How Is Mayella's Power Presented 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.

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.

A quote that supports this is “She reached up and kissed me.”(Doc B) this quote shows this because of her gender is she was kissing Tom freely but she was scared to tell her father the truth. Another quote is “Except when he drinks? Asked Atticus gently that Mayella nodded.”(Doc B) Another quote is “Mayella was beaten savagely by someone who was led almost exclusively with his left.” (Doc B) This is why I think Mayella lacks power because of her gender.

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.

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.

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

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

Besides from Mayella’s power there are things that make her powerless, such as class and gender. “Mayella looked as if she tried to keep clean, and i was reminded of the row of red geraniums in the Ewell’s yard (Doc. A).” is an example of her class making her powerless. Another example might be “Long’s he keep callin’ me ma'am an sayin’ Miss. Mayella (Doc. C.) shows that her class is so low and the white people don’t respect her enough to call her those simple things. “Okay we’ll convict this Negro but get back to your dump (Doc A).” is another example of how low her class is.

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.

But even though Tom Robinson didn’t do anything wrong, Mayella Ewell won the case. So, was Mayella Ewell powerful or powerless in class, gender, or race? Mayella’s family was very poor, but she was poor so she lacks of power in class. Back then whites had to have money and if they didn’t people looked at them like if they were garbage. When Mayella and her father went to trial Mayella’s father “ thought he’d be a hero…”

Mayella Ewell does not have power in regards to her social class or gender, but she does obtain power in her race. Mayella is not powerful when it comes to social class because she is poor. Mayella and her family live in a dump with Mayella as the only pure thing living there. The author writes that “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin... Its windows were merely open spaces in the walls…

We’ve seen news stories, movies, and TV shows about obtaining power in regards to race, social class, and gender. Race is still a controversial topic, gender is not as controversial to some,, Social class isn’t a massive deal in today’s era. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird manages to have all components connecting to power. There are many things Mayella is judged for by other people and also claims in the novel that a colored man had raped her. Mayella is powerful in regard to her race; however she does not have power in regard to her gender and social class.

Mayella Ewell a character from the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, can be seen as both powerful and powerless. Many aspects of her life plays into those roles. Mayella’s class and gender can be classified as her weaknesses but her race makes her overall a temporally powerful character or person. As a lower classmen of society, Mayella is seen as powerless. Since she’s poor she is looked down upon.

Dill starts crying and Scout and him go outside and Scout says “after all he’s just a Negro”. Mayella is not getting treated this way, she gets respect and gets called “ma’am” and “Miss Mayella“. She has an advantage because of her race. Mayella is powerful because she is white. If she was not white things would probably be different.