Mayella's Control In To Kill A Mockingbird

I believe Mayella is not powerful because she does not have control over her situation, Having power is having complete power or control over a situation. She may have been able to manipulate the people of Maycomb into believing that she was raped. But throughout the trial you realize that Mayella does not have control due to certain factors.
When it came to gender that was Mayella’s strong point. She was able to use sympathy, femininity , and vulnerability to not only lure Tom into the cabin but convince the people that she was a victim. I believe that Mayella felt that having an affair with an African American man would give her some control over her life. She may have not been well educated but she wasn't dumb she was strong minded. She was able to demonstrate females as the weaker gender when she cried on the witness stand and presented herself as fragile. Mayella knew that no one would expect a young white woman to throw throw herself at an African American male, seeing that it was against the law. Her being a female also had a downside she was simply frightened of men especially her father. That was shown in chapter 18 when

Atticus questioned Mayella on her father’s behaviour at home “Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing. He sat up straight and waited for her to answer”. Mayella is easily intimidated because she is the weaker sex. Mayella has never been shown respect so she was easily offended when Atticus called her ma’am because she’s not used to being treated in a respectful manner.
The Ewell’s were a very low class family.

They had no money, education, or manners. They were looked down upon by the townspeople.They lived in an old negro cabin behind the town dump on a pig farm. The townspeople felt that since the Ewell’s lived in an area with the negroes that they were no better than them. Mayella had no control over her living situation because she did not have the resources or support. Even though Bob Ewell would have liked to be looked at better from the people of Maycomb, he was not willing to to put forth the effort to change his family’s situation. The little control Mayella had over her home situation were the six geraniums she had which bewildered the town of Maycomb. The way she lived was the route to all her problems she had no control over how the people felt about her or how her and her family

lived.
Even though Mayella was a white woman she wasn't as powerful or as important as the other whites. Due to certain factors such as where she lived, who her fathers was, and her education level. She was categorized with the African Americans. Scout mentioned “white people would have anything to do with her because she lived among negroes”. She may have been white but she was not treated that way. The reason the case even went to court because she was a white woman and he was an African American man.
Therefore throughout the different documents that were provided for me i have come to the conclusion that no Mayella Ewell was not powerful. She was actually so powerless that i pitied her. She was a low class white woman that was neglected not only by the community but by her father.