Minor Female Characters in Lee's Novel
Supporting Female Roles in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird
Apr 15, 2009
It is important to understand the different women in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. If one doesn’t understand the personality of the characters, the various viewpoints that helps shape the novel and focus the plot are lost.
Mayella Violet Ewell
Mayella is the illiterate daughter of Bob Ewell. She is the oldest of seven children and is in charge of maintaining the household. She is isolated and lonely. It is apparent that her father not only beats her but might even sexually abuse her.
Tom Robinson pities her and often helps her by doing heavy work for her whenever he passes by on his way to or from work. Mayella is so lonely that his generosity causes her to desire him and attempt to seduce him. When the seduction fails and her father beats her, she claims that Tom raped her in order to deflect attention from her inappropriate behavior.
Alexandra (Finch) Hancock
Alexandra is Atticus Finch’s sister. She is a true Southerner bound by convention and issues of social and class distinctions. She is dismayed by Atticus’ lack of consideration in these areas. Consequently she installs herself in the house in order to make sure that Jem and Scout learn about their station and role in life as members of the Finch clan.
However, while Aunt Alexandra’s constant concerns about behavior and class distinctions make her irritating, by the end of the novel it is possible to appreciate her and perhaps even like her. She admits to being upset by the hypocrisy she sees in the ladies who belong to her missionary circle. In addition, while she did not agree with Atticus about his responsibility towards the trial and Tom Robinson, she felt genuine sympathy for him when he loses the trial and Tom dies.
Stephanie Crawford
Stephanie Crawford is the neighborhood gossip. It is not safe to consider anything she says as being true or to trust her with personal information. She is a shell of a woman with no purpose but to spread rumors and to complain about others in the community.
Miss Rachel Haverford
Rachel Haverford is Dill’s aunt and takes care of him during the summer. She may be an alcoholic. Dill reveals that she drinks a lot in the morning because she once found a rattlesnake amongst her lingerie. She is extremely racist.
Miss Caroline Fisher
Miss Fisher is Scout’s first grade teacher. She is from the city and doesn’t understand the social or economic structure that surrounds the lives of the children in her class. Miss Fisher attempts to teach the children through a standardized method, which Jem mistakenly refers to as the Dewey Decimal System.
Miss Gates
Miss Gates is Scout’s third grade teacher. Her hypocrisy begins to open Scout’s eyes to the nature of adults. She states that Hitler’s persecution of the Jews is based on prejudice, which doesn’t exist in ‘our country.’ Yet she makes disparaging remarks about blacks after the trial.
Read about Strong Women in To Kill a Mockingbird
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Warner Books, Inc. 1982. ISBN 0-446-31078-6
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