The effects of Mayella Ewell’s actions
When someone lies in court, charges are laid and the person gets a criminal record. When a person is murdered, the murderer is sought out and then condemned. When someone places someone’s life in jeopardy they are scorned. In Harper Lee’s novel “to kill a mockingbird”, Mayella Ewell does all the things mentioned above yet she has not had any charges laid against her. Mayella Ewell commits perjury, she causes an innocent man to die, and she endangers the lives of two children. Because of her actions, Mayella Ewell deserves to be condemned.
First of all, as mentioned above, Mayella commits perjury. Perjury is deliberately giving false information during a testimony or while under oath. Perjury is a serious crime punishable by up to 14 years in jail. Even though she commits perjury she is let off the hook without so much as a second glance. It is quite obvious, after Atticus interrogates her, that she is lying. Mayella says that Tom beat her and raped her. Mr. Heck Tate says that Mayella was pretty banged up on the right side of her face and when Atticus asked him about the finger markings on her throat, on page 226 he says, “ I’d say they were all around, Mr. Finch.” Later, when Tom Robinson stood up to testify, we found out that his left arm was crippled. There was no way he could have beaten her up or throttled her with his arm in such condition. Such solid evidence was given that Mayella was lying yet the jury did nothing to convict her. Most perjury cases end with charges. On March 17, 2005 rapper, L’il Kim, was convicted for committing three counts of perjury. Bernard Madoff, infamous for scamming people by pretending to be a financial advisor, was also convicted for perjury. These people were convicted for perjury yet Mayella was not, even though everyone could see through her story like glass.
Of even greater appeal, because she lies in court, she causes the death of Tom Robinson. In the 1930’s, a time of prejudice and racial injustice, if a white woman accuses a negro of rape, there is an incredibly low chance of him winning the case, if there is a chance at all. Prejudice is like a pair of glasses smeared with fingerprints; people look through them but are unable to see past the fog on the lenses. It distorts their vision so they are unable to see what people are really like. Mayella knows the jury is unable to see past the fog of prejudice, she knew she would win the case from the moment she pointed a finger at Tom Robinson. Although Atticus exposed the truth to the world, she holds onto her lie to make sure that the jury will convict Tom. On page 251 she says, “I got somethin’ to say an’ then I ain’t gonna say no more. 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.” It was like trying to pry an object away from an octopus, the harder one pulls, the tighter it holds on. Shortly after the jury convicted Tom, he attempted to escape from the prison farm. But because of his crippled arm, he couldn’t move as fast and was shot multiple times. If Mayella had just admitted the truth; her father would have been locked up for child abuse and Tom would never have died. As a result of her lies, Tom Robinson, and innocent man, was killed.
Equally important as the first two points, she put the life of two children in jeopardy. During the trial, Atticus interrogates Mayella until her story starts falling apart at the seams. It seems as though she is grabbing at water, she tries so hard to squeeze the water in her hands that they trickle out through the cracks. Because Mayella kept to her story even though Atticus exposed the truth, Tom was convicted. Bob Ewell suffers public humiliation thanks to Atticus. On page 292 Atticus says, “I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with.” Bob Ewell thought that this trial would end with him as a hero saving his daughter from a rapist but instead, it backfired. Now the town of Maycomb sees him as a liar who beats his daughter. Bob Ewell wants revenge against Atticus for the humiliation he suffered and went after his children. He tries to stab Scout and Jem after the pageant but fails. Mayella Ewell could have put her father in jail if she had just told the truth of him beating her up. He would have been convicted for child abuse and attempt at perjury. If she had done that, Bob Ewell would have never had the chance to come after Atticus’ children.
In conclusion, everything that happened was the effect of Mayella Ewell’s actions. When we look at the big picture, if Mayella had not talked to Tom Robinson at all, this whole scandal would not have happened. Consequently, during the trial, Mayella had a chance to redeem herself by telling the truth of what happened. Instead, she held onto her story and the effects of that are disastrous. She committed perjury, caused the death of an innocent man, and endangered two young lives. Her injudicious actions caused nothing but misfortune. Mayella Ewell does not deserve pity, she deserves condemnation.
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|Paper ID: |160674646 |
|Author: |amy chen |
|Paper Title: |english essay |
|Assignment Title: |Essay To Kill a Mockingbird |
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