The town was struck in wonder as they awaited Tom Robinson’s trial. In the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Mayella Ewell is powerful. She convinced the jury to decide that because Tom Robinson was so masculine, she was easily taken advantage of and raped. As a white woman in the South during the 1930’s, her word, or any other white person’s word was more reliable than an African-American’s.(DBQ. page 19) Using her ethnicity to give her the upper hand against Tom Robinson, she utilizes her feminism to conceive the courtroom into thinking that she was helpless in her situation. Her race sets up a bias in the courtroom against her oppressor. Because of his race, Tom was scared that he would be accused of something he did not do.(DBQ. page 19) People in the South during the 1930’s, assumed that all African-Americans lie. In this time period, it was stereotypical to think that all …show more content…
One may use the analogy of comparing Mayella to a baby because they are both helpless and subversive, this is why Mayella’s gender was beneficial. Women are known to be impotent and weak against men. The court took this concept into consideration and modified it to help convict Tom of something he did not do. Mayella relies on the jury so that her father will stop sexually abusing her. The one thing that could be argued proving that Mayella is powerless, is her class. Mayella is referred to as “White Trash”(To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper, Chapter 17). She is identified to be poorer than any African-American. Tom Robinson states that “he felt sorry for her,”(To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper, Chapter 19, page 135) because he knew that she was so low ranked in society and was abused by her father. Even though her social ranking could be used to name her powerless, Mayella is still able to convince the court that Tom is guilty. Ultimately, her class indeed, does not change the decision of the
Mayella is not powerful under the circumstances of her race. In the trial Atticus Finch is questioning Mayella by calling her Ma’am and Miss Mayella. She says, “...He keeps on callin’ me ma’am and sayin’ Miss Mayella. I don’t hafta take his sass…”. (“DBQ is Mayella Ewell Powerful?” 17) Later in the trial Mr. Gilmer is speaking to Tom Robinson and calls him “boy” ,even though Tom is a grown man that should be called sir. Tom knows how to be treated though being black. Mayella did not understand how to be treated formally. Mayella is white and does not get treated fairly though being white, and Tom knows how to be treated and does not dispute about it being black. This shows how Mayella is not powerful, even within the standards of race.
As a female, she is vulnerable to rape and has little power to stop the rape by her father. The people of Maycomb believe women are helpless, fragile, and only fit to be housewives. Being a woman makes Mayella appear weak and easy to take advantage of. However, she ultimately uses what appears to be a weakness to her benefit in making the case against Tom and getting away from her father.
In 1930’s Maycomb Alabama, a young woman is stirring up a sleepy town by accusing an African American man of rape. Mayella Ewell, a poor white woman has wrongly accused Tom Robinson of sexually assaulting her in her own home. Her testimony, as well as her fathers’, have gaping holes in them. Their stories do not coincide, and it is even implied that Mayella’s father may have been sexually abusing her.(DBQ Mayella page 15 Chapters 18 and 20) The lack of sufficient evidence and Tom Robinson’s claim that Mayella had made advances toward him should have been enough for the jury to find Tom not guilty, but unfortunately, that was not the case. Instead, the jury believed Mayella’s deceitful testimony, and Tom was sent to jail, which ultimately led to his death. Mayella used her position in society to manipulate the court, and dispose of the only evidence of her mistake. Mayella Ewell is powerful as defined by class, gender, and especially race.
Do you know what it feels like to be powerless? A white nineteen year old woman named Mayella Ewell falsely accuses a black man of raping her in Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930’s, and rendering her powerless comes from being recessive in her social class, race, and gender. She accuses Tom Robinson of rape in hopes of escaping her abusive father, and a chance to have a better life. Although Mayella is white, African Americans and other white people shun her throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Mayella is a very young woman that does not own anything nice, nor clean, besides geranium flowers. During the 1930’s, men were the dominant sex, as a female, Mayella has to obey her father, Bob Ewell. As a result, Mayella is mistreated and abused.
Due to Mayella's race she gains power. Mayella is white, living in the 1930's time period. So she will have very little power. The jury will take the side of a white woman over the side of a negro man. This is the only power that Mayella has and uses her race to her advantage in a bad way.
During the trial, Mr. Gilmer begins to question Tom and his actions. Mr.Gilmer does so by asking, “Were you... scared of arrest, scared you have to face up to what you did? No, suh, scared I have to say something I didn't do,” (Doc D). Privileges are only given to those who are born into them. In most cases, it would be white people. White people will always be given priority because they are seen as innocent human beings. Preconceived notions have caused white people to devalue the lives of blacks and allow them to formulate assumptions that are not necessarily precise. This affected Tom because he had no power to get himself out of the lies that the Ewell has thrown upon him. Tom comprehends that in a dark, corrupted society there is little to no chance to achieve justice. This trial was self-contradictory because racism was utilized to cloud their judgment. Mayella’s filthy white skin has poisoned the eyes of justice. In addition to that, Tom Robinson was yet again demeaned and belittled. Mr. Gilmer emphasizes, “You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her? ”(Document E). Tom’s sympathy for Mayella leads him into more trouble. Blacks and whites are not socially equal. Therefore, they should not assimilate accordingly. White people have blind spots that cause them to misinterpret Tom’s actions. Thus, Tom’s acts of innocence were taken as
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella is powerful based on class, gender, and race. The book shows us how she does have power, and gives supporting evidence. In this time period, in a small racist Southern community during the 1930’s, all of the categories listed are very important and contributes a lot to a person. Each category has its own reasoning why Mayella is powerful. Mayella has much more power than the other person in their situation, because of all of the listed evidence. Mayella is in a trial up against a black male, Tom Robinson, who she accused of trying to rape her. They were also caught by Mr. Ewell, Mayella's father. Therefore, Tom Robinson has little to no chance of winning the case based off class, gender, and race especially during this time period.
Just like gender, Mayella has power when it comes to her social class. Throughout the trial, Mayella was always called Ma’am. “I will not answer a word you say, as long as you keep mocking me.” (“DBQ: Is Mayella Powerful?” 17) Mayella was not used to being called Ma’am, which is why she thought that she was being mocked by Atticus. This shows that Mayella is usually not respected by anyone, including her father. In addition with Mayella being called Ma’am, the judge calls Tom Robinson by a certain name, which shows that he is from a lower class. “That old Mr. Gilmer doing him thataway, talking so hateful to him, the way that man called him “boy” all the time and sneered at him.” (“DBQ: Is Mayella Powerful?” 17) When considering the social class factor, Mayella is very powerful. Mayella’s social class gives her power because with her class, she is well respected by others, and especially by Negros. People respect her more than they do Tom Robinson, which gives her an advantage in the trial. At another point in the trial, Tom was asked why he
On the other hand Mayella’s gender also made her powerless. As a woman in a low class she got abused, for example “Tom Robinson shut his eyes tight. ‘He says you goddamn whore, i’ll kill ya. (Doc. B).” is an example of both verbal and physical abuse. An example of emotional abuse would be “long’s he keep callin’ me ma’am (Doc. C).” One last example on how mayella is abused is
She was able to use her class, race, and gender in different ways to help win over the jury in her case with Tom Robinson (DBQ Project, p.7). Her class showed her vulnerability, but it did not show that by going through this process it would change her class, gender, and race. It brought to attention that no matter her win or loss in court, she was still going back to her bad home life (DBQ Document A). Her race helped her being that she was white, Tom was African American, and the jury was white (DBQ Document A). No black man had been able to win a case with a white jury (DBQ Document A). Mayella's gender allowed her to be vulnerable and a victim of falling for a man that just interacting with on a normal basis could get her in trouble in which she went over that boundary (DBQ Project p.7). Her gender in court puts her in the spot of looking like a victim of a crime that she lied about in order to save herself (Lee, p.252). In either case an innocent man was wrongly accused of a crime and the one accusing him would be going straight back to a life filled with misery (DBQ Document B). In reality nobody won the
Mayella Ewell claimed Tom Robinson beat and raped her. Both of Bob’s and Mayella’s testimonies have many loose holes and have multiple things that don't add up. For example,Tom not being able to use his right arm, but Mayella claimed he got on to her, beat and choked her. “And so, a quiet, humble, respectable negro, who has had the unmitigated TEMERITY to feel sorry for a white woman, has had to put his word against two white peoples. The defendant is not guilty. But somebody in this courtroom is...now, gentlemen, in this country our courts are the great levelers. In our courts, all men are created equal. I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and of our jury system. That's no ideal to me. That is a living, working reality!...” (Lee 273). This paragraph reveals the theme of racism in the city of Maycomb because Atticus has to re-explain why Tom is innocent. He has to keep telling them that the evidence from the Ewells don't add up, there was no positive medical kit, and Tom's story doesn't add up with the Ewells. It shows racism because it shows how far the people of Maycomb will go to make a black person suffer. It shows how much hate is filled with the whites of Maycomb. Tom Robinson is eventually shot 17 times by a police officer, and leaves behind his wife and three children. The outcome of Tom Robinson is horrible. But it shows how little the
To Kill a Mockingbird was a very influential book in the eyes of a growing young woman in America in the 1930’s from the eyes of Jean Louise as a child and Jean reminiscing or reflecting as an adult about the past. Mayella Ewell was a white woman who was looked down upon by her own race and the African Americans were too scared to talk to her. Mayella was looked at to be powerless over her own life and others. If she is, then why does she win the case against Tom Robinson? In the town of Maycomb race, class, and gender played larger roles than some may think let's determine how.
In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson, the black man falsely convicted of rape, had absolutely no chance of a fair trial. There is proof of this in the time period in which it occurred as well as evidence from the novel itself. Tom Robinson had an unfair trial because it was his word against the Ewell’s, a white, trashy family.
With her being white and Tom being an African American, during the time it was obvious who people would believe in this trial. A quote that involves race is “well, Dill, after all he’s just a n----- (Doc C).” “The evil assumption- that all N-----’s lie, that all N-----’s are basically immoral beings, that all N----- men are not to be trusted around our women… (Doc D)” is very racists because it is not true. All the people in the trial treated Tom Robinson with no to little respect and it was unfair. It’s just a skin color that is holding him back from being innocent. “N----- wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white (Doc E)” is also racists and unfair against Mayella. Just because someone is the opposite race as you, does not mean they are always wrong and bad people. Mayella being white means people will most likely believe her over Tom. Her race makes her powerful and because of that she made an African American’s life go down hill over something he did not
She has no power because she is female. When Tom is questioned at the trial, he explains how he got into the “situation” in the beginning. Tom repeated to the jury during the court case “she said what her papa do don’t count” (Lee Doc.B). Being a woman, when Tom told this statement to the jury, it showed that Mayella is sexually abused by her father, Bob Ewell. To add, Mayella later in the court case, accidentally showed emotion when Atticus questioned her about physical abuse. For instance, Atticus repeatedly questioned Mayella and ended with “except when he’s drinking”(Lee Doc. B). Mayella is physically abused by her father. Being female, she has no power to fight back, leaving her powerless. Though Mayella has power in her race, she is still powerless in her general because she is