“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it” (Lee 39). The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, shows many examples of racism, poverty, and domestic violence. During the Great Depression, such families as the Cunninghams and the Ewells are prime examples of people that struggle with hardships and challenges in their lives. Mayella Ewell is symbolic of what can happen to an individual who lives in a home where there is domestic violence. Tom Robinson represents a person who can be wrongly accused of something and suffer from racism. During this period of time, Harper Lee powerfully illustrates examples of racism, poverty, and domestic violence.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the character that symbolizes the
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Since the Ewell family is very poor and in poverty, all they worry about is trying to find food and work for money. I believe having her mother gone and her father drunk a lot, she is not shown how to love someone or how it feels to be loved. “‘Love him, whatcha mean?”’ (Lee 245). This quote shows me that Mayella did not know if she actually loves her father. I believe Mayella thought about everything he did to her, and also realizes she does not know what real love is because she never got it from her father.
In conclusion, throughout the novel of To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee takes time to expand on the meaning of racism, poverty, and domestic violence. The Cunninghams and the Ewells are key examples of what it is like to live in poverty. Tom Robinson is another primary symbol of how life is when you are a colored folk living during the Great Depression. Finally, Mayella Ewell who shows what domestic violence can do to an individual at home. Overall, this novel provides numerous hardships that many citizens have to face during the Great