Mayella Ewell

Casey Anthony

In 2008, Caylee Anthony disappeared. Her grandmother was worried and filed a missing persons report for Caylee on July 15, 2008. The case was soon brought to court and Casey Anthony was accused of murdering her daughter. Even though Casey had numerous accounts of evidence proving she killed her daughter, she claimed she didn't. this relates to Mayella because eventhough there was evidence that Tom did not rape her, she still lied about it to protect herself and family. Tom was defiantly innocent but somehow the jury and judge found a way to prove him guilty. In both of these cases, the wrong person was convicted and the case did not end fairly.

on June 13th, 1994 O.J. Simpson's wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were found dead at Nicole's home in Los Angeles, California. The case went on almost constantly for one year. Even with all the evidence against O.J., he was found innocent on October 3, 1995. This relates to the trial Mayella was in because all the evidence supported that Tom Robinson was innocent, but he was still convinced of raping Mayella. Again, in this case there was so much evidence that Tom had not done what Mayella claimed, and the jury believed Mayella. The injustice was so obvious it was appalling, just like the verdict was in the O.J. Simpson case. Again both times, the jury came to the wrong verdict and the case ended unfairly.

Ben Roethlisberger, a famous NFL player, was accused of sexual assault and rape twice, by two different women. Each time he was accused, he was found innocent from lack of evidence. This relates to the Tom Robinson case because Ben was wrongfully accused of rape, just as Tom was. Also, the women accusing him were neither reliable sources, nor had much evidence at all to back up their accusation, very much like Mayella. However, the two story's endings are much diferent because Ben was eventually found innocent, while Tom was found guilty even with the lack of evidence from the Ewells.

Oprah Winfrey

We picked Oprah as the person who relates to Mayella because when Oprah was 9 years old, she was raped by her cousin, who was 19 at the time. After she was raped, her cousin took her out for ice cream and told her never to speak of it again. Oprah listened. Two years later she was also abused by her uncle and a family friend, but again kept it to herself. This relates to Mayella because she was beaten and raped by her Dad and and kept silent and said that Tom did it. They both were hurt by the situation but kept it to themselves and ended up lying about the situation to keep her family safe.

Mayella Ewell is a manipulated, crushed girl with a variety of personality traits, which is why she is best represented by Play-Dough. Play-Dough is formed into defferent shapes by other peoples hands, becoming something it's not, just like Mayella was manipulated by her father. Also, Play-Dough is a fun toy for kids to smash and crush and rip apart. This represents Mayella being physically hurt and beaten by Bob. Lastly, Play-Dough comes in all different colors, some dark, like Mayella was when she was lying and accusing an innocent man of rape, but some are light and bright like Mayella planting flowers and loving Tom. She also wanted happiness and to escape from all the hurt in her life. Play-Dough symbolizes Mayella Ewell's characteristics perfect beacuse of all the differnt ways it is manipulated.

Most Significant Quote

“So he come in my yard an’ I went in the house to get him the nickel and I turned around an ‘fore I knew it he was on me. Just run up behind, he did. He got me round the neck, cussin’ me and sayin’ sirt—I fought’n’hollered, but he had me round the neck. He hit me agin an’ agin—”. This was the most significant quote Mayella said in the book because it is when she accused Tom of assaulting her. This quote was the first lie Mayella told in court, but it wasn’t the last. She went on and said many more lies that got Tom convicted, and that’s why it is the most important quote in the book.

O.J. Simpson

Mayella Ewell

Ben Roethlisberger