What Is Mayella Being Powerless

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Everybody wants control over someone else. This story was about a rape trial between Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson. The verdict was guilty. How much control does Mayella have over others? Although Mayella is powerless when it comes to class and gender, her race ultimately makes her powerful.
To begin with, Mayella's low class status makes her lack power, the lack of power made it easy to deride her. “Mayella looked as if she tried to keep clean, and I was reminded of the row of red geraniums in the Ewell yard.” (Doc A). Mayella lacks power so she lacks respect. “Long’s he keeps on calling’ me ma’am an sayin’ Miss Mayella. I don't hafta take his sass, I ain't called upon to take it.” (Doc C). Mayella even lacks friends. “White people wouldn't have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn't have anything to do with her because she was white” (Doc E). Being powerless was very arduous for Mayella. According to this evidence she has no class. …show more content…
Since Mayella is a female and to her her dad is podigious compared to her. she can easily be taken advantage of. Verbal abuse: “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.” (Doc B). Sexual abuse: “She says she never kissed a grown man before…. She says what her papa do to her don’t count.” (Doc B). Physical abuse: “There is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left.” (Doc B). These three ways of abuse that has happened to Mayella proves that her gender makes her powerless in many different

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Class all of these characteristics are describing how Mayella is powerless. Everyone knows that the Ewell family are very poor and don’t pay attention and don't care. They have no money, his kids don't have education ,and no wife. So Maella is basically the “Mom” of the house; she takes care of everything and everyone. In “To Kill A mockingbird”, Harper Lee wrote about how Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white woman, but the truth is that Mayella was the one who was interested. Which then took to…

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interlock to create power. That being said, these three categories put together simultaneously shape the experience of all people. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, class, gender, and race are the defining factors that show if a character has power or not. Many characters prove themselves to have power like Atticus and the Sheriff. On the other hand, some characters lack the requirements needed to be seen as powerful. For example, Mayella Ewell. Mayella Ewell is the white daughter of Bob…

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Is Mayella Ewell powerful? There is many answers to this question. The real answer is that Mayella is really both powerful and powerless, but she actually is powerless. Mayella can be powerful when you describe her power in race, but she is not powerful when you compare her power to gender or class. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird there is a low class teenage girl, that has no friends, that lives with her abusive dad, and her seven siblings in run down home. When a black man goes to…

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white woman, Mayella Ewell. Mayella accused the black man of rape and wins the case because of the color of her skin. Mayella is powerless due to class and gender, but her race gives her an advantage. Class portrays a big role to Mayella’s weakness. Mayella was furious when Atticus called her miss or ma’am. She felt as if Atticus was being disrespectful to her. “Ma’am? Asked Atticus startled.” “Long’s you keep makin’ fun of me.” (Document C) she was powerless because everybody was being respectful…

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person, or the ability to influence others behavior. Mayella Ewell is a racist and prejeduce woman who says Tom RObinson, a black man, rapes her and has no proof. Because of her class and gender, Mayella is powerless, but her race makes her powerful. Even though Mayella Ewell is white, she is also a lower class. “ Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once negro cabin…(Doc.A).” This shows how poor the Ewells are, Mayella cant afford to live somewhere nice. Tom says “Yes…

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Mayella Ewell only has power when it comes to her race, otherwise she is powerless. In the book, Mayella accused an innocent black man of rape, giving her more power in the town. Because of her class and gender, Mayella is powerless, however her race makes her powerful. First of all, Mayella displayed no power by her class, due to her living right beside blacks. “Maycomb's Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a black cabin. (Doc.A.)”. The white towns people had no respect…

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Jim Crow Laws In To Kill A Mockingbird

“Never assert that a White person is lying” (www.eastconn.org). During Tom Robinson’s case in To Kill a Mockingbird, the Ewell’s lawyer, Mr. Gilmer, asks Mayella Ewell to tell what happened. Mayella Ewell, the white alleged rape victim, lies. Mr. Gilmer then asks the “rapist”, a black man named Tom Robinson, for his side of the story. It is much more detailed and blatantly contradicts Mayella’s testimony. With this Jim Crow…

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Kill a Mockingbird,”Tom gets shot for being accused of rape which he did not do. Mayelle is the girl that claims he raped her, she is powerless throughout the story because of her class and gender, but her race gives her all the power she need’s. First off, she is judged by her class because she is not wealthy like all the other whites and she lives near a black neighborhood.”she used bits of tree limbs and broomsticks for fences (Doc,A).” ”Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person…

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