Both good and evil can exist in the same person. This was shown in Jekyll and Hyde and it is seen again in To Kill a Mockingbird. None is all good nor all evil. There are several characters in To Kill a Mockingbird that show us examples that someone who appears to be good might just have a little evil in him and someone who seems completely evil may have a bit of good. Sometimes people seem to be either really good or really bad but when you really take a closer look, you may learn that that person is not exactly as they seem. Many people have something going on in their life that affects the way they come across. They may actually just be misunderstood. Mayella Ewell is one of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird …show more content…
She seems to be a liar and is extremely prejudiced. She lied on the stand that Tom raped her and caused him to be put to death. Quote about Mayella lying on the witness stand. “I got somethin’ to say and the. I ain’t gonna say no more. That n***** yonder took advantage of me an’ if you fine fancy gentlemen don’t wanta do nothing about it then you're all yellow stinkin cowards”. (Pg 213) Everyone in town knows that Mayella, a white teenager, made advances toward Tom, a married black man, which would be a disgrace to her and the white community. The fact that she accused him of raping her, which caused him to be killed, is about the most evil thing a person can do. However, there is a flip side to Mayella. Mayella has an awful family life. She has essentially replaced her dead mother as her father’s wife and her siblings’ mother. She is a filthy, ignorant girl who is physically and sexually abused by her father. She is as much a victim in this story as she is an accuser. In the courtroom, Atticus tells the court, “I say guilt, gentlemen, because it was guilt that motivated her. She has committed no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society…She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance”. (Pg231) Atticus realizes that Mayella’s