The 's Strongest Point Is The Type Of Control Over Your Life Along With The Lives Of Others

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.

This novel takes place in the South in the 1930s, a time and place where racial prejudice is very strong. Mayella is a poor white woman, but her race gives her power to manipulate Tom Robinson, since he is a negro. Her word is given precedence over Tom Robinson’s in court simply because of her skin color. In this time period, women,

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

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

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.

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

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.

An example of her race being powerful is “okay, we’ll convict this Negro (Doc. A).”just because Mayella said this black man raped her with no proof they’d convict him because she’s white and he is black. Another example on how Mayella is powerful is “‘were you… scared of arrest, scared you’d have to face up to what you did?’ ‘no suh, scared i’d have to face up to what i didn’t do’ (Doc. C).” and ironic effect “‘yes, suh. I felt sorry for her’ (Doc. e).” because a black man feeling sorry for a white person was known to be disrespectful, but it shows power for her as a white woman because they had no freedom, and they were usually

Mayella has no power because of her gender. Guys in this time period have more power than girls do. “Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing” shows

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.

How powerful is Mayella in certain situations? Mayela is white but she is poor and equal to the other race, but at trial, she is white, with a white jury, and in a building filled with mostly white people. Mayella is poor, lives behind the dump, at a pig farm, and in an abandoned slave cabin. Mayella is a woman, and when she is crying or being assaulted we feel sorry for her and she uses the sympathy as her advantage during the trial. How powerful is Mayella in class, race, and gender?

She was able to use her class, race, and gender in different ways to help win over the jury in her case with Tom Robinson (DBQ Project, p.7). Her class showed her vulnerability, but it did not show that by going through this process it would change her class, gender, and race. It brought to attention that no matter her win or loss in court, she was still going back to her bad home life (DBQ Document A). Her race helped her being that she was white, Tom was African American, and the jury was white (DBQ Document A). No black man had been able to win a case with a white jury (DBQ Document A). Mayella's gender allowed her to be vulnerable and a victim of falling for a man that just interacting with on a normal basis could get her in trouble in which she went over that boundary (DBQ Project p.7). Her gender in court puts her in the spot of looking like a victim of a crime that she lied about in order to save herself (Lee, p.252). In either case an innocent man was wrongly accused of a crime and the one accusing him would be going straight back to a life filled with misery (DBQ Document B). In reality nobody won the

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.