom Robinson is a black person. This reminds me of a couple southern movies I’ve watched where black people are always the first to suspect because of their color. Tom Robinson on trial for his life said Bob Ewell yelled “whore I’ll kill you” when he saw Mayella kiss Tom from the window.

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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.

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887 Words | 4 Pages

This starts when Mayella claims that Tom Robinson raped her. Mayella was lonely and friendless, so approached Tom Robinson. After meeting up several times, she kissed him. When he did not return the kiss, she accused him of rape. This was not true, but Mayella was outraged.

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705 Words | 3 Pages

The climax of this story is a rape trial that involves a Negro, Tom Robinson, and a white woman, Mayella Ewell. In the court’s eyes’ her power is clear, but is she that powerful? Because of her vulnerability as a woman and a very low-class status, she’s powerless, but her privilege as a white person in a racist society is very powerful. Mayella is powerless because of her gender. In the trial, it’s revealed that Mayella is physically, verbally, and sexually abused by her father.

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732 Words | 3 Pages

But she said he took advantage of her, and when she stood up she looked at him as if he were dirt beneath her feet.” Mayella’s loneliness and powerlessness drove her to have an affair with a black man, breaking a societal code. She is a victim of poverty because of the hatred and discrimination occurring in Maycomb. Although some might view Mayella Ewell as a victim, others might view her as a villain because she broke a societal code by attempting to have an affair with a Negro.

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493 Words | 2 Pages

Atticus receives a threat and gets spit on by Bob Ewell and he does not do anything back to Bob. A while after this incident Atticus tells his children that he took the insult from Bob Ewell to potentially save Mayella a beating from her father Bob Ewell. Since Atticus reveals Bob Ewell's behavior toward Mayella in the court. Atticus feels sympathy towards Mayella and tries to avoid another incident where her father is beating her up. This proves that empathy is one of the characteristics of Atticus.

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996 Words | 4 Pages

Abuse has a bad effect on children everywhere causing them to lash out in different ways as Mayella did in her environment. For example, kids that come from negligent families often have trouble connecting with others. Throughout the story, Mayella has shown signs that prove that she lacked simple social skills to understand who she should trust or when people are being nice to her. Further, Mayella exhibits attachment issues and tendency to take risky sexual decisions such as she had done with Tom Robinson, which essentially can be attributed to be consequence of abuse perpetrated by Bob Ewell and his out of control drinking habit. The fact that she knew the consequences of abuse should have been a deterrent to her misbehavior with Tom Robinson During Mayella’s testimony, Mayella’s father is exposed as an alcoholic who is intolerable when drunk.

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