How Does Mayella Ewell Make People Powerful

Does being responsible for an innocent man’s life make someone powerful? Power is the capability to impact the comportment of others or the path of events. The accusation of rape, made by Mayella Ewell, uttermost, lead to the death of Tom Robinson. Mayella Ewell is powerful due to her race, class, and gender.

The idea that all whites are superior to blacks play a big role in the court system, making Mayella powerful. The mistake Tom vocalizes in court is that he felt sorry for Mayella: “Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em—” (Lee 19). After Tom says this he quickly realized it was unacceptable to feel sorry for a white woman when whites are supposed to be superior to blacks. The people present inside the court were not happy with Tom’s answer and chose to

disfavor his response. Another case similar to the Tom Robinson case was the Emmett Till case. The Emmett Till case took place in 1955. During this time Harper Lee was writing To Kill A Mockingbird. Therefore, Harper Lee used the Emmett Till case as inspiration included in her book To Kill A Mockingbird. It took several years for the true story of the Emmett Till case to be revealed. And even though two white men murdered a black young adult, they were not found guilty: “Last September in Sumner, Miss., a petit jury found the youth's admitted abductors not guilty of murder” (Huie). The men were dismissed with charges of murder because the case was said to “lack” evidence. However, the ultimate reason these two men were not found guilty is because of their skin color. Similar to the Tom Robinson case, race played a significant role in the decisions of the court. Both Mayella and the white men who murdered Emmett Till were found not guilty, and Tom and Emmett ended up dead. Mayella has power over Tom in court because she is white and he is black.
Citizens of Maycomb feel sympathetic towards Mayella due to her class.

This sympathy gives Mayella social power. People notice the poor living conditions of the Ewells. Everyone who passes the Ewell house observes the red geraniums that seem so oddly out of place: “Mayella looked as if she tried to keep clean, and I was reminded of the row of red geraniums in the Ewell yard” (Lee 18). People of Maycomb were confused by the well-kept geraniums because of her living environment. However, these red geraniums are a symbol of hope and prove that Mayella is surrounded by filth, but wants to be better. The people of Maycomb are also aware of how lonely Mayella is: “She was as sad, I thought, as what Jem called a mixed child: white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white” (Lee 19). This confirms that even though Mayella made attempts to fit in, she was denied friends due to poor living situations and race. Mayella did not fit in, and people were aware that she was an outcast. Many people felt pity towards Mayella, but this only makes her more powerful due to her poor

class.
Others may argue Mayella is powerless because of her gender. However, because Mayella is a female she gains sympathy for supposedly being sexually assaulted, making Mayella powerful. Because Mayella is a female, she automatically has sympathy for being weak and helpless when it comes to rape: “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (Lee 25). There was no evidence supporting Mayella’s case. However, since she is a woman she gets sympathy for being weak. Furthermore, assuming a black man of rape, she is powerful.
There are many aspects of power that Mayella possess that steered the decision of the court, making Tom Robinson guilty. Racism was one of the most major factors in the court decision because whites believed they were superior to blacks. Mayella’s family was also very poor and people recognized her work ethic and showed sympathy towards her. Finally, the gender of Mayella makes her weak, gaining sympathy. Therefore, due to her race, class, and gender Mayella is powerful. Mayella has so much power that an innocent man was killed because of her.