Race, class, and gender are all things that made an impact on early society. If your race class and gender were all were right, you were bound to become a powerful person. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows how class, race, and gender all come together to rule society. Mayella Ewell demonstrates power because of her race, but shows no power in other aspects.
Mayella lacks power due to her gender and is not heard at times because of her gender. This is showed when Atticus says “I doubt if we’d ever get a complete case tried—the ladies's be interrupting to ask questions”(Chapter 22). Women were looked at as less than the men and were not listened to at times. Being a woman was not the easiest task back in the 30’s. Another example of a lack of power because of gender is when Atticus says "For one thing, Miss Maudie can't serve on a jury because she's a woman-"(Chapter 22). While the quote isn’t directed at Mayella it relates to Mayella as a woman because of the way women were looked at and sometimes told no because of what gender they were. What your gender was played a part in what you
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This is shown when Jem says "There's four kinds of folks in the world. The ordinary kind like us and the neighbors... the Cunninghams... the Ewells... and the Negroes" (Chapter 23). Class played a role in the 1900’s. If you had high class you were well respected, but if you were black you were treated with disrespect. Mayella was in the class right above the blacks and therefore was looked at as a downcast since she was uneducated and of low class. People referred to Mayella and her family as not belonging anywhere when they said “They don't belong anywhere... they're just in-betweens" (Chapter 24). Mayella was considered an in-betweener because she was the poorest of Maycomb's white population, but was right above the black community. Therefore she was considered an