In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, there is a small town with the name of Maycomb located in southern Alabama around the 1930’s. Maycomb is a very small, peaceful, and overall quiet town plus everyone knows each other and their business. Although this may be true, a significant change happens when an African American man is accused of raping a white woman.. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, there is a struggle for power between Race, Class, and Gender. In the novel, there is one particular character that has power. Mayella Ewell is a very powerful character, she blamed an African American man for something she did. She set up the trial,because she knew the jury would favor a white woman over an African American man.
In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell is a great example of a significantly powerful character. As an illustration, Mayella is a young nineteen year old, white woman that
…show more content…
In this case, this puts her in advantage over
Tom. Nevertheless, Tom feels empathy for her which made the spectators mad. He was African
American and he wasn’t supposed to feel bad for her for she was white. This being said, she had
an advantage in class.
In the novel, Mayella is a woman, which also gives her power. In the first place, her being a woman was an advantage over Tom. To elaborate, she spoke about Tom raping her and he should head off to jail and everyone believed her. Most people felt worse for woman than man, which also is another advantage. When Mayella said she was raped, everybody including the jury had sympathy for her. This also allows her power for she is a woman.
In conclusion, Mayella Ewell is significantly powerful in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. In the first place Tom Robinson wasn’t going to win given that Mayella had an advantage in Race, Class, plus Gender. Although this may be true, Mayella was guilty. As a result, in that time period, no one would believe an African American
Power is one of the most sought-after things in the world. Everyone is on a different level of power where some have little of it and others have a lot of it but no matter how much power they have they always crave more. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is based in a small town called Maycomb, Alabama where a young white woman called Mayella Ewell lives with her father Bob Ewell. The Ewells are thought of as the lowest class because Bob Ewell spends all his checks on liquor and does not support Mayella and her other 7 siblings.
She also was sexually abused because Tom Robinson said that “She says she has never kissed a grown man before… She says what her papa do to her don’t count. ”(Doc B) So Mayella’s gender makes her less powerful because she is a
Mayella can over take the court case that she is in just because she a white
Being white took Mayella out of the question when it came to asking the truth. When it comes to race, Mayella has power over
Although Mayella claimed rape, it still does not change the town’s point of view on her. “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin…. (Doc. A)” this explains and tells us that the Ewells are not rich nor do they have an abundant amount of money; since they do not have riches, that are not considered high-class nor middle-class, which mostly likely leads to the Ewells receiving little to no respect or value to the town. “White people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs (Doc. E)” this statement proves that, although she is a white woman, no one would get involved in her business or life because of her background and her “atmosphere”. “Long’s he keeps callin’ me ma’am and sayin’ Miss Mayella.
Because of her race, gender, and class, she is considered a powerful character in the novel In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella’s race gives her an incredible advantage, because society
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
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).
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
One would say she is not powerful because she is enclosed from the world, beaten by her father, and not very respected. For example, as Atticus asked Mayella to see if her father is good and tolerable to her, but she says “He does tollable, ‘cept when-”, ‘Except when he’s drinking?’ asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded. ”(Lee, Chapter 18) This would prove that Mayella has less power than usual when her father is drunk because, his gender as a male has the power over her and gets violent when drunk.
She had more power because she was white and that Tom was African American. Apart to why Tom had lost the case was because he had said “I felt bad for her.” During this time period African Americans were not supposed to feel sorry for Americans. At this time white people had more respect and privileges than African Americans. So people in court saw that as an insult.
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
Showing them the harsh reality of life with honesty and fearlessness. During this time the Great Depression was hitting the southern town of Maycomb. This novel compares many of its characters to mockingbirds, a symbol of pure innocence. One summer, Atticus, who is a lawyer, finds himself in the middle of a controversial case, involving a African American man, Tom Robinson and a white woman, Mayella. Despite the town throwing hatred towards Atticus and his family, he doesn’t back down because he takes pride in helping the innocent.
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.
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.