How Is Mayella Ewell Powerful

In the small town of Maycomb, Alabama lives Miss Mayella Ewell. She is a smart but helpless teen that accuses Tom Robinson of rape to escape from her father's abuse. In “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Mayella is powerful, as defined by class, race, and gender. All though in many circumstances, Mayella's class and gender make her less powerful than most, her race makes her more powerful than substantially all negroes.

The definition of power is to have control over a person's life as well as the lives of those around them. The Jim Crow Laws are laws that separate the whites from the African-American. Southern women in the 1930s are considered delicate and fragile. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Mayella Ewell accuses Tom Robinson of raping her. At the end of the book, Tom Robinson was executed because he tried to escape prison. Mayella and her family are non-working poor people who live by the dump. Mayella accuses Tom Robinson of raping her. Tom Robinson is an African-American, who is considered to be the lowest class during the 1930s. Race refers to the categorization of people based on physical differences. Class refers to a person’s level of income and education and often boils down to how much money one is able to earn. Gender refers to the roles and behaviors that society expects from men and women. Mayella Ewell can be a powerful or powerless character. Mayella is powerless because of her class, but her gender and race ultimately make's her powerful.

Mayella does not have power because of class and gender. Mayella has power because of race. The result of the verdict was guilty because of the racism between blacks and

Mayella Ewell is a tragic character in To Kill a Mockingbird. She is faced with many struggles involving her family and the people around her. Although Mayella is a poor white woman with an abusive father, no mother, and six siblings to take care of she does have power. Mayella Ewell is powerful as a character and continues to gain power in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird when it comes to race, class and gender. Despite Mayella being very poor and in a lower class of the society in Maycomb Alabama she uses her status as a white female to manipulate others into deciding in her favor when dealing with her court case against Tom Robinson regarding him being wrongfully accused of

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.

A white woman would never admit to doing what the character Mayella Ewell does, breaking a “time-honored rule” by kissing Tom Robinson, a black man. After being caught, she seeks to save herself from the scorn of society by accusing him of raping her. Such an accusation was a death sentence for an African American man. “Rape was the central drama of the white psyche,” said Diane McWhorter, author of the Pulitzer prize–winner Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution. “A black man raping a white woman justified the most draconian social control over black people.” The punishment for such a sin was hanging, as would have been the case with the mob of white men, smelling of whiskey and pigpen who went up to the jail to cart away Robinson. Even though they are stopped in the book, because Scout Finch shames them, many real incidents went unchecked. Mockingbird paralleled at least three cases that were objects of disagreements in the Monroeville of her childhood. Lee once commented how, in the novel, “the trial, and the rape charge that brings on the trial, are made up out of a composite of such cases and charges.” Seven years before Harper’s birth, the senior Lee defended two blacks accused of murder. At the time, “the idea that someone like Lee would represent a black was in no means abnormal or

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

Mayella Ewell is living in a racist southern community in the 1930’s. During this time no one was treated the same because of their skin color or if they were intelligent. Mayella has one thing that makes her powerful, her race. Laws back then was harsh. Between white and Negroes, both were wrong and mean to each other. Whites had more power than the Negroes because of the history it has behind them. They were not considered to be equal citizens. Atticus even knows the trial should not be happening, he knew the jury was going to side on with Mayella because she’s white. As Atticus is closing his argument he says, “[The Ewells]....have presented themselves to you, gentlemen, to this court….confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption-the evil assumption- that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women…”as said in chapter twenty. Mayella only goes through all of this because of her father.

Is Mayella ewell powerful?That is the question that is asked and must be answered.Throughout the story” To kill a mockingbird” Mayella shows some glimpses of power but not enough to say she is powerful.For example in the beginning she shows that she can not even control her home life so how can she be powerful.Also she shows that she is just too poor for her to have power.Now in the next three paragraphs I will explain my thinking on why I believe Mayella is not powerful.

Mayella is powerless when it comes to race. The third example, “White people did not want anything to do with Mayella because she lived among pigs, Negroes wouldn’t want anything to do with her because she was white; Tom Robinson felt sorry for Mayella and he was probably the only one who was decent to her” (E1). Mayella doesn’t have any friends. Tom is African American and you shouldn’t feel sorry for someone who isn’t above you. Mayella is not powerful because Mayella is not superior compared to Tom Robinson.

In the small town of Maycomb, Mayella and her family are in the absolute lowest class possible aside of being negro. Mayella is not respected at home and and little respect outside of her “house” either. She's seen as nothing more then “that poor girl from the dump”. As proven in document A, The “loneliest person in the world”, as scout observes…. “As Tom Robinson gave his testimony, it came to me that 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; Negroes [the Ewell’s nearest neighbors] wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she’s white....Tom Robinson was probably the only person who was ever decent to her.”.... Mayella has known nothing but disrespect from her father and everyone else in town due to her social class. It has made her feel like she is not worth the respect, as shown i n document C when Atticus is questioning Mayella in court. Atticus is questioning her in a polite manner but Mayella insists Atticus is making fun of her, She says ‘Long’s he keeps callinh’ me ma’am and sayin’ Miss Mayella. I don’t hafta take his sass, i aint called upon to take it”. Mayella and

In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, which is a book that was written by Harper Lee and is a historical fiction book, Mayella Ewell, a poor white woman who is at the center of an enormous controversy and is abused by her alcoholic father, isn’t powerful when it comes to gender, class, and race, in my opinion.

In the story To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many characters. The antagonist, Mayella Ewell, had many conflicts with the amount of power she had. Her power is greatly debated on. Power is defined as having control of your life, and being able to control others around you. While Mayella is white, she does not have much power at all. Mayella is a poor, young lady who lives on the wrong side of town, which hurts how much of a say she has in her life decisions because of where she lives. The story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. Women did not have rights, and the rich were the ruling class. Mayella is involved in a trial where Tom Robinson is wrongfully accused of raping her. During this time period, the Great Depression was going on, so there were more poor than rich. The three leading factors of power are class, gender, and race.

One of the less prominent characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is Mayella Ewell. She is known for her filthiness and her home which is a dumping ground. Her homelife is horrible, and her life has no meaning in it. It is assumed that because she is poor, female, and white, she has no power in regard to her class, gender, or race.