Examples Of Ignorance In To Kill A Mockingbird

In To Kill A Mockingbird, the ignorance seen throughout the novel conveys how expectations set by society affects the important events of life. The trial of Tom Robinson exemplifies how the recurring beliefs on race affected the outcome of the trial. The ideas of social class in Maycomb determined the way the Cunningham's were treated. Aunt Alexandra´s visits to Atticus's house and her gender view towards Scout. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee reveals how society sets expectations of how people should treat others based on race, social class, and gender.

Mayella had a great amount of power in the courtroom during the trial of Tom Robinson. This completely classless manipulative woman used the disadvantages she was dealt in life to her benefit. She made advances toward this black man, when he did not reciprocate those feelings she accused him of rape. He is convicted and sent to prison because of her. Through this, she also gains power that removes her from her father’s sexual abuse. He does not want her because of the relations with a

Racism is the belief that characteristics and abilities can be attributed to people simply based on their race and that some racial groups are superior to others. This has been a problem in our world forever. In to Kill a Mockingbird there are so many racist events and it reflects on the society as a whole till this day. The book setting was the 1930’s in a small county of Maycomb, where most people were racist and discriminatory. People think racism has died off, but it is still a huge problem. People choose to raise their children and teach them that racism is okay and that is how there is still racism today. There are so many statistics out there based on skin color that right there is even racist if everyone is equal why are there polls being taken separating people by the color of their skin?

One of the subjects is gender, at that time women was not too powerful. Women are expected to stay at home clean, cook, and take care of the children. In that case she is not strong at all and she used that against Tom Robinson. Mayella then use that she is a female, it to say that Tom was “Rapeing” Mayella, and she then used that to get away from her father Bob Ewell. Bob is the one that was the one that abused Mayella especially

The Ewells, of which Mayella is a member, are the bottom of the white hierarchy in Maycomb because of their laziness, filthiness, and overall impression as white trash. Mayella, who is portrayed as an exception to this trend, most notably when the author describes her germanium plants as beautiful flowers, is stuck in a world she cannot live in. Also, her father both physically and sexually abuses her in the book, which adds to Mayella’s pain and suffering. At one point in the trial though, Mayella, under fierce questioning from Atticus, “became articulate” and states “I’ve got something to say” on page 188, indicating she wants to tell the truth. However, the fear of both her father’s retribution and the town’s reaction prompts her to lambast the jury instead. Furthermore, Mayella faces an internal conflict between her real affection for Tom and the social realities of her time. Mayella is torn between this struggle and her father’s actions, so she accuses Tom of rape as a coping mechanism and under duress. In fact, Mayella can be compared to Ruth in The Color of Water in that both were abused by their fathers and experienced rough childhoods marked by vicious discrimination and a sense of loneliness.

Mayella Ewell, a character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee(1), is a girl who symbolizes as a mockingbird. To begin with, Mayella, a 19 year old, is the victim of rape by an accused man, Tom Robinson. When Tom is brought to the witness stand his lawyer, Atticus Finch, questions him. This leads to Tom explaining what happened and he says, “She says what her papa do to her don’t count” (Lee 221). This quote shows how Mayella Ewell is being sexually abused by her father. She is trying to kiss Tom and says that she’s never kissed a man before, except for her father. Mayella’s father is ruining her innocence which changes her as a person. In addition, Mayella is a very lonely, sad, and friendless girl. Scout describes Mayella as

How could have the conflict between Scout and Miss Caroline been avoided? “Walter’s one of the Cunninghams, Miss Caroline.” This is what Scout said to her teacher after Miss Caroline offered the money and Walter refuses. She says this because everyone in the town know that the Cunninghams are very poor and can't pay anything back with real money. In the beginning of the story with Mr. Cunningham paying Scout’s dad with hickory nuts and not real money. The beginning of the story it is Scout’s first day of school. Her day was going great but then a new teacher: Miss Caroline, came into class to teach. It was lunch and she told everyone to bring out their lunches and show her what they have. Everyone had lunch except a kid named Walter Cunningham.

Mayella Ewell is often mentally, physically, and sexually abused by her father Bob Ewell. Even though Mayella takes care of her siblings each day, she is lonely most of the time, considering nobody wants to be around her. Her father abuses her and beats her often, and Mayella wants the abuse to come to an end. Mayella comes up with and fulfills a plan to end the abuse coming from her father. Her plan involved a Negro man named Tom Robinson. Mayella accuses Tom of beating and raping her, and brings Tom to court, and goes up against him in a trial. Her plan was successful and came out in her favor because she was manipulative, and she knew what it took to win the trial. Mayella Ewell, a poor, white woman, who lives on a dump, is seen as

Mayella Ewell is a tragic character in To Kill a Mockingbird. She is faced with many struggles involving her family and the people around her. Although Mayella is a poor white woman with an abusive father, no mother, and six siblings to take care of she does have power. Mayella Ewell is powerful as a character and continues to gain power in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird when it comes to race, class and gender. Despite Mayella being very poor and in a lower class of the society in Maycomb Alabama she uses her status as a white female to manipulate others into deciding in her favor when dealing with her court case against Tom Robinson regarding him being wrongfully accused of

For example, when Atticus addresses Mayella as “ma'am” or “miss,” she believes it is a sign of Atticus mocking her. Proving that Mayella was never greatly respected or at all throughout her life. Mayella owns geranium flowers that Scout emphasizes for being so well cared for, because she realizes that Mayella looks like she is trying to keep clean, and one may believe that Mayella wanted more than to live in a Negro cabin where its windows were spaces in the wall with a dirt yard behind the town’s garbage dump. Scout also notes the geraniums because she believes that Mayella uses them to separate herself from the rest of the Ewell family. Bob Ewell is an alcoholic and an abusive father. Presented in To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus says “he thought he’d be a hero, but all he got for his pain was… okay, we’ll convict this Negro but get back to your dump.” (Lee, Chapter 27) Stating that although Bob is white, he is still unwanted by others even after Tom Robinson’s conviction. Mayella suffers from her life at home by being abused, let alone is thought of and expected to be lower than everyone else as a reflection of her polluted appearance, her family’s low income, and her father’s

Scout learns not everyone is as fortunate as her. "The Cunninghams never took anything they can't pay back-no church baskets and no scrip stamps" (Lee, 26-27). Scout learns from her dad that Cunninghams never took goods they can not

Tom see that Mayella has no one in the house that can take care of her take care of her because her mother died when she was young. She was also forced to be the woman of the household at a very young age and that means that she couldn’t enjoy being “young”. Tom lean that she didn’t get true respect in the house because Mayella got offended when atticus called her mama to pay respect but Mayella took that offensively.

When Atticus asks Mayella ‘who are your friends?’ (p.245) she is perplexed by the question demonstrating to us how she must be ‘the loneliest person in the world’ (p. 256). Furthermore, Lee clearly explains to us she is accustomed to being treated poorly as when Atticus refers to her as ‘ma’am’ and speaks to her politely she believes initially that he is ‘mockin’ me’ (p.243). Reflecting on how Mayella is trapped in her improvised, friendless state with nobody who respects her, we realise it would not have been difficult for her to become fixated on and fantasise about Tom Robinson, as he ‘was probably the only person who was ever decent to her’ (p.257). We are also able to understand why she lies about Tom raping her during the trial when we take into consideration that Mayella is living in fear of what her drunk and abusive father, Bob Ewell, would do to her if she was truthful. As she has already been ‘beaten savagely’ (p.272) and possibly raped by her father, after she ‘kissed a black man’ (p.272), her trepidation is unsurprising. By climbing into Mayella’s skin and walking around in it we see Lee is helping us to learn the importance of considering people’s circumstances before judging their actions.

Whatever respect or sympathy the reader might have had for Bob Ewell is dispelled by his behaviour in the courtroom and the evidence that Atticus produces that he was the cause of Mayella's beating. Not only is he a self-righteous bully but he is prepared to sacrifice Tom Robinson's life for his own selfish ends. The reader is more likely to feel sympathy for Mayella as the trial progresses. Her loneliness and need for simple human contact are made painfully evident as Scout comes to understand that she is 'the loneliest

It is without a doubt that Scout was wise beyond her years, yet she was still naïve about many things in the world, which became evident in the first section of the novel from not only her actions but also from the things that she expressed. There were many clues that Harper Lee included throughout the first section of the novel that led to the impression of Scout's naivety. It is critical, though, to keep in mind that Scout was only 6-years-old at the time so she cannot be faulted for still being naïve on some of the ways of the world. Although there were many different instances where Scout's naivety is unmistakable, there were overall 3 major examples that showcased her naivety. The first example was when Scout was troubled over her reading abilities, the second example being when Scout was inquiring what the term "nigger-lover" meant, and the final example was when Scout had