#mayella

with a taste of your lips, i'm on a ride

toxic yuri but make it everyone else's problem instead

I'm gonna explain each of their dynamics as duos now and then anyone interested can imagine what they'd be like together ^^

Cassiya (Cassie x Maya)

This is actually really funny as a ship to me cause wdym that the guy that Cassie framed for murder is her gfs ex-friend. Although unrelated to all that; I've always imagined Maya as some popular girl stereotype, and though idk if Cassie would still be the white pumpkin; to be fair I can see her rocking up to Beacontown to scope stuff out and possibly get the jump on Jesse but then Maya and the other girls are just gonna be chilling around. In Maya's case it's like. "Oh. Yeah. They exist. It's whatever." I don't think Maya would care too much to be completely honest. Their dynamic is really appealing though

Cassinta (Cassie Rose x Binta)

Cassie and Binta is actually a very interesting dynamic; I don't think Binta is weak by any means, but she certainly feels like someone who is more of a pacifist than everyone else, compared to someone who is probably the most violent? It's honestly interesting to think of their dynamic

Castella/Killerqueen (Cassie x Stella)

I love them oh my lord their dynamic is so fascinating to me. I can't remember who it was now but someone proposed that Cassie, even if having been reformed still just hates Jesse so it turns into into "oh yeah that's my friend :) we used to not like each other but we're good now :3" while Cassie is just seething. I feel like their dynamic would be similar to Cassiya, although not the same. I don't know how to explain, but I feel like Stella might be the best when it comes to giving Cassie a redemption arc.

Bintya (Binta x Maya)

To be honest I'm not entirely sure how to explain my appeal to this one. I think they would just be kinda cute.

Mayella (Maya x Stella)

They both would probably do makeup and would be hypewomen together, it'd honestly be great. Both of them probably have a fair ego but I think it'd be really endearing for them to interact. And hey!! Past rivals to our main characters?

Bintella (Binta x Stella)

decided on this because why can’t they date like this??? headcanons under cut ⬇️

one character has not left my mind: Mayella Violet Ewell. For someone who appears on maybe ten pages, she is undeniably central to the moral code of this classic. I am not here to argue that she “did nothing wrong.” I am here to argue that she cannot be understood with only one mindset. Mayella Ewell is not simple. She is not just the villain, and she is not just the victim. She is both powerless and powerful, that contradiction is exactly what makes her so very important.

To truly understand Mayella, we have to understand the environment she comes from. The Ewells are the poorest white family in Maycomb, poorer in dignity if not stricter in labor than the Cunninghams. Scout calls them dirty and mean, while the town views them as plain old white trash. The Ewells are described as lazy, mean, and dirty. Unlike the Cunninghams who work for their money, the Ewells rely on the government. (Which can be a slight jab at the stereotype that people of color live off the government as Tom Robinson works and Bob Ewell doesn't.)

We know that the Ewells live near the dump and work in it. The tribe of which Burris Ewell and his brethren consisted had lived on the same plot of earth behind the Maycomb dump, and had thrived on county welfare money for three generations. The Ewells rely solely on Robert E. Lee Ewell, the patriarch of the family which we find out in the line, “Ain’t got no mother,” was the answer, “and their paw’s right contentious.” and the line, “Are you the father of Mayella Ewell?” was the next question. “Well, if I ain’t I can’t do nothing about it now, her ma’s dead,” was the answer. Which to quickly address, what a horrible comment for Bob Ewell to make in front of his daughter, which I digress.

SIKE.

Liv Conway does not digress.

What a comment! What a horrible comment to say about your daughter's dead mother in front of a legal jury, considering that Maycomb is a small town, the jury most likely knew Mrs Ewell! If Bob Ewell is clearly comfortable saying this publicly, what else does he say in private? But we know what he says in private thanks to Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson shut his eyes tight. “He says you goddamn whore, I’ll kill ya.” That very moment reveals his cruelty, his blatant carelessness, and his complete lack of respect for women which includes his own daughter.

The lack of dignity in the Ewell household becomes even more apparent when Mayella reacts to Atticus giving her a shred of respect, “Mayella looked from under lowered eyelids at Atticus, but she said to the judge: “Long’s he keeps on callin‘ me ma’am an sayin’ Miss Mayella. I don’t hafta take his sass, I ain’t called upon to take it.”” As well as Scout’s reaction from the balcony, “I wondered if anybody had ever called her “ma’am,” or “Miss Mayella” in her life; probably not, as she took offense to routine courtesy. What on earth was her life like? I soon found out.” Mayella does not understand basic courtesy. She's so unused to dignity that she sees very basic politeness as mockery. Respect feels threatening because she's never got to experience it. Respect feels like a threat when you are so used to humiliation in your day to day life.

The sheer number of kids that live on the Ewell property is unknown, around the numbers of 6-10, Nobody was quite sure how many children were on the place. Some people said six, others said nine; there were always several dirty-faced ones at the windows when anyone passed by. With Mayella being the eldest and Burris being close in age to Scout. Brethren is typically used in regards to males so if our lovely narrator, Scout, is using it correctly, the Ewells mainly consist of boys. But, Scout is not a super reliable narrator. I would not call her an unreliable narrator as she is relatively young throughout this book.

Nonetheless, there are a boat load of kids. The Ewells mother is dead. Their father is a drunken abuser. Mayella, at nineteen, is the eldest. Legally an adult, yes, but emotionally? Educationally? Socially? She is barely literate and has likely spent her life raising siblings while enduring horrific neglect and abuse. When I call her a girl, I mean it. Age does not equal maturity, especially when someone grows up in violence.

The abuse in the household is not a secret, as Atticus tells Jem.“..So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take. He had to take it out on somebody and I’d rather it be me than that houseful of children out there. You understand?” The implication is clear: everyone knows that Bob hurts his children. Even Tom Robinson mentions the sexual abuse when he says in court, “She says what her papa do to her don’t count.” And yet….nothing. The court does not pursue this. The town does not confront it. It is treated as an unfortunate but ordinary fact of life. Why? Because exposing the very man Bob Ewell is would destabilize white male authority, even if he is considered scum. Mayella's suffering becomes secondary to preserving racial and gendered hierarchy. As Atticus says to the court, “Her father saw it, and the defendant has testified as to his remarks. What did her father do? We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left.” An easy to miss part. It clearly points to Bob Ewell as being the perpetrator in his daughter's assault. But it just… disappears. It is not treated as the central crime of the courtroom. Instead, the trial focuses on protecting white womanhood from a Black man. When the real issue is the abuse by a father.

Mayella is essentially powerless in her home, powerless in her town, powerless as a WOMAN. But in the courtroom, she becomes powerful because she is white. There’s no doubt about that, to the extent that I won't argue that. While she is socially white, she is socially disposable. A poor, uneducated white woman. Her race grants her authority in that specific space.

And yet, Scouts overview complicates everything as she describes Mayella.

“As Tom Robinson gave his testimony, it came to me that Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world. She was even lonelier than Boo Radley, who had not been out of the house in twenty-five years. When Atticus asked had she any friends, she seemed not to know what he meant, then she thought he was making fun of her. She was as sad, I thought, as what Jem called a mixed child: white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white. She couldn’t live like Mr. Dolphus Raymond, who preferred the company of Negroes, because she didn’t own a riverbank and she wasn’t from a fine old family. Nobody said, “That’s just their way,” about the Ewells. Maycomb gave them Christmas baskets, welfare money, and the back of its hand. Tom Robinson was probably the only person who was ever decent to her. But she said he took advantage of her, and when she stood up she looked at him as if he were dirt beneath her feet.”

This makes her accusation so tragic.

Tom likely showed her kindness, perhaps the first kindness she’s ever received. And in a moment of fear, shame, and social pressure, she chose (or was forced) to weaponize the only power she had: her whiteness.

She condemns an innocent man, yes. That cannot be erased. But the choice does not come from simple evil. It comes from terror, isolation, abuse, and a desperate need to survive her fathers wrath and the town's judgment.

To touch on the idea that Bob could of forced Mayella to claim Tom raped her, i’m simply reading between the lines and inferring on the disgusting character of Bob Ewell. The most cut and dry possibility is that Bob caught Mayella in a compromising position with Tom, (kissing). Bob beats her. In rage and humiliation, he demands that she says Tom raped her. The punishment for not listening? Another beating. Possibly worse. I wouldn't put that beneath him. Mayella already knows that her father won't hesitate to put his hands on her. The town won't intervene and she's the only one who can protect herself. Mayella wouldn't have had to be convinced, she knows what could happen to her by her fathers hands. Bob also could have made his impressionable daughter think that it's entirely her fault, maybe things like, “You threw yourself at him.” “You’ll ruin this family.” That type of gaslighting. In a deeply racist and patriarchal society, a white woman desiring a black man would be socially destroyed. Bob could have easily got that point across. If Mayella admitted she kissed Tom, she would be blamed. If she claimed rape, she’d be protected by the law. There’s also to consider that Mayella is raising her siblings, if Bob would of gone to prison for abuse or incest, they’d lose the welfare checks and illegal hunting. The kids would have been separated, the family would be dismantled, she would lose the only (broken) structure she knows. A white woman accusing a black man was automatically believed. A black man accusing a white man (especially of incest) would not be.

Mayella has lived her entire life under her fathers eyes. He humiliates her. He controls her. He likely gaslights her. He defines what the truth is in that home. If he insists that Tom assaulted her, after beating her and screaming at her, she may even begin to reshape the memory under that intense pressure. Abuse can distort the truth. Trauma has a way of being hidden in the brain.

I also want to mention that Bob is a pathetic excuse of a man. He could have easily felt emasculated. His daughter was alone with a black man, the town would mock him even more, his authority was threatened. So he redirects that onto Tom. Mayella could have easily learned that if Tom's guilty, Bob isn't. While, we would all like to think that she would hate her father. That's not how life works. A part of her subconscious could still want her only living parents approval. If Tom’s guilty, she isn't “dirty.” If Tom is guilty, the town's racial order remains intact.

Mayella has the privilege of being a white woman in the 1930s, which puts her above Tom, a black male in rural Alabama. She could cry wolf and get believed.

On the other hand, she’s a teenager that has grown up being sexually and physically abused her entire life. She’s the sole guardian to her younger siblings as her father is an abusive drunk. She has never seen kindness.