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Examples of racial discrimination in society
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Class, Gender, and Race in “To Kill A Mockingbird: Is Mayella powerful?” In to kill a mockingbird, Mayella is only powerful with race, but with class and gender, she is powerless. Mayella represents class in document A, gender in document B, and race in document C. In document A, Mayella’s class is very powerless. Mayella’s class is very powerless to her, because she lives next to a dumpster with a very broke down fence and yard. For example, In (Doc A), “Get back to your dump”, it states “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the towns garbage dump in what was once a negro cabin.” This is evidence that shows that Mayella as a white woman was powerless. Her money was low just like her house and her yard. In document B, Mayella’s gender is also powerless.
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.
During the 1930’s, there was this evil assumption that Atticus draws attention to which is that “....all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women…”( Harper Lee TKAM 273). With that in the minds of all the townspeople, Mayella being a “helpless” female amongst the lowest of the low gave her continuous power in the case against Tom Robinson. Moreover, being a female prompted the town to want to protect Mayella even more. The white to black ratio was unwavering in the 1930’s. Even though white people look down upon her, when it came time for Mayella’s case against Tom Robinson her class was disregarded and her race and gender trumped all.
“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
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.
Mayella is not one of those of other people in the small town of Maycomb that lives in a nice neighborhoods. Mayella lives behind a garbage dump with her father and siblings. During the trial of Tom Robinson, Scout describes Mayella’s home. ‘“Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin….Its windows were merely open spaces in the walls….What passed for a fence was bits of tree-limbs, broomsticks and tool shafts….Enclosed by this barricade was a dirty yard….”’ Mayella only has one thing that keeps her sane from all the horribly things that has been happening. Which is her red geraniums, Scout says that they are well nurtured by Mayella. Mayella has six of these red geraniums at the corner of her yard. Mayella and her father lives in the neighborhood of Negroes, nor would ever bother them except Tom because he's to nice of a person. “....white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes [the Ewells’ nearest neighbors] wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white….” Mayella would not be powerful in the role of class because of where she lived and what she wored.
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
The lack of knowledge in Maycomb about the outside world and their opinions about black people ingrains ‘Maycomb’s usual disease’ into their minds as they have no other opinions about black people. This is shown by the crowd’s outrage as they gather to lynch Tom, not knowing that he was innocent, but blinded by their pre-conceived ideas about black people, thinking that Tom obviously did it as he was black. Their prejudice and ignorance blinded them to the fact that the Ewell’s had manipulated him to their own benefit. Also, this prejudice causes the people who are prejudiced to be as prejudiced towards people who are not. This is shown by Mrs Dubose’s statement to Jem, “Your fathers no better than the niggers and trash he works for.” This shows that Atticus and his family are put on a lower level than normal citizens.
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.
During the Tom Robinson Trial, Mayella is called up to the chair, asked a few questions and after she has had enough, she screams, "I got somethin ' to say an ' then I ain 't gonna say no more. That nigger yonder took advantage of me an ' if you fine fancy gentlemen don 't wanta do nothin ' about it then you 're all yellow stinkin ' cowards, stinkin ' cowards, the lot of you. Your fancy airs don 't come to nothin '—your ma 'amin ' and Miss Mayellerin ' don 't come to nothin ', Mr. Finch-" (She is scared of the town knowing that she is wrong and Tom robinson is innocent. 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 brung 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
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.
While Atticus understood this, the rest of Maycomb chose to stereotype the entire black community as people they had to distrust. Atticus also respected Mayella Ewell even though she was his opposition and referred to her as "Miss Mayella". Evidently, Mayella had not received that kind of politeness before, as she thought that Atticus was trying to "sass" her. At this point, the author is using language to show that Atticus has no prejudice in him. The author also creates a contrast for the reader to consider.
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.
Therefore, through the uses of character foil, characterization, and the theme of society in equality, Lee was able to accurately depict her view of the white society in Maycomb by the characters in this novel. The difference in level of politeness, occupation, and behaviors implies how people like the Finches are representing higher social class in Maycomb, because they do not prejudge people based on their skin color.
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).
Harper Lee provides the reader with several examples of typical Maycomb females. She establishes Scout's masculinity with fighting and explains her demeanor by contrasting it with the typical female adults of the novel. The author also allows Jean Louise to wear masculine clothing and gives her a manly nickname. Therefore, the author favors Scout's unique personality and implies women do not have to act in a stereotypical manner. The book might inspire young girls to become independent and create their own unique personalities. To Kill a Mockingbird emerges as an important novel that contradicts female society and suggests that girls should not feel pressure to act in scripted "womanly" roles.