Is Mayella Powerful In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”, did Mayella present herself to be powerful according to class, race, and gender? Mayella is a poor young white girl that lives in a dump in the poor part of Maycomb with her 6 siblings that she cares for and her abusive drunk father. She tore the town of Maycomb apart by convicting an innocent man, Tom Robinson of rape.Mayella has to do whatever she can to escape her father and her poor lifestyle. I believe that Mayella is if not the most, but one of the most powerful characters in the book. Clearly when it comes to race Mayella is powerful because she is white and white people had more rights than black people during the 1930’s. Mayella showed power by winning the court case against Tom Robinson. Mayella’s race helped her win the court case because if Tom Robinson were white he would have won the trial. In fact he wouldn’t have been on trial in the first place or have been shot and killed. Mayella was treated different on the stand than Tom, Mayella was called “Ma’am” by Atticus while Tom was called “boy” by Mr. Gilmer. (“DBQ: Is Mayella Powerful?” 17) The Ewells were always treated better by white people than black people were. Therefore Mayella being white helped her throughout the story. …show more content…
The Ewells were treated poorly by white people because of their social and financial class. The Ewells lived in a dump, some black people had nicer houses than the Ewells. While Mayella was on the stand, Atticus was calling her Ma’am and Mayella said, “won’t answer a word you say as long as you keep mocking me”.(DBQ: Is Mayella Powerful?) Mayella thought this way because she had never been respected at home and was abused by her father. Mayella was not happy with her life at home or in Maycomb. This proves that Mayella Ewell is clearly a victim when it comes to
...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.
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.
With this being said, even though Mayella was a low class female she inherited the superiority of being white making it easy for her during the trial. Mayella used her individualistic self pity against Tom Robinson. The little town of Maycomb Alabama knew the truth, but the Ewell’s plan backfired on them. They gained no respect, and are still considered white pieces of trash. As for Mayella individually, she’s not educated but she is very smart. Mayella did have power through race, class, and
“You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,” said by Atticus Finch. This quote explains how a person can be different in the inside than they are in the outside such as, a character named Mayella Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird was a book set during the 1930’s, written by Harper Lee that explained the struggles of segregation and racism. But was Mayella’s race the only aspect that made her powerful? Although Mayella can be seen as a powerful character due to her race, the areas she lacked in was her social class and gender. The concepts that will be explained will be why Mayella Ewell was not powerful because of her social class
“... Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s garden’s. They don’t nest in the corncubs. They don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (pg.103)Mayella is innocent because she grew up in an abusive household. The book gives hints that her father Bob Ewell sexually assaults her and leaves her to take care of her so called “brothers and sisters.” Mayella Ewell was put on stand and was made to lie to the judge and jury by her father, Bob Ewell, who beats her and abuses
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.
An example of Mayella’s lack of power is when Atticus is closing 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…” (Doc B) Atticus’ closing statement shows that Mayella Ewell was defenseless because of her gender. Women typically do not participate in high fitness level activities throughout their life, and because of this, Mayella was powerless against the the man who was raping her. Another example that presents Mayella powerless is when Atticus is questioning Mayella during the court case. “...Except when nothing’, said Mayella. 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 quote shows how Mayella was powerless because of her economic class. Because Mr. Ewell is unemployed, he continuously starts drinking which enables him to have the courage to injure his daughter, let alone rape her. In summarizing, the evidence above affirms how Mayella could be seen as powerless based from her economic class and
With lots of children to take care of Mayella was only able to get two to three years of education and she had no friends. This is why when Atticus asks her about her friends she thinks he is making fun of her. After having to live a life like this we don?t know why Mayella would like to defend her hard-hearted father, but she probably did this because she was scared of what he would do to her if she told the truth. We feel sympathetic towards her at this point but there is still a sense of hatred towards her as she is letting an innocent person being jailed who actually helped her a lot when no one did.
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 brought 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 protected.
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.
The main victims of this inhumanity are the Blacks, who are seen to be the lowest of the low. This is visible when despite the fact that Calpurnia is a great housekeeper and has done nothing wrong, Aunt Alexandra still insists on Atticus firing her, just because she is black. This brings to light the deep-rooted racism in Maycomb. There are many other characters that are loathsome and act brutally towards others such as Mrs. Dubose when she shouts horrible things about Atticus to Scout and Jem “Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for!” This shows that she is not afraid to voice her opinion about the hatred she feels towards people and that she certainly doesn’t care about how her words could hurt others.
Mayella Ewell is a nineteen year old woman who lives in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. In a desperate attempt to gain power, she accuses a black man named Tom Robinson of raping her. She is a poor white woman who is abused by her father and is shunned by the rest of Maycomb because of her class. Her class and gender is her shortcoming when it comes to power. She is at a disadvantage even though she is white and being white during this time period was a large bonus towards social standing.
But if you accept this stereotype, I might as well stop talking. If black people are so horrible, why do we let them cook for us and clean for us and look after our children? Why would we trust them with so much responsibility if they were simple animals. Mayella and her father thought that if they accused Tom Robinson, a black man, of beating and raping Ms Ewell, a white woman, that they could both get away with their crimes. But Tom Robinson is not ruthless, and even if he was animalistic, he could not physically inflict the wounds on Mayella. So it is clear that it was not him that committed these crimes, but his
Since Mayella had no one else to look up to, Ewell was her only role model, but he was a bad role model… He was an alcoholic abusive father In the court, Mayella either lied out of love for her father, or, more likely, she lied out of fear. and what did she fear? Mayella was afraid to be beat or abused again, by her neglectful father A quote from p. 245 shows that Ewell physically abused Mayella. Mayella said that "He [Ewell] does tollable, 'cept when--"...then she hesitated because she was afraid she would reveal her lies, or rather, her father’s lies ”Except when he’s drinking?” asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded.” Not only does Ewell physically abused her, he also sexually abused her. During the trial, it was revealed that Mayella has never kissed someone before But, Mayella says that what her father does to her doesn’t count Since Mayella was socially isolated, she has no choice but to respect him and do as he asks. Atticus also questioned Mayella, on p.246, “When he’s -- riled, has he [Ewell] ever beaten you?” Mayella looked around, down at the court reporter, up at the judge.” -- No answer. “Who beat you
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).