Mayella Ewell's Power In To Kill A Mockingbird

What is Power? Power means to control yourself and/or others. This story is about a black man named Tom Robinson and a white woman named Mayella Ewell. The story consists of an unfair trial, a lot of racism, and prejudice people. What makes Mayella powerful due to class, gender, and race? Although Mayella is powerless when it comes to class and gender, her race ultimately makers her powerful.

One day in Maycomb, Alabama during the great depression a young girl named Mayella Ewell was raped. This shows Mayella is one powerful young girl in the story To Kill A Mockingbird. It will show how she is power through class, race, and gender.

In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird Mayella Ewell's is a powerful young teenager. In the 1930’s in Maycomb, Alabama Mayella set news to the small town, she made allegations of rape against Tom Robinson. Mayella is as powerful as the ocean when it takes you underwater. In Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird will show Mayella’s  power by using Class, Race, and Gender. Power is or means having control over someone or something.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Mayella Ewell is a powerful character. Mayella get’s her power from her class,race,and gender. Her power mostly comes from her race. Tom Robinson has been accused of rape by Mayella Ewell.

Is Mayella Powerful? Be honest, have you ever felt like you’re better than everyone else? How much do you desire power? What is power?

Abuse has a bad effect on children everywhere causing them to lash out in different ways as Mayella did in her environment. For example, kids that come from negligent families often have trouble connecting with others. Throughout the story, Mayella has shown signs that prove that she lacked simple social skills to understand who she should trust or when people are being nice to her. Further, Mayella exhibits attachment issues and tendency to take risky sexual decisions such as she had done with Tom Robinson, which essentially can be attributed to be consequence of abuse perpetrated by Bob Ewell and his out of control drinking habit. The fact that she knew the consequences of abuse should have been a deterrent to her misbehavior with Tom Robinson During Mayella’s testimony, Mayella’s father is exposed as an alcoholic who is intolerable when drunk.

“‘Except when he’s drinking?’ asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded(Document B).” Readers can assume that this quote is trying to convey that as a result of Mayella’s gender, a female, she is powerless and incapable of defending herself against her father, who is always beating her up when he is drunk. “We don’t know but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell is beating savagely by someone who led exclusively with his left hand(Document B).” As stated in the last two sentences, this sentence is saying that Mayella is physically weak because of her gender, therefore, she was too feeble and could not fend herself from the savage beast, her father, that harmed her. “Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing(Document B).”

Mayella was powerless in gender because she was always abused. “Mayella was beaten savagely by someone who lead almost exclusively with his left” (Document B). Based on this quote it shows that Mayella’s father had beaten her sexual, verbally, and physically. Tom Robinson also was crippled in his left hand which shows her father beat her. During the trial Atticus questions Mayella about if she loves her father and she response “he tollable, except when he is drinking” (Document B).

Class, Gender, Race in To Kill A Mockingbird: Is Mayella Powerful? Power is control over one’s own life as well as others. This story is about a rape trial against Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson and the verdict of the trail is that Tom is found guilty.

But she said he took advantage of her, and when she stood up she looked at him as if he were dirt beneath her feet.” Mayella’s loneliness and powerlessness drove her to have an affair with a black man, breaking a societal code. She is a victim of poverty because of the hatred and discrimination occurring in Maycomb. Although some might view Mayella Ewell as a victim, others might view her as a villain because she broke a societal code by attempting to have an affair with a Negro.

When thinking of the term power, the upper rich class may come to mind. Mayella definitely does not live in the rich class. She lives in “the town’s garbage dump” (document A). In document E, they say that she lives by blacks, which back in their time was seen as a bad and poor thing to do.

Additionally to Mayella’s power in race, does she have power in class? Mayella lives behind a dump and her nearest neighbors are negroes. “Get back to your dump.” Said in Document A.

Bob Ewell, Mayella 's father, gets drunk and abuses Mayella. He possibly even sexually abused Mayella. Not to mention, Mayella had enough of the abuse and got an idea. In addition to this, Mayella thought since she was a white woman she could blame an African American man, Tom Robinson, of rape and if her father sees, he will

In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee took the minor character of Mayella Ewell and made her into a sympathetic role to her readers in a latent way. Mayella's life at home is told through the story's background and foreshadowing references. This is how Lee made Mayella memorable enough to the reader to know who she is and her family situation without needing her point of view of her side of the story. Once Mayella enters the storyline, her actions will become understandable to the reader and generate sympathy. One way Lee makes Mayella a sympathetic character is how before entering her into the story, one of Mayella's younger siblings was introduced.

Mayella is being coerced into living a lonely and secluded lifestyle, ultimately causing her to crave any and all attention given to her. When Tom began to help Mayella with her everyday chores, it made her feel as if she was in the spotlight. During Mr. Finch’s cross-examination of Mayella, he broaches the subject of her social life, and when he asks her who her friends are, she replies in questioning manner and has no knowledge of the term “friends” (183). Additionally, Bob Ewell’s selfishness drove him to do whatever it takes to leave the lowest class of citizen in Maycomb. However, instead of working for this goal, Bob Ewell took the easy way out, and accused a black man of raping his daughter.