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Theme Of Mayella's Loneliness In To Kill A Mockingbird

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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. …show more content…

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,

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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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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”

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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.

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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

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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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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)

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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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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).

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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.

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