How Does Mayella Ewell Have Power In To Kill A Mockingbird

At some point in an individual's lifetime, they will be faced with the judgement of race, class, and gender. These three classifications will cause people to be looked down upon, or become a praised individual. Also, you can receive unjust treatment in certain cases, such as someone thinking they are somehow better than another person. In “To Kill A Mockingbird”, there is a character by the name of Mayella Ewell, who is a poor, white woman that is abused. Mayella is a un-powerful character in the fact that she is a female, and she is very poor.

Mayella Ewell is a white woman in “To Kill A Mockingbird” that lives behind a dumpster. One reason she does not have power is her gender. Mayella is a woman, and being a woman in that time period was

The house that Mayella lives in was abandoned by African Americans during the times of segregation, which is a big clue about the kind of home Mayella was living in.(Lee 1960 Chapter 17) In the world, people who do not have money do not have say in anything important. In other words, the world’s citizens look differently at poor people because the world thinks that rich are in every way “superior” to the poor. Mayella and Bob have the lowest income and education out of every white in Maycomb. Mayella will not ever become rich because she does not have an education, which mean she will also never have any power. In the courtroom, Mayella is called “Ma’am” by Atticus. Mayella takes offense to this because she has never been spoken to with this type of authority. Mayella thinks that Atticus is mocking her in the fact that she has always been called derogatory names and never spoken to with any kind of power from anyone else. “Won’t answer a word you say long as you keep on mockin’ me” (Lee 1960 Chapter 18). Mayella says this because she does not like the fact that in her mind, Atticus is “mocking”