In To Kill A Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell, a 19-year-old woman accuses a black man, Tom Robinson, of raping her. She consistently tells the court and the lawyers that Mr. Robinson had in fact done to her what she originally claimed. However, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson’s attorney, slowly unraveled Mayella’s story. He was able to disprove each aspect of the detailed account she gave to the jury. At one point during his questioning he inquired to Mayella “you’ve testified that the defendant hit you, grabbed you around the neck, choked you…” (Lee 185) which Mayella confirmed, he then asked Tom Robinson to stand up and revealed that “his left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right” (Lee 186). Immediately it was clear that this man could
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However these pedestals create gender roles that greatly limit women and do not allow for them to have freedom in society. This form of sexism was popular during the 1930s and is apparent through the culture of the time. Men disrespected women and suppressed women by keeping them as housewives. To ensure women would obey these confines, men assured them what they were doing was helping them through maintaining their purity. It was expected that wives were “to do everything their husband’s told them” in addition it was commonplace for women to be viewed as “an idiot” by their breadwinner husbands (Advice for women in the 1930s). With the culture at the time reflecting women as “idiots” and men accepting this concept, they were able to disrespect and mistreat women, in a way that was socially acceptable. They had no desire to treat women as intellectual equals or to protect them in ways that did not benefit themselves. In cases of rape where a woman accused a black man of attacking her, racist white men at the time gained a feeling of masculinity and superiority against the black defendant by punishing him with both torture, imprisonment, and death. As they clearly had no regard for a woman's true freedom and happiness, protecting them from rape and assault was not their priority. Thus their motives did not correspond with the women’s needs as much as it did their own. …show more content…
The antagonist, Bob Ewell, is a poor white man with a loud and highly expressed personality in the novel. He does not suffer at the hand of racism, and instead implants it in the town to degrade the black population. Tom, a black man, is accused of raping Bob Ewell’s daughter and in court explains what he swears to have happened the day and exposes his darkest side. When responding to his attorney he declares ““—I seen that black n***** yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” (Lee 173). Bob Ewell chose to use the ‘N’ word in his official testimony, a word that has historically been used to degrade blacks and reduce them to objects at the hands of whites. By doing so he reflects the rampant racism that characterized the entire nation, particularly in the deep south. Finally Tom is found guilty because of Bob Ewell and his daughter’s testimonies. Despite Atticus’ fight to protect Tom, the prosecution and audience were filled with the influence of the regions’ racism and Tom Robinson’s fate had been sealed. Had the court’s intention been to protect Mayella, a young women who had been beaten badly, police would have worked with more vigor to find who had truly hurt Mayella. Yet without sufficient evidence the court convicted Tom Robinson, the wrong man, and left Mayella to be abused again. While Tom Robinson was left to
However these pedestals create gender roles that greatly limit women and do not allow for them to have freedom in society. This form of sexism was popular during the 1930s and is apparent through the culture of the time. Men disrespected women and suppressed women by keeping them as housewives. To ensure women would obey these confines, men assured them what they were doing was helping them through maintaining their purity. It was expected that wives were “to do everything their husband’s told them” in addition it was commonplace for women to be viewed as “an idiot” by their breadwinner husbands (Advice for women in the 1930s). With the culture at the time reflecting women as “idiots” and men accepting this concept, they were able to disrespect and mistreat women, in a way that was socially acceptable. They had no desire to treat women as intellectual equals or to protect them in ways that did not benefit themselves. In cases of rape where a woman accused a black man of attacking her, racist white men at the time gained a feeling of masculinity and superiority against the black defendant by punishing him with both torture, imprisonment, and death. As they clearly had no regard for a woman's true freedom and happiness, protecting them from rape and assault was not their priority. Thus their motives did not correspond with the women’s needs as much as it did their own. …show more content…
The antagonist, Bob Ewell, is a poor white man with a loud and highly expressed personality in the novel. He does not suffer at the hand of racism, and instead implants it in the town to degrade the black population. Tom, a black man, is accused of raping Bob Ewell’s daughter and in court explains what he swears to have happened the day and exposes his darkest side. When responding to his attorney he declares ““—I seen that black n***** yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” (Lee 173). Bob Ewell chose to use the ‘N’ word in his official testimony, a word that has historically been used to degrade blacks and reduce them to objects at the hands of whites. By doing so he reflects the rampant racism that characterized the entire nation, particularly in the deep south. Finally Tom is found guilty because of Bob Ewell and his daughter’s testimonies. Despite Atticus’ fight to protect Tom, the prosecution and audience were filled with the influence of the regions’ racism and Tom Robinson’s fate had been sealed. Had the court’s intention been to protect Mayella, a young women who had been beaten badly, police would have worked with more vigor to find who had truly hurt Mayella. Yet without sufficient evidence the court convicted Tom Robinson, the wrong man, and left Mayella to be abused again. While Tom Robinson was left to