Sunday, August 12, 2012

How would you describe Mayella and her home life?

Living in her rundown house situated between the town dump
and the Negro Quarters, Mayella is cast as a lonely and mistreated older teen who has
reached adulthood but has no one with which to share her life. Her mother has been dead
a "long time," and she seems befuddled when Atticus asks her while on the witness stand
if she has any friends. Her loneliness is so great that she has saved her nickels so she
can send her brothers and sisters out of the house in order to be alone in order to lure
Tom Robinson inside. She has never been kissed, and though Tom is black, he is her best
chance for a quick bit of romance. To Mayella, Tom is like forbidden fruit, but her
choices are limited, and he is one of the only people who ventures onto the property. We
also discover that her father has probably beaten her before, and there is even an
underlying hint that he may have taken advantage of her sexually in the
past.

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