How Does Mayella Have Power In To Kill A Mockingbird

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.

Mayella had a great amount of power in the courtroom during the trial of Tom Robinson. This completely classless manipulative woman used the disadvantages she was dealt in life to her benefit. She made advances toward this black man, when he did not reciprocate those feelings she accused him of rape. He is convicted and sent to prison because of her. Through this, she also gains power that removes her from her father’s sexual abuse. He does not want her because of the relations with a

Mayella is powerless because of her class. From a Document: At the beginning of Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout describes Mayella’s home, "Against the fence, in a line, were six…jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for… tenderly…. People said they were Mayella Ewell’s.” (Document A). According to the quote, she wants people to see that she is not like her father. The public does not care about her family and they

How Mayella has power because of her race. A quote is “Are you being impudent to me, boy.” this show that Mayella can treat blacks anyway she want. A quote that shows this is “All Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not supposed to be trusted around our women.”(Doc D) this shows Mayella has power because of race is they think Negro men are all animals that rape and abuse people. A quote to show this is “White people would have nothing to do with her because she lived among pigs.” (Doc E) this shows Mayella’s power because of race is controls everyone around her. THis is why I think MAyella has power because of her race.

In addition to Mayella’s race making her powerful her class in society contributed to that power. Even though Mayella was very low in society and looked down upon by the white people in the town of maycomb town, she uses what the people know and think of her to make them feel bad for her and it eventually was what made her win the case against Tom Robinson. For Mayella her class was mostly what started her plan to accuse Tom. This is because she wanted out of her place in society and away from her home where her father was beating and sexualy abussing her. Mayella was gaining power because she had her plan worked out that no matter what happened to Tom she would be able to get away from her father and her home in front of the dump. Mayella was never meant to be placed in that part of society and it is made clear when Scout talks about her appearance “Mayella looked as if she tried to keep clean, and i was reminded of the row of red geraniums in the Ewell yard”. (“DBQ: Is Mayella Ewell Powerful?” 13) While Mayella has a low place in society she is still thought to be better than the colored people and it is looked to be a crime for a African American to think or even consider being better than a white person. This thought and viewpoint is really what made Mayella win the

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.

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

In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Mayella Ewell is the conflict of the story. To challenge herself to see if she is powerful based on class, gender, and race. Mayella is powerful due to her race; however, she would not be powerful due to her class and gender. One might think she is powerful over all; however, she does not have power in the eyes of some readers. Proceeding on to see if Mayella has power in race.

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

In the first paragraph I will explain why and how I believe Mayella Ewell is not powerful, with the use of class.First off I would like to show you one of my biggest reasons for believing Mayella is not powerful “Maycombs Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what used to be a negro cabin”.(DBQ:Is mayella Ewell powerful?13)The second reason I believe Mayella Ewell is not powerful while using class for my examples is that “longs as he keeps on callin’ me ma’am and sayin miss Mayella.I don’t hafta take his sass, I ain’t called upon to take it” (DBQ: Is Mayella Ewell powerful?.17). Now you can see even in her dialect she does not know or have class, you can also tell by the way she is not used to being called ma’am and miss Mayella.Next I will show how much of a lower class the Ewells are in “Mayella Ewell must have the loneliest person in the world…; white people wouldn't have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs”(DBQ:Is mayella Ewell powerful”21).The final reason I believe Mayella

She was unsure of her answers when she replies to Atticus by saying, “No, I don’t recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me” (Lee 248). Mayella was all over the place with her answer to if she remembers Tom hitting her. Even though she went back and forth with her answers the jury went on Mayella’s side because she can say that she was raped and they will believe her. Mayella does not want to say that her dad beats her when she says, “He does tollable, ‘cept when—” (Document B). Everyone ignores the fact that Mayella’s dad beats her even though Atticus has evidence. Her race is a big factor with the jury determining whether he is guilty or innocent. Mayella used her gender to convince to jury that Tom was

As a result of Mayella having such low class and her family being so poor, she did not gain any power in the Tom Robinson trial. She gained no power because of her poor class.The quote “Mayella looked as if she tried to keep clean, and I was reminded of the row of red geraniums in the Ewell yard (Doc A)” lets the readers

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

Mayella’s race is powerful in the story because she is a white poor woman who lives being the towns garbage dump in what once used to be a negro cabin. “Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world: white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negros wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she’s white” Quote(Lee chapter 19). The quote gave Mayella even more power by showing everyone how poor and innocent she was, giving her an advantage to win the case. The quote is saying why would a poor white woman be lying about getting raped by a negro male, the jury would believe Mayella more.

This paper is about Mayella and her power, her race is white, her class, she is poor and her gender is a female, this paper is to find if Mayella is powerful or not. Mayella is a lonely person, and she really get along with anyone. Mayella accused some people that she was hurt or threatened by them, Mayella tells a lot of lies and makes up a story of “happened.” Mayella was a lonely person but she never changed anything about it so now she is in court accusing someone of threatening her. This is about Mayella and how she has power in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird Mayella is a character in the book, she is a poor white female with no friends, and she is the one accused Tom Robinson of rape. Mayella is not powerful