Bob & Mayella Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird : Character Analysis

One of the greatest works of Harper Lee, published in the 1960s, the Pulitzer-winning novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is a coming-of-age story narrated by the narrator and protagonist of the story - Jean Louise "Scout" Finch. 

The point where it arrives to kill a 'mockingbird' comes from the incident of how racial and gender discrimination and prejudices on the 'black' can falsely define the traits of a person. In this story, the tragedy of the character Tom Robinson is the symbol of how innocence gets sold when there are people like Bob and Mayella Ewell.

Read on to find out about these two characters and learn how they contribute to this story -

Bob Ewell's Character Analysis

The head of the Ewell family and the lowest socioeconomic level among the Maycomb's white residents, Bob Ewell, is the polar opposite of all the personality traits if compared to Atticus. 

Mr Ewell is vindictive and aggressive, upholding his family's reputation as a troublemaker in the community by disobeying both the law and social conventions. 

He chooses not to work, which means providing no support for his family. His ignorance makes it impossible for the family to leave their modest house near the town dump, where they dwell in squalor and hunger. 

From the viewpoint of the town, the only factor that prevents Bob and Mayella Ewell from being at the bottom of Maycomb's social structure is their race and white skin. 

This truth, which effectively excuses Mr Ewell from responsibility for his actions and gives him a sense of superiority and power, is what he clings to with all of his might.  

But the truth doesn't change that neither did he serve the well-being of his family nor the society he lives in. 

Moreover, he did abuse his daughter physically often, in a state of drunkenness. It does not certify him as a respectable father as well. In fact, he's the one who instigated false accusations of rape against Tom Robinson. This was a stunt made to prove his presence and claim the identity of a hero.

Though the character of 'Bob Ewell' can be fairly called a 'black sheep', the irony is his skin colour which works as a shield. And since this story comes from mid-20th century America, racism was less protested.

The Traits of Antagonist in Bob Ewell

Bob Ewell is someone who does no good, but he can act well when given time and scope to oppress the weak. It's no denying stating that he cultivates every characteristic of an antagonist in the plot.

But what made Ewell the antagonist? Only a pattern of bad behaviour cannot make a person immoral. But what he does affects the well-being of others and even goes to the extent of the death of a person; hence, Ewell is in every way a vicious person a society must not have.

Throughout the story, it's vividly understood how Ewell is hated by everyone in the village, including his own family. 

The character Bob Ewell's antagonistic traits come into light when he plans to make 'personal accomplishments' by putting the life of Tom Robinson under threat. Even though he was already a scar in the family for exploiting his elder daughter physically, his ill-nature was caught only when he framed Tom Robinson for things he did not do.

Bob Ewell believed that the act of protecting the white women of Maycomb from a "dangerous" black man would prove his chivalry. At least Bob won't have to put up with comments in the black community about a white woman making a move for a married black man if they don't earn more respect from the community. 

Mayella Ewell's Character Analysis

If asked to establish the character of 'Mayella Ewell', she is no more than a sympathetic character. She took care of all her siblings, and what she received was violent and abusive treatment from her drunken father.

Despite being a victim in a phase of her life, she is still an antagonist in the story after her father. 

Mayella Ewell's contribution to the story revolves around the fact that she is the accuser of rape against Tom Robinson. 

However, as a reader, one can learn during the trial that she willingly engaged in the act of physical intimacy with Tom and lied to her father to hide her embarrassment. 

Even though the character of Mayella Ewell might have gained 'sympathy', she loses her 'innocence' since she is the one who seduced Tom. She behaved in a similar 'oppressive' nature by considering Tom as the submissive one since he was black.

And that's how the act of vengeance kept on going in a loop. View Examples

Mayella Ewell - a prey to the antagonism

In the first place, it's easy not to consider Maya Ewell as an antagonist. Well, she didn't, but she fell prey to her father's domination and let go of her morals.

Instead of protesting her father's misdeeds, what Maya Ewell did was equally countable. She accused a man of things he did not do. And the accusation was something which would cause anybody life imprisonment or dreadful punishment.

But why did Maya Ewell choose to stay on the same side of the road with her father?

The answer is here - The evidence shown by Mayella in court shows that she ultimately becomes the victim to the same moral depravity that afflicts the rest of her family. 

She makes an early effort to present herself to the jury as a perfect and innocent white woman by crying nearly right away and giving off the impression that she is "somehow fragile looking." 

Her place in Maycomb's social order is highlighted by this tactic, which also gives her a level of confidence which Scout describes as "stealthy." 

Similar to her father, Mayella uses her skin colour as a tool to influence events and get around the law.  

The Characters’ Role in the Book

Bob Ewell -

In the beginning, the setting of the story shows how Bob Ewell and Atticus Finch used to be friends, but their relationship ended when Ewell disapproved of Finch's decision to support Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of molesting Ewell's daughter. 

The friendship bond breaks over disagreements, which later brings them as two separate parties in court trials.

Bob Ewell's role as a friend stays no more, but he still tries hard to prove his presence through dominance in his family.

In fact, his role in the story is no less than a menace to his younger kids. His abusive nature is what the contribution his family received.

Apart from that, he had his urge to seek revenge against Atticus. Hence, when the court trial exposed his lies, he couldn't let this go off. Instead, Ewell makes an attempt to kill the Finch children but instead gets stabbed by Boo.

Mayella Ewell -

Given that her father, Bob Ewell, is a heavy drinker, Mayella finds herself in the position of having to care for her siblings. So, it can be stated that she was the mother to her siblings and took all the abuse done by her father as a submissive elder daughter.

And if looked at from the outer side, the locals believed that she was responsible for maintaining the flowerbeds surrounding the Ewell family's shack. 

Things went wrong when Mayella Ewell ended up doing similar misdeeds to her father. She sent a person into court custody under the instructions of her father.

In fact, her act of reaching out to seduce Tom Robinson without his permission put all her ethics in question. 

Throughout the story, Harper Lee presents Mayella Ewell to be the one out of the pattern of suffering who never denied what the person in power said. Hence, by default, she accepted to falsely accuse Tom, or else her father might have treated her in a more bitter way.

Now, Mayella Ewell is not someone who wishfully participates in wrongdoings. And her perplexed responses are evidence that she was prepared to speak in a way so that she gains sympathy.

Relationship of the Characters Bob Ewell & Mayella Ewell

The majority of Maycomb residents detest Bob Ewell due to his reputation as a drunk and troublemaker. This is also why he is an outsider who is despised by both the black and white communities. Additionally, Ewell is violent towards his children, especially Mayella, his oldest daughter.

This defines how distant Bob is from society. This is major because of the triggering effects on the people of Maycomb, influenced by the Great Depression in America.

To escape the suffering, all Bob Ewell does is come home drunk. His relationship, as a result, is not built or well-connected to his six children. But he violently abuses his 19-year-old daughter, and that's the relationship he has with his daughter.

The fact is Mayella Ewell ultimately becomes a tragic figure in To Kill a Mockingbird. 

With all the abuse from her father and a socially isolated young woman who is alone and without friends, she does less to save Tom Robinson from her father's trap.

The need to get Tom Robinson's attention and affection was Mayella's escape for the time being to get healed from her torturing father. But instead of doing it with consent, Mayella took the alternative road i.e. seducing. 

This father-daughter duo establishes the fact both are prey to hunger, poverty and lack of livelihood. But what they let off was the moral values, which cost the life of an innocent person.

Final Observation

The phrase 'what goes around, comes around' fits appropriately as how the character Bob Ewell ended up. But, what 'To Kill a Mockingbird' presents is a scenario where only judgement is passed in the first place based on the outlook.

With prevailing racial discrimination in early 20th century America, the torture faced by the American-African was lesser prioritised. Moreover, Harper Lee showed how women like Mayella faced abuse and violence and also remained silent when it came to raising their voices.

But things got worse when Tom Robinson was falsely accused of raping a 'white woman', which only increased his pains - first for facing racial discrimination, second, for not receiving support for his innocence.

In the end, even if Bob's ego and cunningness got served as he wished, his hunt for revenge only let him do things which could prove him a criminal, like attempting to kill Atticus' children. 

On the other hand, an innocent's life got killed since the truth was buried under the weight of manipulation and dominance of a man suppressing women.