Class, Gender, and Race in “To Kill A Mockingbird”: Is Mayella Powerful?
Only a handful of people have power. Those who do not have power seek to obtain it. Those who have power, do what is needed to keep it. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, Mayella Ewell, a white woman accuses Tom Robinson, a black man of rape. Tom is convicted of rape and is later shot when trying to escape. In this story Mayella is powerless in class and gender, but in race is powerful, however ultimately she is a poor, woman which makes her powerless.
When it comes to class Mayella is powerless. She is poor and lives by a dump where all the Negros live. On one corner of her yard there’s a line of roses that look nice, around a place looks like a dump. “One corner of the yard, though, bewildered Maycomb. Against the fence, in a line were six…jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for tenderly…” (Doc A). Her father thought that people would view him differently, but they
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didn’t. “He thought he’d be a hero, but all he got for his pain was… okay we’ll convict this Negro but get back to your dump” (Doc A). The whites didn’t want her or the Negros. “Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world…: white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs: Negros wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white…” (Doc E). No whites in her town wanted her because she was poor which for class made her powerless. Also when it came to gender she was powerless as well. Mayella was a woman which at the time made her powerless. Mayella is afraid of her father because there’s some evidence in the story that shows that he beat her. “I said he does tollable’. Mr. Ewell leaned back again ‘Except when he’s drinking? Asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded.” (Doc B). This shows that her father abuse’s her and because she’s a woman there’s not much she can do to stop him. In the gender aspect Mayella is still powerless. However in race Mayella is powerful, because she is white.
At the time that this story was taken place the Jim Crow Laws were restricting the rights of African Americans. There was no way Tom could have won this case because he was an African American male going a white male. “Now don’t you be so confident, Mr. Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…” (Doc D). Even Reverend Sykes, an African American knew that an all-white jury would never rule in favor of a black man. Mr. Gilmer, the Ewell’s lawyer, speaks hatefully to Tom. Dill, Scouts friend thinks that the way Mr. Gilmer is treating Tom wrong. “It was just him I couldn’t stand; Dill said … ‘that old Mr. Gilmer doin’ him thataway, talking so hateful to him… the way that man called him “boy’ all the time an” sneered at him…” (Doc C). Most people knew that the Ewells were lying, but it didn’t matter they still won because they were white. In race, Mayella because she was white was more powerful than
Tom. Even though Mayella is powerful when it comes to race, she is overall powerless because of her class and gender. She is so poor that nobody wants to talk to her. She is a woman who was getting abused by her own father, a male. Since she is a female there was nothing she could do. Mayella lived in a racist southern community, only because she was white she had some power. Tom because he was black had no power against her. Mayella may be somewhat powerful due to her race; however she is ultimately power because of class and gender.
...uth to fully understand that it is typical to act superior to those with colored skin. All Dill sees is a man being rude to another, just because of his skin color. While Atticus clearly shows everyone in the court that it was almost impossible for Tom Robinson to have beat Mayella, he still loses the case just because he was a black man against a white woman. Lee includes, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” (Lee 323) This enforces how it didn’t matter what Tom was really doing or why Mayella was screaming, but just by the way Tom looked they were able to essentially pin the rape and the beatings on Tom. Of course this was not true and he did not receive the justice he deserved, but that didn’t matter to Maycomb. All that mattered was the color of his skin and what the teenage white girl named Mayella Ewell said about him.
Now in the next three paragraphs I will explain my thinking on why I believe Mayella is not powerful. In the first paragraph I will explain why and how I believe Mayella Ewell is not powerful, with the use of the class. First off I would like to show you one of my biggest reasons for believing Mayella is not powerful “Maycomb Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what used to be a Negro cabin”. (DBQ:Is Mayella Ewell powerful?13)The second reason I believe Mayella Ewell is not powerful while using class for my examples is that “longs as he keeps on callin’ me ma’am an sayin miss Mayella.
The concept of a white woman being touched, let alone raped by an African American male was an assumption in the little town of Maycomb Alabama, 1930’s. During this period Mayella is considered helpless due to being a female as well as lonely and afraid considering her status as a poor white piece of trash. She manipulates people by using her social class, gender, and race to her advantage. In particular, her accusations made against Tom Robinson, an African American man. These factors lead to her gaining power with the trial and conviction of Tom Robinson. Race refers to the categorization of people based on physical differences.(“Is Mayella Powerful?” 7) Mayella Ewell had perquisites due to her race, which helped her during the conviction.
During the trial Mayella said, “Long’s he keep telling me ma’am and sayin’ Miss Mayella. I don’t hafta take his case his sass, I ain't called upon to take it”(Doc C). During the trial, Mayella was treated a lot better during the case. But on the other hand, for Tom Robinson he was treated unfairly by Mr.Gilmer since he was called “boy” and many other rude names since he was a black man. During the trial, Reverend Sykes said, “Now don’t you be so confident, Mr.Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favour of a colored man over a white man”(Doc D). Given these points, Mayella had a better advantage because of her race since most of the county and people were racist. Also it would be very rare for Tom to win since most of the jurors judged off from race instead of actual facts and reasoning.
In the 1930’s, turmoil has erupted in Maycomb, Alabama all because the young lady Mayella Ewell has accused African-American Tom Robinson of raping and sexually assaulting her. Yet, Mayella Ewell has no power because of her race, class, and gender. At the time, Maycomb, Alabama was at the peak of segregation against African-Americans. Mayella Ewell may be white, but that does not mean her class, gender, nor her race give her power.
In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Mayella Ewell is the conflict of the story. To challenge herself to see if she is powerful based on class, gender, and race. Mayella is powerful due to her race; however, she would not be powerful due to her class and gender. One might think she is powerful over all; however, she does not have power in the eyes of some readers. Proceeding on to see if Mayella has power in race.
To some it is very unclear whether Mayella is powerful or powerless. In the book to To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, a family tries to defend a ‘Mockingbird’ who is being charged with crimes of rape. The book ironically takes place in the mid 1930s after similar events have just recently happened relating to blacks vs. whites. While Mayella Ewell can be considered as powerful based on her race, her class and gender indicates that Mayella is powerless based on the circumstances during the mid 1930s.
Accused of raping a poor white girl, innocent Tom Robinson is now faced with a desperate trial. “The evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber.” (Lee 273). Atticus delivers a powerful speech to the courthouse audience highlighting the disturbing truth of the unfair society. Although there was substantial evidence proving Tom’s innocence against Mayella Ewell, Tom was convicted for the rape the Ewell’s made up to disguise their guilty faults. The stereotypical accusation of the unjustifiable verdict costed Tom his life, when he grew “tired of white men’s chances and preferred to take his own.” (Lee 315). There are always two sides to a story and specifically someone from the black community had their strong opinion on those of the white community. When Calpurnia brought Jem and Scout to her church, they were interrogated by an angered Lula. “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here-they got their church, we got our’n.” (Lee 158). Lula makes a stereotypical judgement, after seeing Jem and Scout she immediately labels them white, and we can infer her thoughts are pulled from her prior knowledge of the stereotypical racist white community. She has never met Jem and Scout yet is quick to group
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird explores the concept of injustice and her readers are introduced to a society where the social hierarchy dominated acts of humanity. We are often put into situations where we witness member of society be inhumane to one another in order to fit into the community and to act selfishly to save yourself. Within the text, we are also commonly shown the racial discrimination that has become society’s norm. Because of the general acceptance of these behaviours, it is explicitly show to all that the major theme Lee is trying to portray is ‘Man’s inhumanity to man’.
When describing Mayella’s family, “[Ewell’s] place by the dump is highly symbolic in that they are truly the discards of society” ( “Critical Reading: The Margins of Maycomb: A Rereading of To Kill a Mockingbird” 174). However, Mayella is often described as being different from her family. She does her best to keep clean and even plants red geraniums where she lives. “Mayella plants flower to bring beauty to her house near the junkyard” (“Critical Contexts: To Kill a Mockingbird: Successes and Myths” 33). These flower symbolize hope for Mayella. The red geraniums symbolize beauty and a better life for Mayella as she tries to make distract herself from her unsettling
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 the courtroom that night it is revealed that the alleged crimes of Tom Robinson, a decent Negro man, most likely did not happen. As Atticus says in his closing argument, "The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is” (Lee 271). Showing the clear innocence of Tom Robinson due to lack of evidence, Scout thinks that the white jury will do the right thing only to find out that they still, unfairly, accuse him of being guilty. Scout and her brother, Jem, get very upset when they hear the verdict, however, it allows them both to learn the lesson that the county is unfair towards anyone who is not white. The county demonstrates this evil racism due to the social divisions in Maycomb between the whites and the blacks and because the whites see the blacks as unworthy of rights and freedoms. It was not just the trial itself that displayed evil in the world, but the comments and arguments surrounding the case did
Tom Robinson’s trial, and in fact his entire life, was badly affected by racism. It is truly a testament to the corruption of society when a person who has earned a bad reputation is held in higher esteem than a person who was born with it, as is the case with Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson. Even though Tom was obviously honest in his testament, the jury sided with Bob Ewell because he was white. They made this decision despite the fact that the Ewell family was widely known to be a worthless part of society. Jem, not being racially prejudiced, could not understand this mentality. As Atticus pointed out, “If you (Jem) had been on the jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man.”
In the book his unlawful trait and racist opinion had “forced” his mind to twist his testimony, on Mayella’s supposed ‘rape” case against Tom, a negro. He claimed he quote on quote “saw” Tom on Mayella. Mr Ewell claimed in his testimony that “ I was looking in the woods looking for kidlin, and as I got to the fence I heard Mayella screamin’ like a stuck hog inside the house, I dropped m’ load and ran as fast to my Mayella, I ran up to the window” “ I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!” (P. 196) This shows that he is dishonest, and unjust even in front of court, because he believes that even if he’s not a wealthy white man, he is still superior to blacks. Furthermore, when he concludes his testimony, some people already knew he altered the story, but as Maycomb's caste system, whites are supposed to “win”, especially against
Mayella, the woman defending against Robinson, comes from a low income and low educated family, making them a poor family. Yet Mayella’s word is still favored against Tom because she still holds a higher social status than Tom just because she is white. In fact, in the novel, Atticus has an important quote regarding the court system that is still true today, “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins.” (Lee, H. (1960). To kill a mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott. pg. 251-252).