Mayella's Power Dbq

Is Mayella Powerful? As we go through these documents, we see the highs and lows of Mayella’s power. Power, in other word, means to have control. How much control does Mayella have? Over herself? Her family? Her community? Keep in mind that this takes place in a time where racism was normal. People are also looked upon differently by their class, or social status. Lastly, women are still not equal. This relates to being more dominant by gender. While I analyze these documents, you will pick up the pieces of my answer to “Is Mayella Powerful?”. In Document E- “The loneliest person in world”, we read about Mayella being different than other whites in her community. In the first box, Scout says “white people in her community wouldn’t have anything

In the first box, Atticus asks Mayella about her father and how he treats her. You see Mayella try to be strong with her answer, until she slips up. She says “He does tollable, ‘cept when-”. A few lines down, it reads “‘Except when he’s drinking?’ asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded.” Think about this. What could possibly happen when a single father, with a daughter, is an alcoholic? Also, think about the effects alcohol has on people. This isn’t the only thing to notice. Reread the first box but this time, look at Bob’s actions and how they change. “‘He does tollable, ‘cept when-’ ‘Except when?’ Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing. He sat straight up and waited for her to answer.” Something is happening between Mayella and her father. Why else would he get so jumpy when hearing about how he treats his daughter, after he’s been drinking? As Mayella messes up her words, her father sprouts right up. He is concerned. “Is she going to say it?” or “You better watch your mouth.” could be his thoughts. Mayella is intimidated by her father. Bob has more power than Mayella in this situation. Now, look at the second box. Tom says “She say she never kissed a grown man before. She says what her papa do to her don’t count.” Mayella has never kissed a grown man before because what her father does to her doesn’t count. Bob Ewell

No, I do not believe Mayella is powerful. I have decided this because although she is white, she is equally or even lower than the lowest- the African Americans. With this, she is also treated as one. When relating to gender, Mayella is physically weaker than the opposite sex. Even though she may be mentally stronger, she can not show it in this situation. Lastly, she is in the bottom class of her community. To me, Mayella is one of the weakest people in Maycomb. The only power she has is to use the people around her. Mayella used “the only person who was ever decent to her” in a way that helped her none and got Tom Robinson killed. I understand that this could be considered power, but it wasn’t enough for me to consider her powerful. There are many things that Mayela could have done to have helped her become powerful, or to even be seen as someone to Maycomb. Instead, she tried to do these things while being known as trash, In the end, this gets her nowhere other than putting and African American in jail for false accusation. Mayella is not