Showing Dignity by Being a Southern Woman

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1960.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a Pulitzer Prize-winning-novel written by Harper Lee in 1960 and become a classic of modern American literature. This plot and characters of this novel are based on the author’s observations of her family and neighbors, as well as on an event that occurred near her in 1936, when she was 10; so, it seems like this novel is based on the author’s own life experience. The story, which takes through the eyes of a 6-year-old girl named Scout, tells us about racial injustice and the destruction of innocence in Maycomb, a small Alabama town in 1930s.

The most important theme ofTo Kill a Mockingbirdis the book’s exploration of the moral nature of human beings—that is, whether people are essentially good or essentially evil. The forces of good and evil inTo Kill a Mockingbirdseem larger than the small Southern town in which the story takes place; therefore, no one in this novel is completely good or evil – every character is human, with human flaws and weaknesses. Maycomb is a country in which an overcomplicated social hierarchy exist and through which differences in social status explored largely. The moderately well-off Finches stand near the top of Maycomb’s social hierarchy, with most of the townspeople beneath them. Ignorant but dignified country farmers like the Cunninghams lie below the townspeople, and the white otiose Ewells, which actually be on the same strata as the Cunninghams but have less dignity, rest below the Cunninghams. However, the black community in Maycomb, despite its plenty admirable qualities, squats below even the Ewells, enabling Bob Ewell to make up for his own lack of importance by persecuting Tom Robinson. These rigid social divisions are revealed in the book to be both irrational and destructive. However, social hierarchy is not the only problem exists in this novel; it is seen – for example, in Mayella Ewell case – that the entire town subscribes outwardly to traditional gender roles, beside the stiff class distinctions.

Mayella Violet Ewell, a daughter of Bob Ewell, plays an important role in determining the main conflict in this novel. In chapter 17, where the main conflict begins, Bob Ewell stated that Mayella had been raped and accused Tom Robinson to be the one who did it to her. Later, we will find that Mayella had made it as if Tom had raped and hurt her; she libeled Tom in order to hide her own guilt – guilt of a white Southern woman who tried to seduce a Black man. Living as a victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, the 19-year-old Mayella cannot expect any lesser misery in her life with an arrogant and useless father and many siblings to take care of. Mayella Ewell was put in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird as a symbol of an oppressed woman who tried to take her dignity back by using her status as a white Southern woman.

In order to escape from the pressure she received as a crum in Maycomb society, Mayella attempted to uphold her pride as a decent and respectable Southern woman by trapping an innocent Black man. Lonely and desperate, the grown-up Mayella tried to find a solace in Tom, a nice and polite Black man, by making a sexual advance toward him. However, as a gentlemen and, especially, as a Negro, Tom resisted her will. This made Mayella embarrassed and humiliated, and turned to lie and slander Tom to protect her pride. Despite Mayella’s trash status as a Ewell, in accusing a Black man, she is able to use the access to the privileges of white Southern womanhood, which enabling her to have a special protection in the realm of law. In the Reconstruction of White Southern Womanhood (1865-1895), it is stated that women deserve the chivalrous protection of men without any question asked. Mayella’s comment on the court implies that for men to be big brave heroes, they have to believe that women are helpless timid victims in need of protection or avenging.

In order to uphold her pride, Mayella was intended to convince the jury that she is a fragile, helpless girl who gets taken advantage of by Tom, rather than the desperate, lonely woman who aggressively longing for him. This attempt was success since after listening to her witness, Mr. Gilmer, the Ewell’s lawyer, believed that Tom must be lying, must be violent, and must lust after this white woman – simply because he is black and because Mayella is a white woman. The purpose of her action of slandering Tom is to get out of the ‘oppressed area’ by not being the victim of another kind of domination; therefore, she has to be proven innocent in the trial. By using her privilege of the white Southern womanhood, she feels for a moment that she has the power over others which she never had before.

We can say that Mayella Ewell is a kind of mockingbird for she is injured beyond repair by the forces of ugliness, poverty, and hatred that surround her – lack of kind treatment in her life, we can consider her a victim of the poverty and ignorance. On the other hand, her picture as a victim is marred by her attempt to become victimizer, to destroy Tom Robinson to cover her shame. By this attempt, the readers may lose their sympathy on Mayella and turn to hate her on charges of heinous that she put on Tom's shoulder.

The resolution for her attempt to higher her position in the society is rather ironic, since she won in the court but never be happy about this result. At the end of the trial, Tom Robinson was stated to be guilty by the jury and have to undergo imprisonmentforan undeterminedtime; this should be the success of Mayella’s plan and attempt of upholding her pride. However, in fact, she is the one who is seen as the victim in the court – a poor, fragile, and helpless girl – rather than the claimantwhohas power overthe suspect,Tom. Being a victim indicates that she is still controlled and oppressed by man, the things that she has tried to avoid since the time she accused Tom. The ironic point here is that at the end, where she should be the one who enjoy the victory, she has to return to her position as the dominated person – the oppressed poor white woman.

In brief, in the society where social hierarchy is rigid and where masculine aspects are dominant, it is difficult for a poor woman, just like Mayella Ewell, to break the system, even if she is a White. As the main theme in this novel is the notion of prejudice in all of its forms – clearly, in Tom Robinson case, the characters deal with racial prejudice head on – Harper Lee shows us prejudice as it also relates to gender and social class. Overall, To Kill a Mockingbird is a good read and is certainly can be a powerful trustworthy resource when people want to analyze the Southern life in 1930s, since Harper Lee has experience the events herself and picture it clearly on a perspective of her childhood in this book. Although To Kill a Mockingbird does not end with a happily-ever-after ending, where finally all the people at Maycomb holding each other hands, it suggests that doing something to make life a little more fair is still worthwhile – even it seems like it is not having any effect.