ipl-logo

Role Of Power In To Kill A Mockingbird

750 Words3 Pages

Do race, class, and gender really aaffect a rape case? In the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, a white woman named mayella accused tom robinson for rape. Tom robinson is an african american man, this also takes place when the Jim Crow laws were still put into play, this adds on to how mayella has power. Of course this comes from the book To Kill a Mockingbird, But it is a serios case to talk about. Int this essay i will explain to you why I think mayella ewell has power.
Mayella Ewell has a lot of power in her raace and gender, but not so much in her classs. In To Kill a Mockingbird Mayella acuses Tom Robinson of rape. Even though i do noot think he actually raped her, Mayella is at an advantage. Her word will be taken over Toms any day, no matter what he is bieng accused of doing. And the only reason this is how it is, is because he is of different race. If he was white he most likely be at the advantage because of his gender. In this essay i will tell you why i think Mayella has power.
Let us go ahead and start with her class, she is on the downside with her class, the lowest of the low. But somehow she still has an advantage, mainly becaused of her race. She is so low in class that this was said “... Mayella Ewell must have been the lonliest personin the world… white people would not have anything to do with her because she lives among pigs, negroes would not have anything to do with her because she is white…("DBQ-Is mayella powerfull" 21)” This quote is very helpfull

Show More
Related

  • How Does Mayella Ewell Have Compassion In To Kill A Mockingbird

    990 Words  | 4 Pages

    On the other hand, Mayella, at the time period, was still in a higher power than a black man because she was white. She was trying to get an unheiarchial black man to be killed when she was the one in the

    Read More

  • How Is Mayella Powerful In To Kill A Mockingbird

    492 Words  | 2 Pages

    This shows that Mayella Ewell is powerful through her class by saying she is the lowest of the low of classes. Mayella and her family are very poor and can not really afford anything extra. They also say that “... white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs…’. This is saying since she was in the lowest class, that she lived wherever and did whatever she needed to do to survive, therefore Mayella Ewell is powerful through class by living life to the fullest and doing everything she can to survive no matter the money or class.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Mayella's Power In To Kill A Mockingbird

    457 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine feeling less of a person every day because of not being a white woman. Mayella is a white woman who barely has any power, but in court, she's powerful enough to send an innocent Black man to the electric chair. Her class gets rid of all her power. Her Gender takes and gives her power. But in the end, her race makes her most powerful.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Power Quotes

    840 Words  | 4 Pages

    Truly i think Mayella does lack power because of class, after reading Doc A, i have a quote that might help you understand why she lacks power. “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind a garbage dump in what was one a black cabin it’s windows were nearly open spaces in the walls… what could

    Read More

  • Essay On Tom Robinson Trial To Kill A Mockingbird

    885 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story is set in the 1900’s, Maycomb, Alabama. During this time there was racism in the south and segregation which separated the whites and blacks from everything. There was also the Great Depression, the whole country was poor and people living in the country had to trade and do other jobs for people to either pay them off or to buy something from them. The trial in this book is about Mayella and Bob Ewell, two white people, claiming and arguing that Tom Robinson, a black person, raped Mayella Ewell. This trial is really important because at that time in the south, white people took advantage of black people and their kindness and thought they would take that or shut up just because they were black.

    Read More

  • Mayella Ewell Dbq

    777 Words  | 4 Pages

    The court case, how she lives, and her gender all influence the way she is perceived. Mayella Ewell is perceived as powerless due to her class and gender, however, she is seen as powerful due to her race. Mayella Ewell is powerless because of her class. In Document A, “Get Back to Your Dump”, chapter 17 states, “Maycomb Ewells lived behind the town

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Mayella Powerful Quotes

    401 Words  | 2 Pages

    I think Mayella is mostly powerful because of her race and here is how. There was quote on page nineteen of the DBQ that said “Now don’t you be so confident, Mr. Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…” This here showed us that not one single colored man ever beat a case against another man. And since Miss Mayella is a female, Tom is definitely going to have a hard time winning against her. There was another quote on page twenty-one that said, “...

    Read More

  • Southern Womanhood In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

    730 Words  | 3 Pages

    First, she had to make up a story about Tom Robinson because she had kissed a black man, which was frowned upon for a white woman to do. “She was white and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society in unspeakable: she kissed a black man”(272). Mayella is also used as an example when she convinces the jury to convict an innocent black man because of Southern Womanhood. “That n***** took advantage of me, an’ if you fine fancy gentlemen don’t wanna do nothin’ about it then you’re all yellow stinkin’ cowards, stinkin’ cowards, the lot of you”(251).

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Dbq Analysis

    709 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mayella was was just a poor girl who had never been to school a day in her life and suffered so much abuse from her father, she didn’t give herself the opportunity to be powerful. In a time of oppression and depression Mayella standing up would have been a monumental change but she never seized it and took advantage, she let everyone else take advantage of

    Read More

  • Mayella Ewell's Power In To Kill A Mockingbird

    773 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Racial Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

    754 Words  | 4 Pages

    Tom Robinson is a black man who is wrongfully convicted of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. This novel goes through Scout's life from when she was 6, till she is 9. She lives in the town of Maycomb Alabama, and lives an innocent life until about halfway through the story, where she begins to ask questions. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout shows the readers that racial inequality creates an unjust society through the African American community, through the people surrounding colored folks, and through Tom Robinson’s Case. The first example of the consequences of racial inequality is the African American community in Maycomb.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Dbq

    118 Words  | 1 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Essay On Mayella Ewell In To Kill A Mockingbird

    732 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Point Of View Essay

    614 Words  | 3 Pages

    In society, there are very few people who have the unwavering dedication to stand up for what they believe. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, a black man was convicted and accused of a crime he didn 't commit, raping a white women, which is not in anyway tolerable in society. In Harper Lee 's To Kill A Mockingbird, the author used point of view and symbolism to acknowledge how the the several social divisions which make up much of the adult world are shown to be both irrational and extremely destructive. To begin with, the short story To Kill A Mockingbird, used point of view to show how the many social divisions in the world are irrational and destructive. Scout; a first grade student at the time, was telling the story from her point of view and what had occurred from her childhood perspective.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Bully In To Kill A Mockingbird

    830 Words  | 4 Pages

    Tom Robinson is a young African-American who's been accused of raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, a young and closeted white woman. Racial discrimination is hinted throughout Tom’s trial as Atticus Finch explains to Jem that a white man’s word will always win over that of a black man’s - "... In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life" (220). Atticus explains to Jem that in the courts of Maycomb, a black man’s state of innocence or guilt is truly determined by a white man’s testimony.

    Read More

More about Role Of Power In To Kill A Mockingbird

Open Document