Although the Ewell place is a dirty environment, containing many unwanted items, there is a corner of the yard that differs from the rest. "Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums," (228) which were supposedly cared for by Mayella Ewell. The geraniums flowers, within the Ewell yard, are properly take care of with love and tenderness, which is surprising to Maycomb County, being as the Ewells are not loving and passionate people. Therefore, the flowers are symbols of the good that exists within a person, no matter how corrupt one may be. The geraniums offer their beauty within the ugly and dark yard, much like the "good" in every human being. This also refers to previous chapters where Atticus emphasizes that everyone has good in them, for example when talking to Scout about Mr. Cunningham being a good man, even after he had attempted to hurt Tom Robinson in a mob.
A questions that emerges from the reading is: how does this reading and analysis effect your understanding of the Ewells and their life style?
Here is a picture of geranium flowers:
Taken from: http://houseplantsreviews.com/images/Geraniums.jpg
I agree with Gaby. It shows that even under a defined category as the filthiest slobs of Maycomb County, Mayella Ewell was able to create some good out of the "home" that she lives in. The "home" being broken down with no real established parents to care for the multiple Ewell children, as said by Mr. Ewell, 'Well, if I ain't (her father) I can't do nothing about it now, her ma's dead.' [230] This quote shows that Mr. Ewell does not care for his children and does not worry about the things that may happen to them, he spends the family money on his liquor. The property is run by an every-man-for-himself system where the children, no matter the age, would care for him/herself . Out of this darkness it shows that Mayella is able to bring some hope to herself and the rest of the Ewell children. Its ironic how Gaby said, "The geraniums flowers, within the Ewell yard, are properly take care of with love and tenderness," because the Ewells are not used to being loved or shown tender compassion, and yet Mayella brought this hope out of the knowledge of her family's failure and put it onto her family's property. It reflects to Atticus who had brought the light to the darkest parts of Maycomb, where the jail cells are located, and shown a glimpse of hope of a new beginning of peace to Maycomb. The red Geraniums that were planted and cared for by Mayellla shows that even in her current status in the book she still has hope in created a life for herself.
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