To Kill a Mockingbird Theme Analysis Baltsaser Gracian, a well-known seventeenth century Spanish philosopher stated, “a single lie destroys a whole reputation for integrity.” People in the Maycomb county are burdened by the miserable case of Tom Robison. His death heavily weighs on Mayella Violet Ewell’s heart and the rest of her life is destined to surround by an atmosphere that is filled with sorrow, regrets, and guilt because of the largest mistake that she made in her entire life. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, she clearly points out the horror of telling lies. Lies are not solutions; they’re like the gifts from Satan, which can cause more troublesome problems that will ruin people’s life and soul. The reasons that arose for Mayella choose to tell lies instead of confessing what she had she done to Tom Robinson are closely related to her own mentality. Additionally, her mentality can divide into three different parts: family, time period, and women’s status in the society. For the most part, her family background is the critical that causes her to give out falsehoods to the people. Mayella’s mother died in a long time ago; she’s a girl who only lives with Bob Ewell, her dad, and doesn’t have friends. In Maycomb, the Ewells are known as ‘white trash’, which shows that this family is not highly respected by other people. In the text, when Atticus is querying her that Bob is good to her or not, she answers, “he does tollable, ‘cept when—” (208), then she’s in