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To Kill a Mockingbird: Is Mayella Powerful? student dbq essay
Ethical conversation of To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird: Is Mayella Powerful? student dbq essay
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In To Kill a Mockingbird, the character Mayella Ewell is a victim of rape that never happened, which is similar to the Scottsboro trials of Victoria Price.
Good morning, my name is Holly Eksten and I'm more than excited to present the results of this trial against Mayella Ewell. This very important case involving Mayella Ewell and the court system is because Mayella lied in court under oath to save herself. I feel that Mayella Ewell lied under oath because she wanted to save her name and reputation. She lied under oath during the case of Mayella Ewell against Tom Robinson. In that case, she said Tom had raped her.
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive,” said the Dalai Lama, a monk of the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” school of Tibetan Buddhism. This is a quote about compassion, saying that love and compassion are something humanity cannot survive without. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, compassion is shown in a few different ways including compassion for animals, compassion for friends and family, and compassion for strangers. Showing compassion to animals is seen by some people as a good judge of character.
Although Mayella has clearly lied in court, she was only doing the wrong thing because she had to. Mayella still deserves compassion because of how she has been treated her entire life. Irina Yugay, an author who has written many articles about self-development for Mindvalley, developed the idea that “True compassion goes beyond the understanding of another person’s suffering… compassion literally means to “suffer together” or “co-suffering.”
In To Kill A Mockingbird, the character Mayella Ewell is the subject of abuse, although we never see the abuse from her point of view we can use the information that was revealed in Tom Robinson’s trial to come to the conclusion that she was physically, mentally and perhaps sexually abused, as well as suffering from severe neglect.
Mayella’s father took advantage of her and used her. Not only did he use her for chores and babysitting, he abused her verbally, physically, and also sexually. Bob Ewell manipulates Mayella by forcing her to put all of the blame on Tom Robinson during the trial. Mayella is pressured by Bob Ewell, her father, to keep everything that happens at home a secret from everyone else. Also, Mayella admits that her father is tolerable to live with, except when he is drinking.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the worth of compassion persists as a relevant theme. Throughout their childhood, Jem and Scout encounter many people who do nothing to earn any compassion. But as they mature and endure countless moral conflicts, compassion evolves from a form of pity into a determining and necessary moral factor. Even though people often act deceitful and immoral, everyone deserves compassion.
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell does not deserve pity from the readers, despite her home life because she constantly victimizes herself, shows no remorse for Tom Robinson, and will bring innocent people down to help herself. Mayella’s character starts to reveal itself during the trial. During the cross examination, Atticus Finch had asked her questions that will help the jury get a better understanding of what truly took place. She shows little to no confidence while answering the questions, and she is given multiple opportunities to tell the truth. In some cases, she simply did not answer the question at all.
During trial, it is revealed that Mayella is verbally, physically, and sexually abused by her father. Mr. Ewell intimates Mayella by tipping his chair against the railing when she tries to give them an honest answer to what he really does [Doc B]. In addition, according to Tom Robinsons testimony, Mr. Ewell called his daughter a “Whore”, Threatened to kill her, which is clear verbal Abuse , Also Mayella says “What her papa do to her don’t count”, this means the actions she tried to do with Tom Robinson is the same actions Mr. Ewell does on Mayella, intimating sexual abuse[Doc B]. Finally Atticus closing statement says Mayella has been beaten “Savagely”. This means that her father beats her [Doc B].
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive. In To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, there are examples of societal injustice, but there are many examples of compassion shown in the book.
Empathetic people feel compelled to take action and help relieve the suffering they are confronted with.” Mayella is worthy of benevolence since compassionate people feel bad for those suffering and although what Mayella did was bad, it was mostly influenced by the terrible environment she grew up in. In court, she becomes questioned about her father and her feelings for him. Mayella explains how he’s tolerable sometimes and starts referring to specific times when he was not, then suddenly stops in her tracks. The questioning attorney encourages her to go on, when “Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing.
That is the motive had to help her, empathy. Tom Robinson displays empathy at his own trial while on the witness stand when he confesses that he felt sorry for Mayella Ewell, whom he is accused of raping. Mayella is the lonely, abused daughter of Bob Ewell in the story. Mayella is a lonely young girl who has to take care of the house and her many siblings alone and by herself. This shows how the “felt sorry for her” is considered and how unexpected it is for a member of the black community to pity a member of the white community.
Compassion is obtained from others. Depending on the circumstances, some people acquire compassion, and others do not. Mayella Violet Ewell, an 18-year-old white female, in Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird, falsely accuses Tom Robinson, a black man, of sexually assaulting her, which commences a court case in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. Mayella has a tough life at home because of how her father treats her, and her overall reputation in the town of Maycomb is terrible, and she is considered white trash because she does not go to school and lives in bad conditions. Mayella Ewell deserves compassion because of her lack of knowledge.
People who beg for compassion often are the ones who abuse it. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel based in the 1930s, features Mayella, a 19-year-old young woman, who accused a man of color, Tom Robinson, of raping her. Mayella takes advantage of the fact that he is a man of color and lies. Her father, Bob Ewell, sexually abused her in the past so Mayella wanted to feel what it was like to kiss another man who was not her father.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the character Atticus possesses the most compassion out of the other characters. Atticus is a man of profession, however, his compassionate heart can not be overlooked. Atticus tells Jem to "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (Lee 81) to display his compassion for those who are innocent. Compassion is the concern for the suffering or misfortune of others.
