How Does Mayella Have Power In To Kill A Mockingbird

Is There Really Power Here? Power is something we all want but only few possess. Power is a gift taken for granted by most who have it. In To Kill a Mockingbird, many characters and important items have great power. Mayella is a 19 year old, white, female accusing Tom Robinson,African-American, young man, for rape. Power comes into play very much in this situation. But does Mayella really have power? Some categories that her power is put into class, race, and gender. For instance, in everyday life we use class as a way of judgement. There are the richer ones, the middle class, and the poor, dirty, scums. Mayella was born in the lowest class. Being poor in Maycomb wasn’t uncommon but as poor as she was, it was a little much. Mayella tried to be normal compared to her family. When being described, “Mr. Ewell had a scalded look; as if an overnight soaking had deprived him of protective layers of dirt… Mayella looked as if she tried to keep clean,” (Lee 239) Mayella tried to be a decent person unlike the family she was born into. Even though she tries to be a different person compared to her family, since she’s so low on the social scale, no one bothers to notice. When it comes to

If you were Negro, you were either a slave, a crime committer, or just trash. Being white was the best thing back then. No one wants to get to know the Negroes of Maycomb so they assume many things about them. In trial, Atticus tries to explain Negroes are like us with this statement, “....have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court...confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption--the evil assumption--that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women…” (Lee 273). Being white took Mayella out of the question when it came to asking the truth. When it comes to race, Mayella has power over