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Examples Of Lies In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Lies of Protection
“One must lie under certain circumstances and at all times when one can’t do anything about them,” Harper Lee wrote in her book. This passage epitomizes the message of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird; lying is necessary and pardonable when one is caught in a situation that could be dangerous or hurtful for oneself or others. Harper Lee provides satisfying evidence to prove this assertion, and there are countless examples of this theme in To Kill A Mockingbird. Most notably, when Heck Tate decides to lie about how Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell. Another example is when Scout hides the impudent remarks her cousin made about Atticus. Lastly, though not as clean-cut of an example: Mayella Ewell’s testimony also Lee’s assertion. …show more content…

One could also easily consider her to be an evil person, who deserved to live a squalid life, but that perception is truly an oversight of the facts. Mayella lied on the stand to protect herself, for Mayella had no one in her life that would protect her because no one quite accepted her. “Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world. She was even lonelier than Boo Radley, who had not been out of the house in twenty five years… white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white,” (256). Mayella was completely stuck in the world, just like Boo and Atticus were: Boo Radley is stuck in his house and Atticus is stuck in a town that does not and refuses to understand the way he feels about racism. She had no choice but to lie because she needed to protect herself. Mayella did cause harm to Tom Robinson with her lie, which made her appear to be corrupt and villainous. In reality, lying was the only way she could protect herself. Mayella’s lie is justifiable because life threw every possible adversity at her, this lie was just one of the ways she survived; growing up with a father who abused and molested her, Mayella learned to survive anyway she could. This lie satisfied her father, which could mean one less beating for Mayella. Her lie was justifiable because she was saving herself from pain and hardship than what was

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Mayella said ¨ So he come in the yard´an I went into the house to get the nickel and I turned around an fore I knew it he was on me¨(Lee 205). This evidence shows Mayella is guilty because Tom was helping her with the thing she asked him to do and he didn't jump on her. Mayella also said ¨

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Her decision to commit perjury caused the death of another

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Mayella is not a sympathetic character because she lied under oath, “tempts” a married black man, and was the reason Tom died. During the trial Atticus asks Mayella if her dad ever has beaten her, or abused her in anyway.

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Things are not always what they appear to be, for reality often seems to bend around certain circumstances. To commence, one thing that appears to contrast actual reality in both the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, and the present time is the use of lies to bend the truth. This is formally shown in the trial case of Robinson versus Ewell when Atticus is questioning Mayella Ewell on the events that brought about the trial. Atticus questions, “do you remember him beating you about the face?

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'To Kill a Mockingbird ' the creator utilizes the mockingbird to impart her topic of the resistance of the honest. " Shoot all the blue jays you need, on the off chance that you can hit `em 'To Kill a Mockingbird ' the creator utilizes the mockingbird to impart her topic of the resistance of the honest. " Shoot all the bluejays you need, on the off chance that you can hit `em, yet recollect it 's a transgression to execute a mockingbird," Atticus tells the kids. To place it in more broad terms, Atticus tells Jem and Scout that we should take after an ethical law that charges us to save the honest. This ethical law has commitments.

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“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.

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During the 1930’s in the poor town of Maycomb, Alabama, segregation was a way of life. This becomes an even bigger issue when Tom Robinson, and African-American man, accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a poor white woman. During this part of the novel, Mayella gains and shows her power. Her accusation of rape draws support from most of Maycomb County based on race, class and gender, allowing her to stand stronger and free. Mayella Ewell is indeed powerful when it comes to class, race and gender.

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Although Mayella claimed rape, it still does not change the town’s point of view on her. “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin…. (Doc. A)” this explains and tells us that the Ewells are not rich nor do they have an abundant amount of money; since they do not have riches, that are not considered high-class nor middle-class, which mostly likely leads to the Ewells receiving little to no respect or value to the town. “White people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs (Doc. E)” this statement proves that, although she is a white woman, no one would get involved in her business or life because of her background and her “atmosphere”. “Long’s he keeps callin’ me ma’am and sayin’ Miss Mayella.

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He sat up straight and waited for her to answer” (Lee 208). Mayella does not know any better as she grew up only knowing the world threw her father’s eyes. Plus, her father most likely encouraged her to lie in order to protect himself from the consequences of abusing his kids. Allowing for others to feel empathy for Mayella because her father never

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631 Words | 3 Pages

She was in the worst part of the social structure there is, "Maycomb's Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin […]" (Doc A). Unfortunately, because she's so poor, no one above her wanted anything to do with her, "[…] white people wouldn't have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs […]" (Doc E). Unfortunately, Mayella turned out

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What many people don’t realize is how much of a mockingbird Mayella is. The reader follows only a small portion of Mayella’s story, but it is substantial enough for the reader to identify her as a victim of abuse. Mayella was abused by her father throughout her life and becomes manipulated to pin the blame for her own actions on the innocent. It becomes a chain reaction of sorts. Though Mayella isn’t described in vivid detail, she was an influential character in the book as well as a victim of the evil of Maycomb.

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A person cannot call themselves a noble person if they can’t understand others. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is told in first person by Jean Louise Finch or by her nickname, Scout a 6-year-old. Harper Lee, depicts Atticus Finch as a proficient father to his two children, Scout and Jim, 10-year-old. Atticus teaches his children life lessons, one being it 's a sin to kill a mockingbird.

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Even in a society that, overall, is diverse, people with similar ideas and experiences tend to congregate in small groups, where they are comfortable. It is much easier to remain in homogenous groups, among those who understand each other. When different groups combine, many different life experiences and points of view will be present and will potentially clash. Misunderstanding is bound to occur in some form when individuals of different backgrounds interact. When misunderstandings occur, people tend to respond with violence, fear, or stereotyping.

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Her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking. When she tried to put the evidence of her offense away, instead of being honest, she had put a man’s life in danger. However, Mayella is not a criminal. She is simply a woman who carries a heavy burden with no one to support or respect her. Mayella is a victim of abuse and

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First, she had to make up a story about Tom Robinson because she had kissed a black man, which was frowned upon for a white woman to do. “She was white and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society in unspeakable: she kissed a black man”(272). Mayella is also used as an example when she convinces the jury to convict an innocent black man because of Southern Womanhood. “That n***** took advantage of me, an’ if you fine fancy gentlemen don’t wanna do nothin’ about it then you’re all yellow stinkin’ cowards, stinkin’ cowards, the lot of you”(251).

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