To Kill A Mockingbird Dbq

Power is one of the most sought-after things in the world. Everyone is on a different level of power where some have little of it and others have a lot of it but no matter how much power they have they always crave more. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is based in a small town called Maycomb, Alabama where a young white woman called Mayella Ewell lives with her father Bob Ewell. The Ewells are thought of as the lowest class because Bob Ewell spends all his checks on liquor and does not support Mayella and her other 7 siblings. Who now live like pigs next to the African Americans which is the only class they are above because of the racial discrimination that is present in Maycomb. TKAM is about the rape trial of Mayella Ewell who accused Tom

As a woman in the 1930’s she faced beatings from her father who she says “does tollable” “Except when he’s drinking.” (Doc B). She is also more open to being a victim of sexual assault from people such as an abusive father “she says what her papa do to her don’t count.” (Doc B) This shows that Mayella as a woman is more vulnerable to beatings and even sexual assault which would not be such an issue if she was a man. When Mayella says “what her papa do to her don’t count” This means that her father sexually abuses her because this was said in Tom Robinsons examination during the trial when he says his point of view of the story and says that Mayella said “I aint ever kissed a grown man before.” So, we can assume when she says what her papa does to her doesn’t count that she means sexual abuse. During the trial Bob Ewell is also jumpy during the topic of him abusing Mayella this happens when Atticus Finch which is Tom Robinsons lawyer asks Mayella if he is “easy to get along with.” (Doc B) This shows that she is abused by her father because as soon as that topic came up, he stopped leaning his chair sat up straight and looked at Mayella. So, from that body language it is obvious that he is worried that she will tell them that yes, he does beat her when he is drunk which he does not want her to say for obvious reasons. This is why Mayella is less powerful because of her

They are disreputable and people always tell the Ewells to “get back to your dump.” (Doc E). The Ewells are also negligible partly because of their living conditions so the rest of their community say that they live like pigs and “White people wouldn’t have anything to do with her.” (Doc E). Since no one wanted anything to do with the Ewells, Mayella was just an outcast to the rest of the community and must have never had friends or anyone to talk to other than Tom Robinson. Mayella must have been crestfallen most of her life because she never had any friends and never had a social life. But Mayella “looked as if she tried to keep clean” this includes keeping herself clean and her belongings like her little section in the garden. (Doc A) Since her father spends all his paychecks on liquor and never takes care of his children and house Mayella must try and keep clean by herself. This is sad to see because Mayella is restricted by what she can do because of her father's irresponsible spending habits that keep them in a low class and abusive household. This is why Mayella's class makes her less powerful outside of court and in Maycomb’s