What Is Mayella's Power In To Kill A Mockingbird

In the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, an abused young lady named Mayella Ewell shakes the town with accusing an African American named Tom Robinson of rape. Mayella has no power and that will be shown throughout her life and what people have said and done to her. Mayella’s power is shown by class, race, and gender in Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird. When it comes to class Mayella has very little power because she lives behind the town dump, the windows were merely open spaces in the walls, and the so called fence was broken tree limbs , broomsticks and tool shafts. Mayella did not have a lot going for her because she tried to keep clean, but she was still considered dirty. She did not know what respect was because she has never been treated respectfully. “White people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among the pigs; Negroes (the Ewells’ nearest neighbors) wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white… Tom Robinson was probably the only person who was ever decent to her.” ("DBQ: Is Mayella Powerful" 19). This shows that nobody would even pay attention to her and all the town knew about her father

She does not even try to stand up for herself or tell Atticus that Mr. Ewell is abusive when he drinks. She is terrified by her father because he has more strength than her. What also hurts her is that she cannot vote, she has no job, and she has to uphold the southern girl outlook. Document B, box two, is says “...She reached up an’ kissed me ‘side of th’face… Tom Robinson shut eyes tight. ‘He says you goddamn whore, I’ll kill ya.” ("DBQ Is Mayella Powerful?" 19). This shows that she has no power because people think that if they catch a male and a female alone in a room together that something’s happening. This hurts her because she can not be in the same room with a male without people assuming bad stuff is happening or about to