Mayella Ewell Flashcards
Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson, had Miss Maudie deigned to permit a geranium on her premises. People said they were Mayella Ewell’s.
This suggests that she wishes to better her life and surroundings but, as a woman and a Ewell is unable to do this.
She never gets the chance to express these dreams as she only ever appears as the villain at Tom Robinson’s trail.
As she raised her hand and swore that the evidence she gave would be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help her God, she seemed somehow fragile-looking, but when she sat facing us in the witness chair she became what she was, a thick-bodied girl accustomed to strenuous labor.
In order to justify sending an innocent man to his death, Mayella has to present herself as a ‘flower of southern womanhood’ (which Atticus himself says is ‘polite fiction’). She has to appear as a ‘fragile’ white woman.
That nigger yonder took advantage of me an’ if you fine fancy gentlemen don’t wanta do nothin’ about it then you’re all yellow stinkin’ cowards, stinkin’ cowards, the lot of you.
This comment suggests that something other than the ideals of woman at stake, the fact that men have to be brave heroes and protect women. They have to believe in Mayella’s fragility in order to feel as if they’re protecting her.
Man = He Who Protects Women
She did something every child has done—she tried to put the evidence of her offense away from her.
This suggests that Mayella convicted Tom, not only out of fear of her father, but also through guilt at what she had done (namely kissing a black man).
She was guilty about her desire which, not only raises issues about racial prejudice but also issues about femininity. Women should not have desire and should feel guilty if they do.
