Mayella's 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 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

Since Mayella was a female, she has some power when it came to gender. It was a lot easier for her to make a big deal out of being raped, but since it was a African American they had to make a much larger deal

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.

She goes through obstacles in her life on a daily basis and is believed not to be of much worth. Words such as dirty, poor, victim, and social outcast is used to describe Mayella. In measuring how much power Mayella holds, race, gender, and class shows herself having barely any power at all. Concerning her life at home with her abusive father, the way people see her, and how she is considered inferior as a person compared to males, Mayella cannot control her life the way she wishes. Throughout her life, she has experienced little to no respect and inappropriate actions involving her

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

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.

(“DBQ: Is Mayella Powerful?” 15) With this situation in mind, Mayella gains power because the jury can see how Mayella is usually treated by her father, which brings her closer to completing her plan and getting rid of her father. When measuring power, the factors of gender and social class are closely related.

This shows that she is not used to being respected. All this shows that Mayella does not have power because of her gender and social

Mayella is not considered powerful in regards to her social class as her family suffers due to poverty and

In the text it states,”Except when he’s drinking”(Lee doc B). She has no control over her father and what he does. Also, she was no power to get away from Mr.Ewell when he is drinking. In the text it states,”Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing”(Lee doc B). During the trial, Mayella was careful of what she said in front of her dad. She did not want to make her home situation worse. Mayella has no power because of her

However she is not powerful because of her class and gender. As soon as Mayella leaves the courtroom, she goes back to her powerless lifestyle and being controlled from her father. Tom Robinson agrees that she is powerless by going to help her do chores, “I felt right sorry for her she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em” Document C. This proves that Mayella is not powerful because as hard as she tries, she can not get out of her lower class and gain more power. Tom is African American and he has more power than Mayella in class. In this time period, blacks were treated poorly by whites, but Tom even saw that Mayella struggles with power and control. As soon as Mayella leaves the courtroom, she goes back to being the powerless woman she is. Mayella is not powerful because she requires other people’s power in order for her to

In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, in the 1930’s there was a small town in Alabama called Maycomb which was a very quiet and peaceful place but one day all that would change. “Is Mayella Powerful?” The endeavor for power in the story consists of race, class, and gender. For one thing Mayella Ewell is white and she is going against an African American, Tom Robinson, in court which gives her an advantage in the trial. Even though Mayella won the trial against Tom, she still has to go back to her trashy home to her abusive father. In addition Mayella knew she was going to win against Tom since she had an advantage over him. In the story “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Mayella is somewhat powerful.

How Mayella is not powerful Do you know the definition of power? Power-The capacity or the ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. Tell me what you think of Mayella’s power. Mayella was asked if she loved her father and if he was easy to get along with and to that her response was “He does tolerable, ‘cept when”.