Essay --

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Mayella Ewell misleads the constituents of Maycomb about Tom Robinson because she knew the people would not approve of her actions of advancing on a man of different color. This event vividly explains the consequential aftermath of one race having feelings for another in the times of the Great Depression, specifically a white woman having feelings for an african american. She was afraid of what the townspeople would do to her, which was the main reason Mayella lied to the town of Maycomb. Mayella’s emotions gave away that she was lying during the trial. When Mayella was called to the stage, she said to Atticus "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. Your fancy airs don't come to nothin'—your ma'amin' and Miss Mayellerin' don't come to nothin', Mr. Finch-". If Mayella Ewell was really innocent, she wouldn’t have been as dramatic as she was while pleading her case. Mayella most likely would have told the truth with no wavering emotions. When Mayella was called to the stand she did this, â€Å"‘Him,’ she said, pointing at Atticus.† Mayella was afraid of Atticus during the trial because of the way he got her father, Bob Ewell, to give vital information to Tom’s benefit. She would not have been afraid of Atticus if she hadnâ€℠¢t known he could get the truth out of her, too. If Mayella had remained calm during the trial, she might have seemed a lot less guilty. Mayella Ewell did not admit to the truth because she was afraid of what the town would perceive of her actions. Atticus implied that... ...a white man harming a black man, the black man would be guilty of assaulting the white man. Thusly, there was little to no chance that the jury would believe anything Tom Robinson said. Mayella used the town’s racism to her advantage to get out of her sticky situation. In conclusion, Mayella Ewell lied to the citizens of Maycomb about Tom Robinson because she knew the people would not approve of her actions of advancing on a man of different color. She swore on the Bible to tell the truth, but failed to do so and told everyone Tom Robinson raped her. Even though Mayella clearly made that up and there wasn’t a substantial amount of evidence to prove Tom was guilty, he was still charged for raping Mayella because his skin color was different from hers. The moral of this event is to never judge someone by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.