Class, Gender, and Race in ​To Kill a Mockingbird​: Is Mayella powerful?

The amount of power a person has can be based on how much control they have in their

own life. The book, ​To Kill a Mockingbird​, tells a story about a city in Alabama dealing with

discrimination, mostly about a trial on rape dealing with a man named Tom Robinson and a

white woman named Mayella Ewell. The dominant question for this topic is stereotypical roles,

level of income, and physical attributes in ​To Kill a Mockingbird​: Does Mayella have a lot of

control? The ways to answer the question of whether Mayella Ewell is powerful is by her level

of income, stereotypical roles, and physical attributes.

The first way to measure Mayellas’ power is by her level of income or class. Mayella is a

poor white female going against a negro. According to Document D, “white people wouldn’t

have anything to do with her because she lived among the pigs.” This quote means that her class

affects how other people look at her and talk to her because she lives in a dump. The quote helps

answer the question of whether Mayella Ewell is powerful or not because Tom Robinson helped

her because he felt bad for her. Tom looked bad because he felt sorry for Mayella which was his

‘mistake’ and that makes Mayella powerful because of her class.

Another way to measure Mayella’s power is by her race. According to the book, ​To Kill a

Mockingbird​, “I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white

man…”(Document D). The quote means that out of all the trials Reverend Sykes has seen, he has

never witnessed a black person winning a trial over a white one. This quote tells how Mayella is

powerful by her physical attributes because since Mayella was white, the jury had a bias over her

instead of Tom, since he was a black man during the time of racism and discrimination.
 The final was to measure Mayella’s power in ​To Kill a Mockinbird ​is by her gender or

stereotypical roles. According to document B, “‘She reached up an’ kissed me ‘side of th’ face.

She says she never kissed a grown man before….She says what her papa do to her don’t count.”

This quote means that she is a woman, and she has never made much contact to men, exept with

her father. The quote helps support that Mayella Ewell is powerful because it would make people

fell bad for her because of her gender being female and that she has never been able to kiss a

male.

In conclusion, to answer the question on class, gender, and race: is Mayella powerful,

Mayella uses much pathos to convince more people to take her side on the trail, because she is a

woman and has never kissed a man. She is a white female going against a black male, which a

black man has never won a trial. Also, because of her class, making Tom Robinson feel bad for

her, which makes him seem like a bad person.