Skip to main content

What quotes show what really happened to Mayella Ewell?

There are some key quotes in the trial scene that tell us what actually happened to Mayella Ewell. In Chapter 18, Atticus questions Mayella on the stand, and his questions gradually reveal that Mayella's father, Bob Ewell, was actually the one who beat her up. Take, for instance, the following excerpt:



"Did you scream first at your father instead of at Tom Robinson? Was that it?"


No answer.


"Who beat you up? Tom Robinson or your father?"


No answer. (190)



Based on the way Mayella avoids answering Atticus' questions, we can assume that it was Bob Ewell who actually beat up Mayella, and that the man is blaming his crimes on Tom Robinson. Further on in Chapter 19, we get even more insight into what happened when Tom Robinson gives his testimony:



"She says she never kissed a grown man before... She says what her papa do to her don't count." (197) 



Based on Tom's account of the situation, we can guess that Mayella Ewell actually instigated her interactions with Tom, and we can assume that her father attacked her when he found out. More importantly, this quote suggests that Mayella has been sexually abused by her father. Thus, based on these quotes, we can assume that Mayella has been abused by her father on many levels, and that it was Bob Ewell, not Tom Robinson, who beat her up. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.
Post a Comment
Read more