To Kill A Mockingbird Quote Analysis

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

Though Mayella’s testimony is naturally trusted more by the jury than Tom’s because of their racial differences, the real reason why Mayella’s powerful monologue during the trial is given importance and seen as truthful is because of her position as a white woman. One of the central tenets of Southern hospitality and tradition that emerges during the novel is the protective and gentlemanlike behavior of men towards women. When Mayella states “That N-word yonder took advantage of me an’ if you fine fancy gentlemen don’t wanta do nothin’ about it then you’re all

Mayella Ewell had the chance to put the real rapist to prison, but instead she backed him up and now she has to live with him and with that decision the rest of her life. Tom was at the witness stand when Atticus asked him about Mr. Ewell said: “Tom Robinson shut his eyes tight. “ He says you goddamn whore, I’ll kill ya””(Document B). Mr. Ewell has complete power over his Mayella and this exhibits how he has power over her.

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

Mayella Ewell, a young white woman was responsible for playing during Tom Robinson's trial. She was the woman of lonesome and lower class who seeked attention. Her lifestyle was as an unstable home in which she grew up to play mama and raise her seven younger siblings. From time to time she was often used as an abused sexual intercourse item by her junkie father. Since Tom was of African American, made of the used to power against time to cover up the fact that she was being physically and verbally abused by her father. Therefore, since Mayella was of white race, her word against Tom was worthy enough to encourage the jury that he had raped and physically abused her. Mayella was a character hidden behind her own father’s shadow. She never had

Mayella Ewell is often mentally, physically, and sexually abused by her father Bob Ewell. Even though Mayella takes care of her siblings each day, she is lonely most of the time, considering nobody wants to be around her. Her father abuses her and beats her often, and Mayella wants the abuse to come to an end. Mayella comes up with and fulfills a plan to end the abuse coming from her father. Her plan involved a Negro man named Tom Robinson. Mayella accuses Tom of beating and raping her, and brings Tom to court, and goes up against him in a trial. Her plan was successful and came out in her favor because she was manipulative, and she knew what it took to win the trial. Mayella Ewell, a poor, white woman, who lives on a dump, is seen as

When the Ewell’s propose the accusation that Tom raped Mayella, the Ewell’s are told, “okay, we’ll convict this Negro, but get back to your dump.” (Document A). That statement demonstrates that when Mayella accused Tom, the town held a trial against him because of her race but after the trial was over they wanted nothing to do with her because she was low class. Mayella’s power of race was not enough to defeat her lack of power within her class. Women in Mayella’s time period were not respected the way they are now and, “the young miss of to-day is certainly more thrilled with life and its possibilities than her sister of two to three decades ago ever was.”

Mayella Ewell is beggarded in her class and relies on others to survive since their is no structure in her dirty household. In the city of Maycomb, welfare is given to Mayella’s family because they can not survive on their own. Her home is uncivilized with many dirty kids and a home that resembles a dump. Families of Maycomb try to avoid the Ewell’s home since it has a terrible smell due to the fact they

The timeless novel by Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird, tells the tale of a poor, white, woman and her accusation of a black man raping her. This man didn’t rape her, but, he still went to jail and was killed there. The woman who accused him and sent him to jail is Mayella Ewell, an interesting character that has challenged readers to classify as powerful or powerless. The story is set in the 1930’s, when whites were extremely more superior than blacks, men were more superior than women, and high classed people had a lot more power. Because she is poverty stricken and a female in the 1930’s, Mayella Ewell us clearly powerless.

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.

The author portray Mayella Ewell as a symbol of ignorant innocence warped into an outlet of evil, specifically the strain of racism. She is the victim of horrible and abusive influence. Her character development and testimony truly show this in the book. When Atticus begins to cross examine her on the witness her weak character begins to shed light on the lies her father installed into her head. Not only is her memory foggy due to the strenuous abuse, but also she lies on oath. “No answer. ‘What did your father see in the window, the crime of rape or the best defense to it? Why don’t you tell the truth, child, didn’t Bob Ewell beat you up?.’” (Lee 187). As her testimony continues, it is self-evident that Mayella is not being fully truthful and her father emotionally, physically and sexually exploits her. Mayella is forced to keep her and her father’s secret under safe keeping, but some of her account and questioning sheds light on the raw ways of Bob Ewell and the keeping of his family. “‘Do you love your Father, Miss Mayella?’ was his next. ‘Love him, watcha mean?’ ‘I mean, is he good to you, is he easy to get along with?’ ‘He does tollable, ‘cept when--’ ‘Except when?’ Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing. He sat up straight and waited for her to answer.” (Lee 183). Through slight inconsistencies and small actions as her time of the witness it is easy to tell that Mayella knows her father’s wrongdoing and that she is being used for his evil purposes.

during the 1930’s, racism was at its best. African-Americans could not associate with whites because of Jim Crow laws, which gave Mayella an idea. She would accuse Tom Robinson, and African-American, of raping her to get her father Bob Ewell to stop the sexual abuse because a Jim Crow law states “Any white woman who shall suffer or permit herself to be got with child by a negro or mulatto... Shall be sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than eighteen months”. Her class and race help her to try and get out of this bad situation, but her gender also helps her have

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the author of “Americanah,” once said, “Race doesn’t really exist for you because it has never been a barrier. Black folks don’t have a choice.” In To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee’s character Atticus matches quite well to this description. Atticus doesn’t fully face racism towards him or his family since they are white. They’ve only seen discrimination in their town but they have never lived racism or fully experienced what black people have.

They were giving respect no matter if they were a man or a woman. This is shown because Mayella is the lowest class but is respected more than Tom, a black man living in better conditions. Tom isn't respected in court and is called “boy” while Mayella gets called “Ma’am.” Mayella's power, in this case, is an obvious power of race, the power of race is more than the power of the class. Do in this case Mayella is powerful. The race is such an important thing that Tom isn't allowed to feel sorry for Mayella. Why would Tom rape her if he knew that she had more power than

Mayella Ewell had a very specific way of getting what she wanted at the time that she wanted it. Although she was very poor and did not have much money, most people felt extremely sorry for her. Mayella had a very poor social life, she did not have that many friends, she was extremely poor and she lived behind a trash can. Mayella’s class contributed to her power, because she was a white woman, and the man that she accused of raping her was african american. Mayella has power over Tom Robinson and she has a higher class than him, he calls her “ma’am” and she gets extremely offended by it so much that she tells the judge he is “making fun of her”. (Doc C.1)