As Scout and Jem sit in the balcony of the courthouse
listening to the testimony of Mayella Ewell in Chapter 18 of To Kill a
Mockingbird, Scout whispers to her brother, "Has she got good sense?"
Then Scoutobserves Mayella give Atticus "a final terrified glance" before continuing her
testimony which has flaws in its credibility.
Clearly,
Mayella does not have a healthy family life. With her mother's death, the
responsibilities of taking care of the family has gone to poor Mayella since her father
is a drunkard. In addition, Bob Ewell is also abusive, and possibly even sexually
abusive to Mayella. Since she has to remain in this sordid home, Mayella has few
opportunities to make friends; besides, she has no nice clothes or money with which to
go to town. Added to this situation, Mayella is a social pariah, labelled by the
townspeople as "white trash," so few opportunities for meaningful socialization are open
to her.
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