How Does Mayella Ewell Use Gender In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee takes place in Maycomb County, Alabama during the 1930’s in the midst of the Great Depression. In times of uncertainty during the trial of Tom Robinson Jem, Dill, and Scout grow up as if nothing has changed. Atticus Finch continues to fight Robinson’s trial which leads to nineteen year old Mayella Ewell’s testimony. In terms of control over herself and others in relation to class, race and gender it seems apparent that Mayella Ewell’s gender affects her control over her life and the lives of others the most. Gender, a widespread label separating the world to promote fairness might be used to one’s advantage in a number of ways. In this case, Mayella happens to use it to her own advantage while in court. By using her young feminine features, she is able to manipulate others such as the Judge to feel sorry for her. Rather than the judge being manipulated, Tom Robinson takes his place and takes pity on her. Not only does gender have it’s advantages, it also has its disadvantages. This includes Mayella’s set back in her home environment. With her mother being deceased for

Mayella and her family isn’t ranked at all in an upper class category, that is because they are known for being trashy, dishonest, flakky and are looked down on. At home Mayella struggles to live a stable life especially having the new suddenly expected responsibility of being the woman of the house. It seems that the family lacks class and are known in town for being non functional and non supporting considering the only income that is provided is spent on booze and cigarettes. It happens to give a huge disadvantage in terms of affecting Mayella’s control because it offers no control. It’s quite obvious that she can’t control how their society looks at them according to their rank in class and she isn’t able to control how her family