Mayella has no education and is overworked because she has to take care of all of her siblings by herself.
Mayella’s misery is manifold. It is based in the fact that she is overworked. As you know, her father hits her and possibly does more. He also drinks away the family’s government assistance and Mayella is forced to make due with animals he hunts out of season to feed her siblings.
Mayella makes friends with Tom Robinson because she is lonely, but also because she needs help. Mayella does not care that Tom Robinson is black. He is a man.
During the trial, Tom Robinson testifies that he helped Mayella because there always seemed to be a ton of children around, and she had to do everything on her own. He did not ask for payment because he knew she had nothing to give him.
“... I was glad to do it, 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.” (Ch. 19)
Mayella has a lot of brothers and sisters. None of them even go to school. She herself did not go to school. She is responsible for taking care of her siblings, and it must be a very big job. Her father usually drinks the government relief checks away, as we know.
“It’s against the law, all right,” said my father, “and it’s certainly bad, but when a man spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from hunger pains. I don’t know of any landowner around here who begrudges those children any game their father can hit.” (Ch. 2)
Tom Robinson felt sorry for Mayella because he saw that she was in a desperate situation. She was mother and housekeeper to a brood that wasn’t hers. How could she ever escape? He points out that she was always watering her flowers. Despite her misery, Mayella tried to find small elements of beauty.
No comments:
Post a Comment