To Kill A Mockingbird Dbq

Mayella had a great amount of power in the courtroom during the trial of Tom Robinson. This completely classless manipulative woman used the disadvantages she was dealt in life to her benefit. She made advances toward this black man, when he did not reciprocate those feelings she accused him of rape. He is convicted and sent to prison because of her. Through this, she also gains power that removes her from her father’s sexual abuse. He does not want her because of the relations with a

She was able to use her class, race, and gender in different ways to help win over the jury in her case with Tom Robinson (DBQ Project, p.7). Her class showed her vulnerability, but it did not show that by going through this process it would change her class, gender, and race. It brought to attention that no matter her win or loss in court, she was still going back to her bad home life (DBQ Document A). Her race helped her being that she was white, Tom was African American, and the jury was white (DBQ Document A). No black man had been able to win a case with a white jury (DBQ Document A). Mayella's gender allowed her to be vulnerable and a victim of falling for a man that just interacting with on a normal basis could get her in trouble in which she went over that boundary (DBQ Project p.7). Her gender in court puts her in the spot of looking like a victim of a crime that she lied about in order to save herself (Lee, p.252). In either case an innocent man was wrongly accused of a crime and the one accusing him would be going straight back to a life filled with misery (DBQ Document B). In reality nobody won the

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella is powerful based on class, gender, and race. The book shows us how she does have power, and gives supporting evidence. In this time period, in a small racist Southern community during the 1930’s, all of the categories listed are very important and contributes a lot to a person. Each category has its own reasoning why Mayella is powerful. Mayella has much more power than the other person in their situation, because of all of the listed evidence. Mayella is in a trial up against a black male, Tom Robinson, who she accused of trying to rape her. They were also caught by Mr. Ewell, Mayella's father. Therefore, Tom Robinson has little to no chance of winning the case based off class, gender, and race especially during this time period.

In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, a young white woman from Maycomb, Alabama, named Mayella Ewell is charging Tom Robinson a black man of rape. Mayella Ewell is not powerful in the sense that she is classified within class, race, and gender.

In Maycomb, Alabama, Mayella Ewell accused an African American man, Tom Robinson with allegations of rape. Mayella was powerful back in the 1930 because of the Jim crow laws, considering that she was a white woman. Although Mayella was so poor that she lived behind the town dump. Mayella was just about as poor as the African Americans, it quotes “White people wouldn't have anything to do with her because she lived among the pigs.” ("DBQ: Is Mayella Powerful?" 21). That explains that Mayella could not afford to live and also have many of the things she wanted. On the other hand, Mayella was an white woman going to court against an African American man.

1)How much of Mayella’s treatment is due not just to her being a white person accusing an African American of a crime, but a white woman accusing an African-American man of rape?

Race, gender, and class are all possessions people have that can make them powerful, but at the same time they can make themselves a powerless person too. Mayella Ewell is a white female who comes from a poor family living in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird, an African American man by the name of Tom robinson is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Mayella Ewell won the case and the trial which sent Mr. Robinson to jail where he eventually got killed. Mayella Ewell’s race was powerful enough to kill a man that was accused of a crime he never did; however, her gender and class power make her to a point where she is not a powerful person at all.

Since Mayella is the lowest in her class she is almost equal to an African-American. African- Americans had no power and were not respected by anyone during the time the book was written. In Mayella’s case against Tom Robinson she is about equal to him. The only way Mayella and her dad win the case against Tom is, because they are white and he is African- American. There is also a white judge,a white jury and the jury is mostly like Mayella and her dad, they decide if Tom is guilty or not.

Class, Gender, and Rrace in To Kill A Mockingbird: Is Mayella Powerful? “When it comes to power, things are never that clear” (Background Essay). , This trial is about a colored man who was charged with rape because of racism. Mayella was white, so she was more liked than Tom;,she also was a womaen, so people respected her better than they did Tom. Just like Tom, she did not live in a very nice home either (Doc.

An example of her race being powerful is “okay, we’ll convict this Negro (Doc. A).”just because Mayella said this black man raped her with no proof they’d convict him because she’s white and he is black. Another example on how Mayella is powerful is “‘were you… scared of arrest, scared you’d have to face up to what you did?’ ‘no suh, scared i’d have to face up to what i didn’t do’ (Doc. C).” and ironic effect “‘yes, suh. I felt sorry for her’ (Doc. e).” because a black man feeling sorry for a white person was known to be disrespectful, but it shows power for her as a white woman because they had no freedom, and they were usually

In the courtroom, Mayella is being asked questions in regards to her father. Based on Scout’s perspective, “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,”(Document B). Mayella is a victim of violence; as a result, she fears her father because she has no control or dominance over him. Because of society and stereotypical people, females are generally conceived as dependent and fragile human beings. Her father expects her to be obedient and another stereotype in Maycomb. Mayella is left with no choice but to show submission and vulnerability. By doing so, she is acting like a puppet following the orders of her puppeteer. Her father is a constant reminder of her weakness. She is allowing society’s stereotypes to poison and take over her. Mayella conforms to being nothing but weak and invisible. Soon enough these ideals will invade her entirely causing her to feel powerless. All in all, it is evident that Mayella’s gender is another reason she could be classified as

Do you know what it feels like to be powerless? A white nineteen year old woman named Mayella Ewell falsely accuses a black man of raping her in Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930’s, and rendering her powerless comes from being recessive in her social class, race, and gender. She accuses Tom Robinson of rape in hopes of escaping her abusive father, and a chance to have a better life. Although Mayella is white, African Americans and other white people shun her throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. Mayella is a very young woman that does not own anything nice, nor clean, besides geranium flowers. During the 1930’s, men were the dominant sex, as a female, Mayella has to obey her father, Bob Ewell. As a result, Mayella is mistreated and abused.

At some point she was powerless due to her surroundings. Mayella Ewell’s was poor causing her to lack in power in class. Even though “ she tries to keep clean, and plant geraniums to keep her yard decent she is still seen as someone of low class by people of Maycomb.”(Doc A) When Atticus called Mayella “ma’am “she felt offended she didn’t know that it was “a sign of respect” towards her (Doc C) making her powerless in class.

The definition of power is to have control over a person's life as well as the lives of those around them. The Jim Crow Laws are laws that separate the whites from the African-American. Southern women in the 1930s are considered delicate and fragile. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Mayella Ewell accuses Tom Robinson of raping her. At the end of the book, Tom Robinson was executed because he tried to escape prison. Mayella and her family are non-working poor people who live by the dump. Mayella accuses Tom Robinson of raping her. Tom Robinson is an African-American, who is considered to be the lowest class during the 1930s. Race refers to the categorization of people based on physical differences. Class refers to a person’s level of income and education and often boils down to how much money one is able to earn. Gender refers to the roles and behaviors that society expects from men and women. Mayella Ewell can be a powerful or powerless character. Mayella is powerless because of her class, but her gender and race ultimately make's her powerful.

Mayella is a white teenage girl that accused Tom Robinson of rape. Mayella seems like a really lonely child even with lots of brothers and sisters. She doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends. When Mayella went up to give her testimony she was really unsure what to say, what words to use, and how to say it. Which makes it seem like her English isn’t really good which could indicate that she was poorly educated."First of all," he said, "if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.". This case connects to the theme statement by Mayella being isolated from the other people in the community and what they have to say about the Tom Robinson case and what should of happened. She is another excellent example of poor education and