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To kill a mockingbird harper lee analysis
To kill a mockingbird analysis essay
To kill a mockingbird analysis essay
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One day in Maycomb, Alabama during the great depression a young girl named Mayella Ewell was raped. This shows Mayella is one powerful young girl in the story To Kill A Mockingbird. It will show how she is power through class, race, and gender. First Mayella is powerful through her class ranking. In the story it said that the “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin…”.
In the novel, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Harper Lee categorizes power using class, race and gender. Mayella Ewell, living in Maycomb, Alabama, starts allegations that Tom, a poor-Negro man of rape. Living in the South during the 1930s could have been difficult but Mayella, a white women can make it. (“DBQ is Mayella Ewell powerful?” 19) states “-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around are women….”, meaning she will most likely win the trial because of her race.
Power, it is the most sought after quantity. Power can unite people together or disintegrate them. The kindest people on Earth can be corrupt if they had too much dose of power. ‘’To Kill A Mockingbird’’ expresses this abuse of power in its rich and delicate storyline. The setting takes place in Maycomb, Alabama.
Is Mayella Ewell powerful or not? Mayella Ewell, the poorest girl in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, living on a pig farm with her abusive father and in an abandoned Negro shack. The Ewell’s are the lowest of the low in the town of Maycomb, in rank wise and are not respected too much either. Bob Ewell, father of Mayella Ewell is an abusive man, sexually and physically and has an alcoholic problem. Mayella is usually beaten and sexually assaulted by him, especially when he is drinking, but Mayella has a plan that will let her be free from Bob.
The time period of the 1930s included The Great Depression, Jim Crow laws, and the Civil Rights Coalition, leaving hardships and crime in their wake. Harper Lee’s famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird that was published on July 11, 1960, gives the readers an insight of what it was like for her growing up in a small southern town in the 1930s. The events she witnessed growing up as a lawyer’s daughter during this time had significant influence for the best-selling novel To Kill a Mockingbird that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961, and became an Academy Award winning film in 1962. To Kill a Mockingbird has a strong theme of believing the good in everyone, no matter the circumstances. Harper Lee’s father, Amasa Coleman Lee, was a lawyer.
In the town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s, a young woman by the name of Mayella Ewell sets the town in commotion by accusing an African American man with rape. Mayella will be powerful like a hurricane when she is in court in front of the judge, the jury, and the community. The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee will show Mayella’s power by using class, race, and gender. Mayella’s class is not efficient, but she can still be powerful. In Document A it said “The Ewells live behind the town’s dump, in what used to be an old Negro cabin...
It had been a hot, humid day playing on the corner for Mississippi Joe and Willy Brown. Their white cotton shirts were completely soaked through with sweat and their throats were dry. They had received about two dollars from pedestrians, and were ready to end their day on the street. “I think it’s about time we head on over to the juke joint, Willy,” said Mississippi Joe. “You think we’ll get the stage tonight?” asked Willy.
Mayella was probably told by her father to accuse Tom Robinson. Her father Bob Ewell was a drunk and not so smart thinking of a man . He saw his daughter with Tom Robinson, and he wasn 't happy at all.
Although Mayella claimed rape, it still does not change the town’s point of view on her. “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin…. (Doc. A)” this explains and tells us that the Ewells are not rich nor do they have an abundant amount of money; since they do not have riches, that are not considered high-class nor middle-class, which mostly likely leads to the Ewells receiving little to no respect or value to the town. “White people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs (Doc. E)” this statement proves that, although she is a white woman, no one would get involved in her business or life because of her background and her “atmosphere”. “Long’s he keeps callin’ me ma’am and sayin’ Miss Mayella.
The events in the small town of Maycomb in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout’s childish perceptions develops higher levels of maturity in interpreting the occurring events, influencing her oblivious innocent character. The lack of understanding and awareness of her surroundings throughout the novel further reveals her progressing persona. Racism is culture and prevalent in the South throughout the novel, which exposes Scout to the complexity of interracial relationships in extending her and the community’s beliefs. Scout narrates the story filtering the way characters evolve into the novel. However, Lee’s use of double-voicing shows Scout through the eyes of a child, sees Calpurnia as strict and cold-hearted.
Because of her race, gender, and class, she is considered a powerful character in the novel In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella’s race gives her an incredible advantage, because society
They say everyone has a voice and should be heard but when an innocent African-American male is up against a young American female nobody listens to him anymore. In the novel To Kill A Mocking by Harper Lee, an African-American male is called to court for assaulting a young white woman, Mayella Ewell. Atticus Finch is his lawyer and will need to do what he can for Tom as this case will not settle well with the Town of Maycomb. Mayella Ewell did not grow up rich as she was in a lower class than others. She has 7 siblings and a father who drinks all the time.
Showing them the harsh reality of life with honesty and fearlessness. During this time the Great Depression was hitting the southern town of Maycomb. This novel compares many of its characters to mockingbirds, a symbol of pure innocence. One summer, Atticus, who is a lawyer, finds himself in the middle of a controversial case, involving a African American man, Tom Robinson and a white woman, Mayella. Despite the town throwing hatred towards Atticus and his family, he doesn’t back down because he takes pride in helping the innocent.
In this society it was taboo for a white woman/man to have any attraction towards a person of color. Mayella is so low on the social scale that she can't even get affection from a person of color. Mayella has
But she said he took advantage of her, and when she stood up she looked at him as if he were dirt beneath her feet.” Mayella’s loneliness and powerlessness drove her to have an affair with a black man, breaking a societal code. She is a victim of poverty because of the hatred and discrimination occurring in Maycomb. Although some might view Mayella Ewell as a victim, others might view her as a villain because she broke a societal code by attempting to have an affair with a Negro.
