What Is Mayella Ewell's Power In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In Maycomb, Alabama around the 1930’s, the race, class, and gender of people made a big impact on their life and determined their future. A girl named Mayella Ewell, from To Kill A Mockingbird, is a great example of this situation. Tom Robinson was an African American that was accused of raping Mayella. Her powers were based on her race, class, and gender. Her race was her strongest advantage towards her power. On the other hand, her gender and class were her least powers. She was a white, poor female that lived behind a trash dump. All of these characteristics played an important part in Mayella’s life and determined if she held powers or not. Mayella’s race was her strongest advantage towards holding any power. First of all, Mayella was the only white woman that lived in an all black community in Maycomb, Alabama. During this time, the Jim Crow Laws were in effect. In Maryland, they stated “Any white woman who shall suffer or permit herself to be got with child by a Negro or mulatto...shall be sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than eighteen months.” Also, in Georgia, they stated “No colored barber shall serve as a …show more content…

She lived in an old, decayed house behind a trash dump. In Document A, section one, it says “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin…” Also in Document A, it describes what the outside of her house looks like. For example, it says “Its windows were merely open spaces in the walls...What passed for a fence was bits of tree-limbs, broomsticks and tool shafts...Enclosed by this barricade was a dirty yard…” By reading this quote, it shows how poorly Mayella lives. During this time, The Great Depression was also taking place. It caused people to live poorly, no places to live, and no jobs to be found. Overall, Mayella did not hold any power because she was the poorest of the poor, just like it declared in the Background

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