He admits that he even staggers sometimes to reinforce his charade. The African American community feels angry and upset, but they cannot show it in public. Many racist white people feel that justice was done because a black man is always guilty, no matter what. Some white people are ashamed and sincerely saddened by the injustice done by the jury. Bob Ewell is satisfied because his lie worked, and Jem is furious and incredulous.
As Jem and Scout walk home that night, two figures emerge from the shadows, each with their own intentions. Atticus accepts the case out of personal integrity and a firm belief that the racist ways of the deep South will slowly but surely change over time.
He sees this trial as an opportunity to help make that historic shift of attitude, even if it is just a small step. When he takes the case, Atticus assumes that they will lose the trial, but he believes they have an excellent chance in the appeal process.
The people of his community trust him to do the right thing, and he does. After the trial is over, Atticus feels discouraged by the outcome, but he is not beaten by it. Mayella Ewell lies on the witness stand because she is afraid of her father, Bob Ewell, and because she is humiliated by her own attraction to Tom Robinson. She tells the jury that Tom beat and raped her when, in fact, it was her father who beat her when he saw her hugging and kissing an African American.
Her father told her what to say while on the stand and likely threatened to hurt her more if she refused. She told the jury what they wanted to hear, so it was an easy lie to tell. She lied to protect herself. He lets them be children by giving them their freedom, but he also insists that they work hard and take care of each other.
Atticus provides a good home and a strong caretaker in Calpurnia. He is a pillar of the community who is elected to the legislature every term unopposed. He values education and justice above all else, and he is open-hearted and open-minded. She and Atticus agree that Jem and Scout may need round-the-clock supervision during the public spectacle, and she believes that the children need more exposure to the propriety and traditions of their upstanding family.
Aunt Alexandra also believes that Scout needs to be taught to be a perfect Southern lady who knows how to wear a dress, serve tea, and converse with other women.
Ace your assignments with our guide to To Kill a Mockingbird! SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. She wants a much better life, with nothing exciting to do. In court, she felt pressured so she lied to the jury. Mayella is the oldest child of Bob Ewell and an unnamed mother. The town speculates she's the one who keeps the flowers growing around the shack the Ewells live in. Later on in the story, involving the trial, Tom Robinson testified he had helped her with small chores at her request.
The last time he did, she reached up to kiss Tom without his consent. Unfortunately, her father witnessed this through the window. Bob called In the sheriff and Tom was accused of raping and beating Mayella.
For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. People said they were Mayella Ewell's. The geraniums suggest that Mayella desires to be better than her surroundings, to make something bright in her dull world, to aspire to higher things.
But whatever Mayella's hopes and dreams are, she doesn't get a chance to express them to the reader; she appears only at Tom's trial. And there, she has to perform a role: the poor innocent white woman attacked by the evil black man, who must be protected by chivalrous white men.
Mayella's a Ewell, and everyone knows what the Ewells are like: ugly, shiftless, and trashy—they even live by a dump. But when she takes the stand, she represents something else entirely: a flower of "Southern womanhood," an idea that itself is, according to Atticus, a "polite fiction" But to justify sending an innocent man to death, the jury has to believe in her as a representative of "fragile" white women everyone:.
A young girl walked to the witness stand. 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 convict Tom , the jury has to believe in, or at least pretend to believe in, the fragile, helpless girl who gets taken advantage of by Tom, rather than see her as a desperate, lonely teenager who actively desires him.
It's not just ideals of women at stake, but also of men:. Your fancy airs don't come to nothin'—your ma'amin' and Miss Mayellerin' don't come to nothin', Mr. Finch-" Then she burst into real tears. Mayella's comment suggests that for men to be big brave heroes, they have to believe that women are helpless timid victims in need of protection or avenging.
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