The first absent mother would be the mother of our main
character Scout Finch. She died when Scout was two, so she never knew her. However,
growing up in an era when girls wore dresses and practised their manners on a daily
basis, it is obvious that Scout did not have a female influence around the house. Scout
did have Calpurnia around to help keep her in line, though, unlike our other motherless
character.
Mayella Ewell had no female influence
whatsoever. No word is ever mentioned about her mother or where she was. Instead, she
was in charge of seven other children/siblings and a father who was drunk most of the
time. Because of her lack of female influence, Mayella gets herself into a mess of
trouble by tempting a Negro and then accusing him of raping her when she gets caught
trying to kiss him. Instead of coming clean, Mayella only proves to the court how
pathetic her life really is, and continues to point her finger at Tom
Robinson.
The other theme dealing with parenting is the
theme of abusive fathers. Boo Radley's father was the first one introduced. Although
not physically abusive, he forced Boo to remain indoors for the rest of his life,
turning him into a recluse and the town Bogeyman. We finally get to see what time and
distance from others has done to Boo when we get a glimpse of Boo in the final
chapters.
The last abusive father is Bob Ewell. He abuses
Mayella physically. In fact, Atticus proves that Bob is responsible for the injuries
she blames on Tom. Without a woman around, Bob not only abuses Mayella physically, but
also sexually. In Tom's testimony he says that Mayella told him "what her papa do to
her don't count."
With these two themes, the contrast is
made between the type of fathers these men are to the kind, responsible character of
Atticus. Alone, he is able to teach his children what true courage is as well as how to
really understand other people. So these situations draw to light how great Atticus
truly is to his children.
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