Powerless In To Kill A Mockingbird

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

Scout and Mayella both lost their mothers at a young age, thus leaving them with their fathers, but the difference lays with their fathers and it says a lot about why the two young ladies are the way they are. Scout’s father, Atticus Finch, is a very respected attorney in Maycomb and he teaches Scout and her older brother Jem tolerance, good manners, and respect. As time goes on, Atticus gets criticized by the people of Maycomb because he is defending an African-American man who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, doesn’t bother to take care of the rest of his children and to the Maycomb community, he’s is considered the lowest of the low, or “white trash.” Instead of going out to find a job and support his kids, he drinks all day and collects his welfare cheques. Due to him not being very much of a fatherly figure, Mayella has to support herself and her siblings in their small home close to the landfill and she has no time to go to school, town, meet new people and make friends. Mayella is looked down upon by those around her because of her father’s poor reputation. Young girls generally look up to their

She has limited power in her house because her father is the man of the house. She gets abused multiple times in her house as well. Mayella get verbally abused by her father. He father is noted as in saying inappropriately mean things to his daughter. She is also physically abused by her father as Atticus Finch states that she had been “beaten savagely.”(Doc B) Not only was she abused verbally, and physically, but sexualy too. When she was attempting to kiss Tom Robinson, she was noted of say “What my daddy does to me don’t count”(Doc B). Being a woman, Mayella had restrictions to her life, and was held back from power because of her

Therefor, Mayella lacks power in regards to her gender. The author writes, “What did her father do? We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left” (Lee Document 8). Mayella’s father overrules her and what she says due to the fact that she is female. The author also states, “Mayella looked at her father who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing.

Mayella does not have power in regards to her gender because men are typically considered ‘more powerful’ than women. When Atticus is questioning Mayella, she says that her dad “does tollable”, “Except when he’s drinking?” asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded.” (Lee Document

Mayella, her father, and her siblings live by the town dump in a run-down shack. Scout states that “Mr. Ewell had a scalded look: as if an overnight soaking had deprived him of protective layers of dirt… Mayella looked as if she tried to keep clean, and I was reminded of the row of red geraniums in the Ewell yard” (Lee 8). Mayella lives in a trashy, dirty place, but is the only one in her family who tries to clean up and make the yard and house look pretty. Atticus explains to Scout how the town hates Bob Ewell: “He thought he’d be a hero, but all he got for his pain was…

Mayella Ewell and her family are extremely poor, so she lacks power, meaning powerless, in her class. The people of Maycomb, Alabama know that she lives “behind the town garbage dump” (Doc A, E). Mayella is so powerless in her class; she doesn’t know the sign of respect when she is called “Ma’am” during the trial (Doc. C). So Mayella, in this case, is powerless.

In the undisputed classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee elucidates the racial injustice and social inequality in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama. The Ewells are premeditated to be the despicable family, “white trash,” divided by living “behind the dump” not suitable to be a member of the white or the black community. Mayella Ewell breaches a “rigid and time-honored code” of society, by kissing a black male to fulfill her need of feeling cherished. To avoid greater disgrace in society, the Ewells plea Tom Robinson to be a rapist, and he is later convicted and sent to life in prison. Red geraniums growing on the sidelines of the filthy yard reveal Mayella’s desire for beauty. Mayella contends to class hierarchies and gender roles being an Ewell. Lee portrays Mayella struggling to meet the guidelines of

Mayella Ewell has no social class power, because she is poor. Mayella and her family live near the town dump which used to be a Negro camp. The author wrote, “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin”(Lee Document A). The Ewell family is being represented as trash since they live next to the town dump. During the trial, Mayella tries to clean up and look nice when she takes the stand. Scout says that, “Mayella looked as if she tried to keep clean,”(Lee Document A). Although the Ewells do not have much money, Mayella tries to make beauty out of what she has. Therefore, Mayella has no social class power due to the fact that she is poor.

Inequality and the clear segregation between black and white man is powerfully portrayed in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. During the trial, when Tom Robinson is explaining what really happened, it is revealed that Mayella Ewell kissed Tom Robinson and is accusing him of raping her as a cover-up story out of the shame she is feeling. She used her authority as a white woman to accuse an innocent black man and everyone believed her, simply based off the fact that Tom Robinson was a black man. It was as if this kind of behavior and crime was expected out of him. Sadly, it is a true statement to say that “Tom was a dead

Maycomb County, Alabama is a calm and neutral place, where it seems like nothing could go wrong. All of this suddenly changes as some assume they have more power over others. As the Finches go forward in defending an African American in trial against Mayella Ewell, the power starts to shift its way toward Mayella. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, there are multiple reasons why Mayella is a powerful character. Mayella Ewell is a very lonely and shameful woman who uses the hatred of her father and abuse to wrongfully accuse a black man of rape. Her race, class, and gender gives her an ultimate advantage over Tom Robinson.

I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The previous chapters talk about Atticus taking a black man’s case. The rumor was that a black man named Tom Robinson raped Mr. Ewell’s oldest daughter, Mayella. Everybody from Maycomb county knows for a fact that a negro has not nor will ever win a case. On the other hand, Tom said that Mayela told him to come into her house and then all of a sudden kissed him; however, who is going to believe him. Atticus is trying to walk in Mr. Robinson’s shoes. Mr. Finch does not care what color Mr. Robinson is, all that matters is that he is an innocent man who is loyal to others. In this journal I will be characterizing Tom Robinson and evaluating the reasons why Mayella Ewell lied in court.

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.

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee explains that “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin. . . Against the fence, in a line, were six . . . jar holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for . . . tenderly. . . . People said they were Mayella Ewell’s” (Lee A). The only nice thing that Mayella Ewell owns is her red geraniums. She keeps them in front of her garbage dump house in six jars. When talking to Mayella Ewell at the stand, Atticus calls her Miss Mayella and ma’am. Mayella responds with: “Long’s he keeps on callin‘ me ma’am an sayin’ Miss Mayella. I don’t hafta take his sass, I ain’t called upon to take it” (Lee C). Mayella is treated badly at home, and everywhere else she goes. When Atticus calls her ma’am and Miss Mayella, she believes he is making fun of her. She is not used to being treated like a person with respect or power because of her low class status. Consequently, Mayella Ewell does not have power because of her less than plebeian

Mayella Ewell is a character that accuses Tom Robinson of a rape, which eventually results in his execution. The Ewell family are the lowest whites in Maycomb, Alabama, which is where the novel To Kill A Mockingbird is set. They are often referred to as ugly, shiftless, trashy and poor- they even live by a dump. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee portrays Mayella Ewell as a villain who murders the kind, helpless and innocent Tom Robinson. The novel does not reveal why Mayella acts the way she acts and how in reality her life is also a senseless tragedy. Mayella is not the only woman who was treated badly; Mayella’s life mirrors the cruel reality of most women’s lives in the 1930’s.