Isolation
My first attempt at a comparative literary research exploration proposed the following: With reference to the theme of Isolation, what are the similarities and differences that link the secondary characters Mayella Ewell and Dill from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Happy Loman from the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller?
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Something I came to discover during my second or third reading of this book, is how Dill and Mayella Ewell are the two stark products of identities that could arise from a state of abandoned and isolated origins.
As random as it may seem, Mayella and Dill are kindred spirits because of their tendency to rely on deception to draw comfort from their uncomfortable upbringings. Mayella, conditioned to abuse white privilege for the sake of self-preservation, uses deception to deny her own father's inhumanity. And Dill, embeds himself so deeply in daydreams and false realities, that he’s lost his sense of true familial identity along the way.
But of course, Dill’s delusion didn’t cost a man his life, or children the oblivion of their youth. That’s why Mayella’s disappointment as a character weighs heavier than ample pity for a boy devoid of a home.
What Dill preserves with the advantage of his impressionable age, is the ability to retain raw, sensitive and empathetic instinct. Where Mayella’s nurturing inclinations are reserved for well-kept potted red geraniums.
Lee somehow crafted foils within secondary characters that seem unintentional but are effective in their execution when considered together.
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