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How Does Mayella Sympathize In To Kill A Mockingbird

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To Kill A Mockingbird The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, portrays Mayella Ewell as a victim of rape. I feel as though Mayella’s situation is extremely sympathized as the story goes on. Mayella is only a 19 year old female, as stated in chapter 18 when Scouts says that Mayella is “obviously a terrified nineteen-year-old-girl”. Before knowing about how Mayella’s life is, I did not feel sympathy for her at all. For all I knew at the moment, she was just a white, ignorant adolescent who accused an innocent black man, Tom Robinson, of rape when there are no signs of rape at all. Later in the story, you find out that Mayella lives in a rough, unsteady home with a drunk as a father and seven siblings whom she is basically raising …show more content…

Mayella is like the beautiful, bright rainbow in a dull, sad, gray sky. The Ewell house is described as "plank walls were supplemented with sheets of corrugated iron, its roof shingled with tin cans hammered flat, so only its general shape suggested its original design: square, with four tiny rooms opening onto a shotgun hall, the cabin rested uneasily upon four irregular lumps of limestone. Its windows were merely open spaces in the walls, which in the summertime were covered with greasy strips of cheesecloth to keep out the varmints that feasted on Maycomb’s refuse." Mayella has a beautiful garden outside the house, which is the only nice part about the Ewell residence. During the Tom Robinson trial, it is implied that not only Bob abuses Mayella, but also show signs of a “bond” that may be a bit too close, even for a father and daughter. After the so-called “rape”, Bob Ewell neglected to call a doctor, which leads you to infer that Tom Robinson did not hurt Mayella Ewell, but her father did. Mayella had a bruise on her right eye which implies that someone that is left handed had hit her. Atticus asked Bob Ewell to write his name to see which hand he wrote with and he used his left hand, which leads you to believe Mayella gets abused by her father. That is another reason to feel compassionate towards Mayella. Mayella had not been treated like a lady before, up until

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Due to her living conditions, she is uneducated on the matter. In addition, in the Ewell’s household, Mayella has no supportive influence to help her with her situation. The jury learns that in their household, “Everyone was for himself,” (Lee, p.245). This proves that they were independent and had no one to help make their decisions. As well, their mother is dead and their father is not concerned.

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Mayella and Ruby are both viewed as victims because they were supposedly raped by black men. Society makes Mayella a victim by isolating the Ewells and for viewing them differently than everyone else in Maycomb. Mayella deeply cares about what people care about her, so when people think of her as trash that really gets to her. She was lonely leading her to wanting attention from people. Ruby

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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…”.

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188 Words | 1 Pages

Mayella Ewell is a white woman, from Maycomb, Alabama, accusing an African American man named Tom Robinson, of Rape. In To Kill A Mockingbird the Ewell’s are very unfortunate. Mayella would get abused by her father, Bob Ewell, when he would get drunk. Nobody in Mayella’s town would help her because of her race,class,and gender. This could make Mayella not powerful.

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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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To Kill a Mockingbird Writing Assignment Everybody wants power in Maycomb like Mayella Ewell. A searus trial was held between Mayella Ewell a white woman and a Tom Robinson a black who was guilty by a white judge. Because of her race ultimately makes her powerful. Do to her being poor it make people avoid talking to her.

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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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951 Words | 4 Pages

Mayella still manages to make the best out of her bad situation by keeping herself put together and tending her flowers: “One corner of the yard, though, bewildered Maycomb. Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped- enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson . . . People said they

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Unfortunately for Mayella, she was born into a poor family, meaning the town wants nothing to do with her family and gets little to no respect as a person. Mayella's class does not give her any power, especially considering she lives behind a dump. The text states, “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town's garbage dump in what once a n*gro cabin”. No one in town wants to go near her or her family because they have worms and other diseases. Although Mayella is a woman, her power is limited.

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Although due to being a poor, uneducated woman whom is treated like an object, Mayella is not a powerful character. For 19 years of Mayella’s life she has been

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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.

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Mayella must have been crestfallen most of her life because she never had any friends and never had a social life. But Mayella “looked as if she tried to keep clean” this includes keeping herself clean and her belongings like her little section in the garden. (Doc A) Since her father spends all his paychecks on liquor and never takes care of his children and house Mayella must try and keep clean by herself. This is sad to see because Mayella is restricted by what she can do because of her father's irresponsible spending habits that keep them in a low class and abusive household. This is why Mayella's class makes her less powerful outside of court and in Maycomb’s

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958 Words | 4 Pages

It's windows were merely open spaces in the walls…. What passed for a fence was bits of tree-limbs, broomsticks and tool shafts…. Enclosed by this barricade was a dirty yard….” (Chapter 17) This evidence supports the fact that Mayella is not powerful, due to the fact that she has not lived in a decent house nor a place.

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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

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In The Odyssey by Homer, gods and goddesses play a crucial part in making sure the hero is where he needs to be. The book is about a war hero, Odysseus’ son named Telemachus, who voyages to find his father, who was presumed dead. At the same time, Odysseus, who is alive, was imprisoned on Calypso’s island. He was set free due to the power of the gods here and he makes his way back home. Along the way, he and his crew encounter a lot of different enemies like cyclops, sirens and more.

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