A* Essay: To Kill A Mockingbird - How Does Harper Lee Present The Ewell's Place In Society Using De

QUESTION A The Ewell's are a family in Maycomb that really don't fall into a specific place or category in such a stereotypical 1930's America. The way things were in those times were; you were black or white. If you held a darker skin colour all respect would be lost whereas if you happened to be white, supremacy was considered. Yet Lee connotates through the "negro cabin" the Ewell's reside in, even though they happen to be a white family, there place in society is somewhat similar to one of a black family. This suggests that in fact it's the Ewell family who should be considered as an underclass within the society as they simply live as "guests of the state" and do not even take their weight in Maycomb, unlike most of the working class black community, but because of the colour of their skin - In 1930's Alabama they were still considered to have a higher rank in society. The underclass of the white community in that time and even in today's modern society is known as trash, or "garbage". We can quite easily associate the Ewell family with this stereotype because they're definitely synonymous with the "filthy surroundings" that they reside within. Detailing used by Lee to describe what they call their home, shows the appalling state they live in. Their roof nothing more than "tin cans", their plot of land even appears to be similar to the "playground of an insane child." Lee has shown the reader this to mirror the trash around this family is effectively what the family is to Maycomb; trash and chaos on the face of the society. Continuous repetition of the word "No" connotates a negative position for the Ewell's. Nothing affects them, no one can get their children to attend school, no one can shield them from "congenital defects." This presents to us how even though the Ewell's are a part of the community, they remain a part of community no one wants to associate with. Lee shows us that people have to turn a blind eye to a family like the Ewell's because nothing they can do would change the way they behave and would always behave. However the reader can also establish there may be some softness encased within the hard, "chipped" exterior of the Ewell family. Mayella may belong to a family low within Maycomb's cast system but even the "chipped enamel jars" hold "brilliant geraniums." This I believe is a direct representation of Mayella Ewell. The rest of the family seem to have no respect for themselves and the county, are incredibly unhygienic and full of "congenital defects" yet within Their family their resides a "brilliant red geranium" Mayella must have been the one to take such care an tenderness looking after the geraniums in their flawed exterior - this clever detailing used by Lee mirrors that even people with flawed exteriors can hold something of beauty and value within themselves. This can be seen as Mayella holding a "geranium" within herself, perhaps being softer than she lets us perceive and also in the family as a whole where the Ewell's represent the tough exterior that Maycomb doesn't relay want in their society, but hold within them a brilliance that could be Mayella. Through intricate detailing Lee has indefinitely shown that the family is a unique category of people, though they are white they morally hold the same place as the black community because despite how hard anyone may try to turn a blind eye to their "filthy" way of life a family like this will always hold a place in the community; perhaps just not a desired place.