Even though Mayella Ewell lies on the witness stand, she is still a sympathetic character. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, readers may feel sorry for Mayella Ewell because she wants to be an innocent person and a good person. Bob Ewell (her father) uses fear against her. Bob Ewell represents the dark side of the South: ignorance, poverty, squalor, and hate-filled racial prejudice.
Forcing her to lie for him on the witness stand, her father starts paying close attention to her while shes on trial, causing her only thought to be "Lie". "Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing. he sat up straight and waited for her answer."(183)
Mayella can justify that lying on the witness stand is okay because she is lying for her father but she still feels strong guilt. Mayella may know how to differentiate between right and wrong but in To Kill a Mockingbird day and age you obey your father and Mayella's father cannot demarcate between right and wrong. Bob Ewell is a strong-headed close minded person who believes what he thinks is right and no one else's opinion matters.
Having a father so cruel like Bob Ewell also causes sympathy from the readers toward Mayella. Mayella is scared of her father she shows this when she is reluctant to answer atticus's question when she is on trial. "mayella looked around, down at the court reporter, up at the judge. 'Answer the question, miss mayella,' said judge taylor." (184)
In his knowingly wrongful accusation that Tom Robinson raped his daughter, Bob Ewell feels at ease because he can get his loyal daughter to lie for him. Mayella is an abused, lonely, unhappy girl. Though one can pity Mayella because of her overbearing father, one cannot pardon her for her shameful indictment of Tom Robinson.
