In the 1930’s, in Maycomb, Alabama a small town is alerted with rape charges, from Mayella, who an African American, Tom Robinson is guilty for. Tom Robinson is not as powerful as he thinks when he takes the stand to plead not guilty, is he really?Mayella does take the stand and plead not guilty, Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird, tells us that her class, race, and gender find her not guilty. In general,...”White people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs;Ewells negro neighbors wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white”("DBQ: IS Mayella Powerful?" 21)… Any race you are, you are still going to ignore Mayella by her lifestyle and the way she is treated. In fact, she gets offended when she gets called Ma’am , mainly because she has never been respected in her life…”Won’t answer a word you say long as you keep on mockin’ me.’ she said. Ma’am? Asked Atticus, startled. Long’s you keep on makin’ fun o'me”("DBQ: IS Mayella Powerful?" 21)... …show more content…
Certainly in this case since Mayella is white and privileged for the color of her skin tone’...at the present time”The Ewells have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court...confident that you gentlemen would go along the assumption, evil assumption, that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings,that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women…” ("DBQ: IS Mayella Powerful?" 19)Tom Robinson could have lied about feeling sorry for Mayella, because all Negroes lie.
(Doc. A) Therefore, because of her class, the community looks down upon her and her family. After winning the trial with Mayella accusing Tom Robinson, an African American of rape, Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, believed that he would be viewed as a hero but all he received was “okay, we’ll convict this Negro but get back to your dump.” (Doc.
”(Doc A) Also she is less powerful because she thinks that if she is called Ma’am or Miss that someone is sassing her, like when she said “Long’s he keeps on callin’ me Ma’am and sayin’ Miss Mayella. I don’t hafta take his sass, I ain’t called upon to take it. ”(Doc
Another reason how Mayella is powerful is by her gender. It states that he “... tried to help her…”. This is saying since Mayella is a girl that a guy will do anything to help a girl that needs help. It states “yes, suh I felt sorry for her…”. According to this statement, it
Then some people thought that Tom was innocent but the judge decided to make Tom go to prison. In the book it said that Mayella hugged and kissed Tom on the cheek. From this I can infer that Mayella is desperate and can get away with this because Tom Robinson is a black person. This reminds me of a couple southern movies I’ve watched where black people are always the first to suspect because of their color. Tom Robinson on trial for his life said Bob Ewell yelled “whore I’ll kill you” when he saw Mayella kiss Tom from the window.
This leaves Mayella speechless, because she didn’t think that Atticus would turn this serious in such a quick
In the novel: To Kill A Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell, a poor white woman, accused Tom Robinson, an African American, of rape. The Ewell’s are very indigent and her father, Bob Ewell, gets drunk and abuses Mayella. Since Mayella is very poor, this makes her not so powerful. In Maycomb, Alabama, A poor white woman named Mayella Ewell who lives behind the town garbage dump, accuses Tom Robinson, an African American, of rape.
By saying this, Mayella reminds the jury that as men, it is their job to protect their women. So even though they may not think Tom is guilty, they convict him anyway for
Although due to being a poor, uneducated woman whom is treated like an object, Mayella is not a powerful character. For 19 years of Mayella’s life she has been
Perceptions are often incorrect when one is unwilling to believe or does not have all of the facts. These inaccurate perceptions can lead to false accusations, which in turn can cause an immense amount of suffering. In the case of Tom Robinson, other’s perception of him and people of his race led to a false accusation against him. More specifically, the people of the Southern town of Maycomb perceived African Americans to be uneducated and untrustworthy, thereby declaring the Negroes as inferior to themselves. When Tom Robinson ran from the Ewell home upon the arrival of Bob Ewell, the unkempt and unreliable father of the alleged rape victim, it was assumed that Robinson had done something of suspicion.
A novel called To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. There is a case between an African American named Tom Robinson and a white woman named Mayella Ewell. She accused him of raping her. Tom was always kind to Mayella by helping her with things to do because he felt bad that she was always working. He passed one day and she asked him to get the box on top of the chiffarobe, so he got on the chair and got it then she put her hands around his leg, but she claims that he threw her down and raped her.
Tom was accused of raping a white woman who was Mayella Ewell, Mayella said he raped her while he was helping her with chores. She later on tells the readers that it was false allegations. The reason why she didn 't tell the truth at her first trial was because, Mayella was afraid of being embarrassed because she kissed a black male. She rather have an innocent man get charged with a crime than that. “However, Robinson was transferred from the state prison to Maycomb 's county jail on Saturday, two days before he stood trial on Monday, and Atticus had to defend him against a lynch mob”.
The Ewells could have been lying because most likely Mayella tempted Tom. Back then if you were involved with a colored person you were disgraced by the whole town. Mayella could have been trying to cover this up and get Tom arrested so he wouldn't be able to tell anyone. The jury convicted Tom Robinson because he was colored and back then white people believed they had to stick together against the colored people. This shows that based on the evidence Tom Robinson was only convicted because of his skin color.
Her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking. When she tried to put the evidence of her offense away, instead of being honest, she had put a man’s life in danger. However, Mayella is not a criminal. She is simply a woman who carries a heavy burden with no one to support or respect her. Mayella is a victim of abuse and
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.
The testimonies reveal how deep-rooted the racism within Maycomb runs, as it is present even in court rulings and how casually present it is. The court is taking place, and the order of prosecutor’s witnesses who are: Mr. Heck Tate, the sheriff; Mr. Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father; and Mayella Ewell, the one who is accusing Tom Robinson of raping her. When it’s Mr. Ewell’s turn to speak, he does so with many racial slurs and slang embedded in his accusations. When relaying what he saw to the jury, he points at Tom and yells “―I seen that black n*gger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” Mr. Ewell, who, although, has never been a part of a court case or viewed one, doesn’t truly care, or notice, that so far into the formal case, not one person has used racial slang to talk about Tom, and uses the term n*gger quite casually.