Mayella Ewell's Power In To Kill A Mockingbird

Is Mayella Ewell powerful or not? Mayella Ewell, the poorest girl in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, living on a pig farm with her abusive father and in an abandoned Negro shack. The Ewell’s are the lowest of the low in the town of Maycomb, in rank wise and are not respected too much either. Bob Ewell, father of Mayella Ewell is an abusive man, sexually and physically and has an alcoholic problem. Mayella is usually beaten and sexually assaulted by him, especially when he is drinking, but Mayella has a plan that will let her be free from Bob. One would say she is not powerful because she is enclosed from the world, beaten by her father, and not very respected.

For example, as Atticus asked Mayella to see if her father is good and tolerable to her, but she says “He does tollable, ‘cept when-”, ‘Except when he’s drinking?’ asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded.”(Lee, Chapter 18) This would prove that Mayella has less power than usual when her father is drunk because, his gender as a male has the power over her and gets violent when drunk. One would say this would already decrease her in having power, since she is a woman and women back then really did not have much rights or respect. But there was someone who was ever decent to her was Tom Robinson, an African American who was accused of her beating and sexually assaulting her. So one could say this could have potentially gave her power because he was a Negro, but having consequences because of her father.

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