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  • Essay / Character Analysis of Mayella Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird

    In the coming-of-age novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays many characters in various ways, but none is more insidious as Mayella Violet Ewell. Mayella is the most daring antagonist in the story. He is a static character who does not undergo any internal changes throughout the story, despite being one of the most influential characters. This character demonstrates reckless and unfair actions, such as accusing an innocent and already abused black man of raping and assaulting her. Mayella acts in such a disgusting and unfair way because her father forced and provoked her to do so. Mayella is a deceived, immoral, motherless child who is beaten by her alcoholic father, Robert Ewell. In an attempt to achieve power in a shabby, pitiful existence, Mayella costs the life of an impeccable man. Despite the sympathy one feels for Mayella Ewell, her sinful choices and decisions cause her to be portrayed as fraudulent, compulsive, and cowardly toward some of Macomb County's most charitable citizens. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Mayella Ewell presents herself as fraudulent when she repeatedly breaks down in tears in an attempt to gain pity from people or because she is aware that the validity of her answers are questionable: "Mayella the looked and burst into tears." (Page 240) and also because she lies to the jury about an immaculate defenseless man, frequently correcting herself and adjusting her response, as when she says, "No, I don't remember if he hit. yes, I do. He hit me. (Page 248.) Mayella inflicts horror on the innocent Tom Robinson when she claims that Tom had beaten and assaulted her; this causes all the white men in the illiberal confines of Maycomb County to rebel against Tom's lawyer, who is also the story's illusory beneficial protagonist, Atticus, and to become even more adversarial to the black man. There are many divergent hypotheses that could be made about the reasoning behind Mayella's fraudulent actions, but one must be strongly considered among the decisions characterized throughout the novel, many involving her father, Robert, who was a drunken and rapacious man. After seeing his daughter with Tom Robinson, he was furious; he raped and assaulted his daughter. Since he could confirm that Robinson was on his property, Robinson was an easy target. Tom was a black man living nearby, and since it is a small town, he determined that Tom may have had a criminal record. Bob Ewell was certain that the only advantage he would have over Tom Robinson in a city of prejudice and discrimination was to be white. Therefore, Mayella was forced to lie against an innocent man, to protect her family from harm. “She did something that all children do: she tried to hide the evidence of his crime from him. But in this case, she was not a child hiding stolen contraband: she was attacking her victim – she necessarily had to keep him away from her – she had to destroy the evidence of her crime. What was the evidence? Tom Robinson. »(20-43-44) Her desire to destroy a crippled man accused of raping her when this is physically impossible makes her considered compulsive. Mayella plays a role intended for the audience, that of the poor innocent white woman attacked by the evil black man, who must be protected by chivalrous white men. (Shmoop) Despite Mayella's recklessness as Ewell, in accusing a black man, she is able to access the..