In Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell, the supposed 19 year-old victim of Tom Robinson, lives a life of hard work under her drunkard father; moreover, she is a victim of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, a truly hopeless child sadly forgotten in the folds of society. Mayella Ewell is both a product of her environment and a social outcast. Mayella, the 19 years old daughter of Bob Ewell, acts as a maternal figure in the house after the demise of her mother. Likewise, she is a hard worker, as noted by Atticus. More notably, she is a victim of abuse. During Tom Robinson’s trial, it becomes evident that she is indeed a victim of some sort of physical violence, with deep bruises on the right side of her face. …show more content…
Noticing these discrepancies, Atticus, the defense attorney has Mr. Ewell demonstrate that he writes left handed. Moreover, he is shown to be the true offender in this case. Atticus further tries to incriminate the accuser, that is Mr. Ewell, by asking Mayella whether she is treated well, to which she responds, “He does tollable, ‘cept when-”, stopping as she catches herself (Lee 208). She is noted to have glanced over to her father as Atticus asked her to clarify the truth, that is that her father beats her while he is intoxicated. She then denies any sort of malice on her father’s behalf, seeing him straighten his back and glare at her. This shows that she is afraid of her father, as his physical abuse is a threat to her well being. Moreover, those witnessing this see that she is truly is a victim, not of Tom, but of her own father. The extent of her victimization is further clarified by Tom, whose account shows that she is a victim of sexual and emotional abuse. While taking the stand, Tom Robinson includes in his account that when coming onto him, Mayella said she had never kissed a man before, as “what her papa do to her don’t