Thursday, March 5, 2009

During the trial, does Mayella have power according to her race, class and gender? How?

Mayella really only has power due to her race.


In Maycomb, the Ewells are the second-lowest rung on the power ladder. Mayella Ewell is white, which puts her above the black community, but she is among the poorest of Maycomb's white population. Jem explains the power structure of Maycomb to Scout.



"There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes.” (Ch. 23)



The Ewells are uneducated and live off of welfare and hunting. Bob Ewell is a drunkard and an abusive father. Mayella’s life is a struggle. She has to take care of all of her little brothers and sisters, and hers is a lonely existence indeed. Scout realizes this during the trial, when she stops to think about Mayella’s circumstances.



As Tom Robinson gave his testimony, it came to me that Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world. … When Atticus asked had she any friends, she seemed not to know what he meant, then she thought he was making fun of her. (Ch. 19)



It is Mayella’s lack of power that leads her into the situation with Tom Robinson. As a woman, she is at her father’s mercy. He uses her as a combination housekeeper and babysitter, and possibly more, as is suggested during the trial. As a poor woman, she has no education. The Ewell children go to school on the first day and then go home. All she has going for her is that she is white, and she uses this to force herself on Tom Robinson.


Mayella’s lack of power is the main problem. She feels powerless and lonely, and therefore tries to get Tom Robinson to pay attention to her. She uses the fact that she is white and he is black. It is the only card she has to play. Then she gets him to spend time with her because, as a black man, he doesn’t want to offend her. Finally, she tries to kiss him. She is very lonely. Her father sees this and that is that. Robinson is arrested for rape and Mayella’s situation is dragged before the whole town during the trial. It is an embarrassment to them both.

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