the form of Tom Robinson. Mayella is a vulnerable, defensive product of her environment, and her accusation of rape was only a response to her father's violent reaction to seeing her with Tom. 

In chapter 18 of "To Kill a Mockingbird," we learn that Mayella Ewell is a sad, lonely, and abused girl. She is also illiterate and uneducated.

She is solely responsible to care for the large family. Although she lives a sad life, she tries to make it a little better for her siblings and herself by attempting to decorate their home and buying the children ice cream.

We also learn that Mayella is afraid of her father and is of weak character when she lies to save her reputation, putting Tom's life on the line.

In this novel, a mockingbird comes to symbolize a person who brings beauty into the world and never inflicts harm on anyone. In some ways, this description could apply to Mayella Ewell. After all, the young girl does try to bring beauty to her little bleak, rundown home with the limited resources that she has available:

Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson.

Mayella longs for a more beautiful life, and her flowers show her hope for a life apart from her poverty-stricken existence and her abusive father.

Strictly speaking, however, Mayella isn't a mockingbird, and this is because she doesn't only make the world more beautiful—she also acts in ways that are selfish and harmful to others. She lures Tom Robinson to her house so that she can make romantic advances on him. When she's testifying at the trial, she screams at Atticus, who shows her nothing but compassion. Most damning of all, she refuses to tell the truth about her encounter with Tom Robinson; her false testimony sends Tom to jail and ultimately to his death.

You could certainly argue that Mayella is a character who deserves pity. She is left to care for all of her younger siblings while her abusive father drinks up the money they need for food. She herself has no one to bring a touch of beauty into her life, which is why she is drawn to the unfailingly polite and kind Tom Robinson in the first place. She has only ever known hate and abuse, and she has experienced so little goodness that she cannot understand Atticus's kindness to her when she is on the stand.

Still, if we look at the symbolism of a mockingbird in the book, it's clear that Mayella is not a mockingbird in the same way that Tom and Boo Radley are. For this reason, it could be argued that Mayella is a more complex character than Tom and Boo, as it is difficult to characterize her as wholly good or evil.

Mayella Ewell represents the physical manifestation of what ignorance, racism and prejudice can do to a person. She has been abused by her father, a man that shows no regard for his family. As a result of her horrible upbringing she has little sense of self worth. Mayella envys Tom Robinson, a black man who demonstrates love for his family, kindness towards others (no matter what color) and self respect, everything she has been denied. When she reaches out to him and witnesses his "decency", something she never received from her own father, she lashes out by accusing him of attacking her. She wants to blame someone for her misfortunes.Tom Robinson possessed what Mayella yearned for, a family to love her. The idea that a black man could possess all the decent qualities she lacked deserved punishment. The fact that Tom Robinson was not responsible for her lot in life was of little matter, she was white and he was black.

She is the reason Tom is on trial.  Without the trial, Atticus can not be the center of attention in a racist community for defending an unpopular defendant. 

The trial is the conflict which allows the town's different characters to crawl out of the woodwork and perform for the reader...the way we get to see, hear, and watch them in order to understand the motives and the purpose of each thought, action, and spoken word.

In addition, we are not the only ones watching.  We are learning from Atticus just as Jem and Scout are. 

So, Mayella is responsible for the town's and the readers education on the wrongs of racism and prejudice.

Mayella Ewell and her father, Bob, were the ones who brought the charges against Tom, so Mr. Gilmer, the prosecutor, was actually their attorney. Mr. Gilmer was the one who was to prove that Tom was indeed guilty. He had the easy job.

Atticus, on the other hand, was the one who had to prove to everyone that Tom was innocent. Atticus does prove this, but because Tom was a black man, accused of a crime against a white woman, he was bound to be found guilty. What Atticus does prove is that Tom is innocent and Bob is the one who was guilty of hurting Mayella. 

Mr. Gilmer does his job. Tom is found guilty. Being the prosecutor, Mr. Gilmer was working for the state, yet he was also working for Mayella. He had the job of convincing the jury that Tom was the guilty party, and Mayella was innocent and had nothing to do with what happened. Living in Maycomb, his job was easy.

Mr. Gilmer is Mayella Ewell's lawyer. He is from Abbottsville. Scout describes him as a "balding, smooth-faced man, he could have been anywhere between forty and sixty". He had a slight cast in one eye, and used it to his advantage by pretending to look intently at either the jury or the witness while he was doing nothing of the kind. 

The jury thinking themeselves under close scrutiny, paid attention; so did the witnesses thinking likewise.

He gives us a good insight into Southern prejudice. He demeans Tom Robinson because he is a Negro, and keeps on calling him 'boy', something that reduces Dill to tears. 

Mayella Ewell's life is tragic. Forced to live with a father who physically, mentally, and sexually abuses her, she looks to Tom for the hope of something a little more beautiful in life. None of the Ewell children are educated, and Mayella is no exception. Her mother has died, and after realizing how violent Bob Ewell is, some inferences can certainly be made that Mayella's violent father could have been responsible for her mother's death.

Because her racist father catches her making advances toward Tom, she has to pay a heavy price. Not only does Bob beat his daughter for her actions, but Mayella is then forced to place the blame on Tom for her injuries.

She did the wrong thing, certainly. Accusing an innocent man of beating and raping her and effectively sending him to his death is immoral.

However, Mayella is a nineteen-year-old girl with no support system. She realizes that no one is coming to help her. There is not a single person in her metaphorical corner in life, and she knows that if she doesn't use her time on the stand to accuse Tom of these crimes, she will have to answer to her father—again—when they get home. Bob Ewell proves himself to be a murderous man in the end of the novel, and Mayella no doubt realizes the intensity of his anger firsthand.

She thus makes a desperate attempt to save herself and sacrifices Tom to do so. Is she a noble character? Not by a long shot. But she does elicit some pity, as her choice is made because of the depth of isolation she must feel in her life.

The reader can hope that with her father's death at the end of the novel, Mayella reaches some new form of peace and is able to forge a new and better path for herself moving forward.

Mayella Ewell was the nineteen-year-old daughter of Bob Ewell.  Her mother had died many years before.  Mayella was in charge of caring for the Ewell home and her younger brothers and sisters.

In the midst of the squalor of the Ewell home, Mayella seemed to appreciate beauty and order.  The Ewell family lived in poverty.  Their home was on the edge of the dump.  Their yard was filled with piles of trash and cast off items.  Despite this, Mayella tended to her flowers:

One corner of the yard, though, bewildered Maycomb.  Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson, had Miss Maudie deigned to permit a geranium on her premises.  People said they were Mayella Ewell's (To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 17).

In chapter 18, Scout watched Mayella as she took the witness stand.  Scout observed that Mayella looked frail, but in reality she "was a thick-bodied girl accustomed to strenuous labor."  Mayella seemed emotional, but Scout noted that her confidence was "like a steady-eyed cat with a twitchy tail."

Mayella was not accustomed to being treated like a lady.  Tom Robinson showed her kindness, and she later falsely accused him of rape.  During the trial, Atticus spoke to Mayella in a polite, respectful manner.  She thought that he was mocking her.

In Chapter 19, Scout observed Mayella further.  She thought that Mayella must be "the loneliest person in the world."  She did not have any friends.

Despite Mayella's malevolent personality and willingness to falsely accuse Tom Robinson of assaulting and raping her, she is also an unfortunate victim of injustice, which stems from her father's abusive treatment of her. During Mayella's testimony, she reveals that she is the victim of injustice by briefly alluding to the fact that her father physically abuses her. When Atticus asks if she gets along with her father, Mayella says, "He does tollable, ‘cept when—" (Lee, 97). Atticus then finishes her sentence by asking, "Except when he’s drinking?" (Lee, 97) Although Mayella denies it, it is evident that she is lying and does indeed suffer from abuse.

In addition to the fact that Bob Ewell physically assaults his daughter and makes her raise her siblings by herself, it is also alluded to that Mayella is the victim of sexual abuse. During Tom Robinson's testimony in chapter 19, he describes the events that transpired on the evening of November 21st and says that Mayella hugged him while he was standing on a chair in her home. He then says that Mayella tried to force herself on him by attempting to kiss him. Tom then says, "She says what her papa do to her don’t count" (Lee, 103). Mayella's comment implies that her father sexually abuses her.

Probably the most revealing example of Mayella being a victim of her father's evil ways comes from Atticus himself in Chapter 20 of To Kill a Mockingbird. In Atticus' summation, he admits that he pities Mayella and claims that she is a victim of her family upbringing. But Atticus' pity only goes so far, however, because he blames her for trying to cover up the lie that she has perpetrated against Tom Robinson.

     "I have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state...
     "She has committed no crime... She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance..."

Even Tom pities Mayella--and this proves to be an admission that does not help him in court. Tom went to her aid on several occasions because he felt sorry for her having to take care of all of the Ewell children herself.

     "Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun, and I knowed she didn't have no nickels to spare..."
     "I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more'n the rest of 'em."

The location of the Ewell home is very telling: between the city dump and a segregated black community. This indicates that the Ewells live on the margins. They are not embraced by the mainstream white community due to their poverty, but they can distinguish themselves from the segregated black community due to their being white, a privilege that her father relishes. Their location next to the city dump emphasizes the town's condemnation of them as "white trash," a pejorative term for working-class or poor white people.

Mayella is a victim due to prejudices about people of her class. She is also limited by her gender. After her mother's death, she, as the eldest, was expected to take on the responsibilities of the household. The expectation that she remain at home to take care of her younger siblings isolates her even more, as it was not possible for her to go out to meet other people.

Finally, I would argue that Mayella is a victim of the limitations placed on white womanhood at this time. In the South, white women were forbidden to have interactions with black men outside of that of mistress and servant. If others in the community learned that there was any friendly or intimate interaction between a white woman and a black man, it could have resulted in the man being lynched.

Tom's life is at stake because Mayella has led others to believe that Tom attempted to rape her. Mayella uses the myth of the Southern woman as a flower of femininity to assert her place in the white community. She knows that most would frown upon a friendship between her and Tom and that knowledge of such a relationship could further isolate her family.

The myth of the Southern white woman as a flower of femininity is, to paraphrase Atticus Finch, a myth in polite society. Though Mayella does not know it, and the novel only suggests it, this myth is rooted in the idea of white women as the possessions of white men. This sense of possession leads to irrational hostility toward black men who are perceived not only as threats to political power but also as threats to the sexual and social dominance of white men.

As Scout mentions early in the novel, "Atticus said the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations." Sadly, Mayella had little to do with this assessment, but she was forced to live with the shame of her family name. Few people in Maycomb would have anything to do with the family, and the Ewells live in near isolation--between the city dump and the African-American neighborhood. Because of her mother's absence, Mayella was forced to look after the younger Ewell children, since Bob was usually out drinking up his government check. Mayella apparently had no friends, and her loneliness so overwhelmed her that she sought out the company of a married black man to comfort her. After her appearance on the witness stand, and after Tom's conviction, the townspeople probably scorned the family more than ever. No doubt Mayella received some sympathy from a few of the townspeople, but she probably had no more visitors than before. She is a victim of both society and her own family.

Sadly for Tom Robinson, Mayella's weaknesses far outweigh her strengths. As Atticus pointed out during his summation to the jury,

"... she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man... No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards."  (Chapter 20)

Mayella's overwhelming desire for the attentions of an adult man led her to try and seduce Tom, and her lies afterward led to his conviction and eventual death. After she was seen kissing and hugging Tom by her father, she took a beating from Bob; her fear of him led her to go along with the story that Bob probably concocted, that Tom had initiated the contact and had later raped Mayella. Mayella was not strong enough to tell the truth, so she went along with Bob's story, knowing that the all-white jury would accept the Ewells' version. Though Mayella "is a victim of cruel poverty and ignorance," her own lack of moral backbone leads her to allowing Tom to accept the blame for her own actions, leaving the man who she so desired to be wrongfully convicted.

Atticus alludes that it is probably not the first time that Bob has beaten his daughter, yet Mayella remains in the Ewell house, where she is expected to take care of her younger siblings. This is one of her few strengths, the willingness to stay at home and give up any chance of a normal social life by taking the place of her mother in raising the kids. She was "a thick-bodied girl accustomed to strenuous labor," and she successfully pinches her pennies for a year, saving "seb'm nickels" to send the children to town for ice cream. She also manages to bring a touch of beauty to the squalid conditions of the Radley property with the red geraniums she so carefully nurtures. And she shows a stubborn streak at the trial, refusing to admit the truth under Atticus's strenuous cross-examination as he "rained questions on her." She stood her ground, calling the men in the courtroom "yellow, stinkin' cowards," and

She was as good as her word. She answered no more questions, even when Mr. Gilmer tried to get her back on track.  (Chapter 18)

An interesting glimpse into the character of Mayella Ewell occurs in Chapter 17 of Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The story's young narrator, Scout Finch, is describing the Ewell family in less-than-flattering terms, emphasizing the clan's primitiveness and sloven ways. Scout's description proceeds as follows, beginning with a recitation of the artifacts found on the Ewell's lawn, before seguing into an observation regarding the possible influence on the surroundings of Mayella:

" . . . the remains of a Model-T Ford (on blocks), a discarded dentist’s chair, an ancient icebox, plus lesser items: old shoes, worn-out table radios, picture frames, and fruit jars, under which scrawny orange chickens pecked hopefully. . .One corner of the yard, though, bewildered Maycomb. Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson, had Miss Maudie deigned to permit a geranium on her premises. People said they were Mayella Ewell’s."

The reader can surmise from the above passage that Mayella represents the one bright spot in an otherwise dismal scene. Bob Ewell, it is revealed, is the town's most bitter and and among the most virulently racist citizens. There is nary a good word word to be said about this pathetic figure. The presence of a young woman who possibly dreams of more, however, is felt in the above reference to the geraniums. 

As Chapter 18 begins, Mayella is called to the witness stand, presumably to testify against Tom Robinson, the poor and physically disabled African American accused of raping her. As Mayella is introduced to the reader, Scout provides the following description:

" . . .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."

And, as importantly, and with reference to the earlier passage noting the presence of carefullly-tended flowers on the Ewell's otherwise trash-strewn lawn, Lee's young narrator goes on to observe:

"Mayella looked as if she tried to keep clean, and I was reminded of the row of red geraniums in the Ewell yard."

Mayella, the reader is lead to conclude, has been forced to accuse Tom Robinson of a rape that didn't occur by her physically-abusive "white trash" father. She is, in her own way, as pathetic a figure as her father, but one excused because of the nature of her dismal existence with a man as contemptuous as her father, who, Atticus points out for the jury, was almost certainly the individual who inflicted the injuries on his own daughter. Atticus suggests as much when, early in Chapter 23, he explains to his children the good may have come out of Bob Ewell's having spat in Atticus' face:

" . . .if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take."

Mayella, then, is portrayed as a victim of her father's brutality and demeanor. That said, it is left clear that Mayella, while a victim of an exceedingly bad upbringing, is complicit in Tom's conviction and eventual death. Late in Chapter 25, contemplating the editorial in the town's newspaper by the paper's editor, Mr. Underwood, Scout summarizes the meaning of the article within the context of her father's ultimately unsuccessful efforts at saving an innocent black man: "Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed." In other words, had Mayella not been a desperate, pathetic 19-year-old adult, none of this ever would have happened.

Mayella Ewell is a character whom we are first introduced to in Chapter 18. Interestingly, she is a character that the reader hears a lot about before actually meeting her, and it is therefore very important to focus on how she is presented and described. The first impression that Scout seems to have of her suggests a somewhat contradictory impression:

A young girl walked to the witness stand... 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 labour.

Scout continues to describe how Mayella is a character who keeps clean, and it is clear from Scout's memory of the red geraniums in the Ewell's yard that appearances are important to her. In addition, Scout mentions that when Mayella begins to gain her confidence, there was something "stealthy" about her account of what happened, "like a steady-eyed cat with a twitchy tale." These quotes from pages 196 and 198 in my edition suggest that she is a character who is somehow vulnerable beneath her rough exterior, and also present her as a somewhat calculating and deceitful character.

The reader knows very little truthful information about Arthur "Boo" Radley until he makes his appearance near the end of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. When Boo finally "comes out," he risks his own life while displaying the courage to defend Jem and Scout against Bob Ewell as well as the physical strength to overcome the attacker. He completes his task be escorting the children to the safety of their home and then standing by as Sheriff Tate sorts out the events of the evening.

It is not his first act of kindness toward the children. He has previously displayed a curiosity about the kids, leaving them presents in the knothole of the tree. He has shown his caring side by mending Jem's pants and warming Scout with the mystery blanket on the night of the fire. Boo has ceased to become the terror of the neighborhood, and Scout's fantasy about him comes true when she takes his hand and sits beside him on the porch.

Boo still has an obvious weakness: He desires no social contact outside the Radley Place; after Scout walks him back home at the end of the novel, she mentions that she will never see him again. He is forever beset by the mental scars of his troubled past, and even his heroic gesture--having "done... this town a great service"--will prove to be a one-time offering. Once again he retreats to his home, never to be seen again.

SCOUT THE FIGHTER.  Scout is quick to use her fists when the words of others anger her, and she has no problem handling herself with the boys she fights, even holding her own against her older brother. She promises Atticus that she will walk away from her pugilistic tendencies, but she has a few setbacks, especially with her obnoxious Cousin Francis. After he calls Scout and Atticus a "nigger-lover," she cannot restrain herself.

     This time, I split my knuckle to the bone on his front teeth. My left impaired, I sailed in with my right..."  (Chapter 9)

She forgets her promise again on the night the lynch mob confronts Atticus at the jail. When one of the men "yanked Jem nearly off his feet,"

... I kicked the man swiftly. Barefooted, I was surprised to see him fall back in real pain. I intended to kick his shin, but aimed to high.   (Chapter 15)

SCOUT THE LADY.  Scout rebuffs most attempts to make her into a lady, and at the Missionary Circle tea she witnesses most unladylike behavior from many of the "devout" women there. But she recognizes real ladies when she sees them, and she is impressed with the behavior of Miss Maudie and her Aunt Alexandra after they compose themselves after learning of Tom's death. When they return to serving refreshments as if nothing has happened, she decides that

     After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I.  (Chapter 24)

SCOUT THE ROMANTIC.  Scout is happiest when her "permanent fiance," Dill, is around, and she misses him mightily when he returns home to Meridian each summer.

... summer was Dill by the fishpool smoking string, Dill's eyes alive with complicated plans to make Boo Radley emerge; summer was the swiftness with which Dill would reach up and kiss me when Jem was not looking, the longings we sometimes felt each other feel. With him life was routine; without him, life was unbearable.  (Chapter 12)

To Kill a Mockingbird is the world-renowned novel written by Harper Lee. It focuses on the racial tensions that arise when a white woman, Mayella Ewell, falsely accuses Tom Robinson, an innocent black man, of rape. This is a horrible thing to do. However, Lee provides quite a bit of evidence in her story to show us why Mayella accused Tom of raping her.

The Ewells are one of the poorest white families in Maycomb. They are looked down upon by the other citizens of the town. The only reason they're not the lowest of the low is that they're still white. This puts them a rung above all black individuals in the area.

Mayella's mom dies when she's young. Afterward, Mayella becomes a surrogate wife to her father and a mother to her younger siblings. She's unable to go to school and is sexually, emotionally, and physically abused by her father. She lives a tragic life that she is incapable of improving. That's why she's excited by the idea of entering into a sexual relationship with Tom Robinson when he visits the house.

For the first time in her life, she has control over another person. Tom has to either refuse her or enter into a relationship with her. Both choices will forever change him and put his life in danger. He decides to refuse Mayella, who responds by falsely accusing him of rape. At Tom's trial, Mayella and her father are proven to be liars. However, that doesn't stop the all-white jury from sentencing Tom to death.

Given all this, you have to ask yourself whether you consider Mayella to be a victim in To Kill a Mockingbird. Yes, she did something horrible in basically killing Tom because he wouldn't consent to her desires. However, it's worth asking whether she would have felt the need to engage in a relationship with Tom in the first place if it wasn't for her horrible lot in life. If she was able to go to school or didn't have an abusive father, maybe she would have believed there were other ways for her to improve her situation. The answer to this question is ultimately a personal one, though, so consider all of the evidence and respond based on how you feel.