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The act of sexism in to kill a mockingbird
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In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” there are three categories that describe power. Those three are class, race, and gender. Mayella is somewhat powerful in all three. Mayella Ewell has the power of somehow manipulating and controlling the minds of others. She had a plan to manipulate Tom and gets her way. To clarify, Mayella Ewell has little power in class because she has no friends. Tom Robinson feels bad for her which leads Tom to help her. Mayella lives poorly and is described as dirt poor. Many people do not like her and do not get around her. Tom Robinson was the only so called “friend” that she had. Tom was only trying to help her out and she ruined it. Then she blames everything on Tom in court. However, Mayella does have power
Is Mayella Ewell powerful?That is the question that is asked and must be answered.Throughout the story” To kill a mockingbird” Mayella shows some glimpses of power, but not enough to say she is powerful.For example, in the beginning she shows that she cannot even control her home life so how can she be powerful.Also she shows that she is just too poor for her to have power.Now in the next three paragraphs I will explain my thinking on why I believe Mayella is not powerful.
Overall, Mayella is not a powerful figure in To Kill a Mockingbird. Even though she was powerful because of her race, the areas she lacked in was her social class and gender. Despite the fact that Mayella won the trial, the only reason why she won was due to her race. She is also a very weak character since she even allowed her own father to assault her and just the way she lived in general. For the most part, this is important because if this trial happened in a different time period like today, then it would’ve been certain for Tom Robinson to win the
Mayella Ewell is a woman in the 1930’s and yes, women back then were not treated as citizens. As Atticus is delivering his closing argument on how the person who beat Mayella with his left, Tom cannot use his left due to a job accident. By contrasting the difference in race and gender, in the 1930’s these were a big thing, To examine the results of race, gender are way different. Mayella may be white, but in her role as a female, it just goes downhill from that. Although it is different from Tom Robinson point of view. As Atticus is delivering his closing argument after proving that Bob Ewell is left-handed and Tom Robinson is not able to use his left hand. ‘“...What did her father do? We don’t know, but there is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left…’”. Tom Robinson is unable to use his left hand due to a job accident. Mayella took advantage of Tom, she knew he would help her because he is a nice man. Mayella was not taught respect while growing up, Tom on the other hand was amiable. Mayella is anxious of her father and what he does to her. Some readers might be anxious too, but might confess up to what their father is doing to them. Since she was not taught respect from her father, she would not know much about it. “Won’t answer a word you say long as you keep on mockin’ me,’Mayella said.
Mayella (white), goes to court against Tom Robinson (African American), where Mayella is accusing Tom Robinson of rape. When Atticus asks Mayella questions, Atticus mishears Mayella. An example of Mayella’s lack of power is when Atticus closes his argument by describing Mayella’s injuries during the court case. “Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left.”
It is Mayella's deceit that brings Tom Robinson to trial. Though she may not be forgiven for this lie, Atticus and Scout feel sympathy for her because of the terrible poverty in which she lives. Whenever Scout feels sorry for Mayella we do as well as we are viewing the trial from her point of view.
Bob Ewell, after seeing Mayella with Tom Robinson, knows that Tom Robinson has done nothing, and that Mayella is the culprit of this circumstance. However, Bob Ewell makes claims against Tom Robinson because the culture of this society has been formed to
During the Tom Robinson Trial, Mayella is called up to the chair, asked a few questions and after she has had enough, she screams, "I got somethin ' to say an ' then I ain 't gonna say no more. That nigger yonder took advantage of me an ' if you fine fancy gentlemen don 't wanta do nothin ' about it then you 're all yellow stinkin ' cowards, stinkin ' cowards, the lot of you. Your fancy airs don 't come to nothin '—your ma 'amin ' and Miss Mayellerin ' don 't come to nothin ', Mr. Finch-" (She is scared of the town knowing that she is wrong and Tom robinson is innocent. Mayella uses this case to cover up the shame in her life because she is extremely lonely, has no self-esteem, and overwhelmed with the amount of unhappiness in her life. Mayella gets extremely defensive in this quote because she knows that everything Atticus has brung up is good evidence and she can’t hold her own. In the jury, it was full of all white men. Mayella acted timid and helpless and suggested in her comment that the man of the jury be brave and heroic. She becomes someone who is vulnerable, valuable and needs to be
One of the storylines in the novel is the Robinson-Ewell trial. Tom Robinson is an innocent African-American, accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a lower-class white girl. At the trial hearing, everyone is able to tell his or her side of the story before Tom is allowed to speak. All stories, however, offer two different versions of Tom and Mayella’s relationship. Moreover, Mayella and Bob Ewell tell the jury what they expect to hear, about Tom being a monster. They explain that there was no reason for his actions against Mayella. According to them, along with the rest of Maycomb, it's just expected that a black man would rape any white woman if he had the opportunity. The Tom spoken of by the Ewells shows the stereotypes that justify whites to be superior to blacks. However, Tom tells the jury about his innocence. He pr...
One of the major events in Harper Lee’s award-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird is Tom Robinson’s trial. It is based on the Scottsboro Case that took place in 1931 in Alabama, in which several black men were accused of raping two white women. Both the Scottsboro Boys and Tom Robinson are unfairly judged, however, because of prejudice against colored people. The racial discrimination makes whites’ testimony more believable even when it contradicts itself. The same happens in To Kill a Mockingbird. As we delve deeper into the case and get increasingly closer to the truth, it is quite suprising to see that Mayella Ewell is the true villain rather than a victim. She shall and must bear full responsibility for her actions because she makes the decision to tempt Tom Robinson, gives false testimony in court that directly leads to Tom’s death, and has been well aware of the consequences of her behaviors.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird white and colored people have freedom according to the Jim Crow laws which were followed by Maycomb a town that’s people based their race, class and gender differences on those laws and own knowledge of right and wrong. Mayella Ewell who gained control using the advantages she had of being both white and female during a trial showed signs of power and having control, does Mayella only have power and control over others but her own self?
Mayella Ewell is a character in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. She lives in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, where the inhabitants are very sexist and judgemental. In the book, Mayella is not powerful considering her class, race, and gender. The community members she lives near are a very large contributing factor to her powerlessness. Mayella has been mistreated a great amount throughout her lifetime.
Although Mayella Ewell eventually testifies against Tom Robinson on false grounds, her backstory and true nature is innocent, and her “mockingbird” only dies when her father corrupts her. First, when Scout is describing the Ewell’s living condition, the novel states, “Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson… People said they were Mayella Ewell’s” (Lee 228). Being raised in the conditions that she was, Mayella’s attempts at rectifying her family’s image, even in these small, personal acts, captures the way she wishes to live and how she thinks. Caring for the geraniums and trying to maintain some semblance of cleanliness, especially when compared to the rest of her family, gives the reader
Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Robinson is caught with Mayella in the Ewell residence by her father Bob Ewell. Bob swears by everything that he saw Mr. Robinson taking advantage of his daughter, Mayella. Robinson supposedly runs out of the back door of the house and Bob states he does not beat Mayella. Then Bob storms into the sherif...
Class is a major reason Mayella has no power. She has little to no education, lives in an abandoned negro shack behind the dump, and is very poor. She does not know right from wrong and she has never been treated with respect. Think back to the trail of Tom Robinson, when Atticus is questioning Mayella he calls her Miss Mayella. She takes this as disrespect and tells Atticus to stop making fun of her. She has never been treated with this kind of courtesy. All she knows is disrespect and abuse. This is why she is the woman she is.
The two people involved in the so-called crime, Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell, are at the very bottom of Maycomb society. Tom is black and Mayella one of the poorest of the poor whites. However, neither of them fits into the stereotypes held by the people of Maycomb. Tom is honest, hardworking and dependable, as Mr Link Deas's shouted testimony and his demeanour in court demonstrate. Mayella is a member of the poorest and most shiftless families in the town yet she looks after her brothers and sisters, keeps herself clean and tends to her geraniums in the most difficult of circumstances. It is clear that before the alleged rape a sort of friendship had grown up between Tom and Mayella.