Essay On Power In To Kill A Mockingbird

Words: 753

Pages: 4

Open Document

Power is the ability to influence the behavior or actions of others. It has been interpreted that throughout time race, gender, and class interlock to create power. That being said, these three categories put together simultaneously shape the experience of all people. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, class, gender, and race are the defining factors that show if a character has power or not. Many characters prove themselves to have power like Atticus and the Sheriff. On the other hand, some characters lack the requirements needed to be seen as powerful. For example, Mayella Ewell. Mayella Ewell is the white daughter of Bob Ewell, who is known for his short temper and drinking problem. In spite of her race, Mayella is powerless because of her gender and class.
Although Mayella may appear to be powerful due to winning the case, in reality, she proves herself to be powerless because of her gender. In this time period, women were looked at as the ‘inferior’ gender. In addition to already being looked at as an inferior to men, she is taken advantage …show more content…
Unfortunately in Mayella’s case, “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin. . . .”(Lee, A). Since they have no money and basically live in a garbage dump, the town looks down on them. As scout once expressed, “She was as sad, I thought, as what Jem called a mixed child: white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs” (Lee, E). Mayella is compared to a mixed person, which in the 1930’s is the lowest of the low in scout’s society. This is because whites would not want to be around a mixed person because they are not white, and African Americans do not want to be around one because their half white. No one wants anything to do with Mayella. Mayella is not powerful because of her ‘placement’ in her

To Kill A Mockingbird Persuasive Essay

Junior Rivera 05/08/24 CP English III Persuasive Essay Racism has been an issue in America for many decades. It has been a primary issue in certain forces such as the Police force, certain countries are superior in racism and are known as towns that aren’t substantial for black people. The prevalence of systemic racism in society is noticeable through disparities in access to resources, opportunities, and justice, necessitating comprehensive efforts towards dismantling racial biases and fostering…

Words 568 - Pages 3

1TKAM ESSAY PRACTICE

TKAM ESSAY PRACTICE Does To Kill a Mockingbird deserve its title as a classic of American Literature? Refer to the novel’s narrative elements in your response. Harper Lee is an American author of the novel called ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ set in the quite town of 1930s Maycomb and published in 1960. To Kill a Mockingbird deserves its tittle as an American classic novel. This will be proven through an exploration of the novel’s themes: loss of innocent, prejudice, moral education and courage. The Pulitzer…

Words 1570 - Pages 7

To Kill A Mockingbird Literary Lens Essay

Holdem Wright Ms. Peirson English 10c 15 May, 2024 To Kill A Mockingbird literary lense essay In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the book explores through a marxist lens, using Scout, the main character who is a young girl in Maycomb, a small town in Alabama who is torn between curtain issues. She is surrounded by sexism, racism and inequality. In TKAM Scout is raised in a white family with very morally accepting views on racism and everything that was just written down, she grew up to think…

Words 772 - Pages 4

To Kill A Mockingbird Family Quotes

To Kill A Mockingbird Theme Essay “I would fight anyone from a third cousin upwards tooth and nail,” said Scout Finch. The realistic fiction book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about two kids, Jem and Scout, who live through many different events like racism, social injustice, poverty and much more. They also have to deal with the death of close friends, there mysterious neighbor Boo Radley, being attacked, and other hardships. The book To Kill a Mockingbird shows a main theme of family…

Words 698 - Pages 3

English Reflection

word choice to a pristine level. My past experiences with writing have overall been very positive with a few bumps in the road. I didn’t truly grasp the power of writing until I was pushed to analyze books and passages deeper than I thought possible in 9th grade. I had Mrs. Minerich for a teacher and although I struggled to write top notch essays at times throughout that year, I was able to make strides in my…

Words 341 - Pages 2

Is Mayella Powerful Essay

Is Mayella Powerful? In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird most of the novel revolves around the case of Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell. Mayella put herself in a dangerous situation when she was caught with Tom, in order to save herself she claimed that Tom had beat and raped her. Tom was wrongfully convicted with the assault and rape of Mayella. The question is that through class, race and gender is Mayella Ewell powerful? No I do not believe that Mayella is powerful, whether she won her case or not…

Words 442 - Pages 2

White People and Atticus Essay

TKaM Essay Nobody is born being prejudice, we learn to be prejudice from the people around us, such as family, friends, and strangers. In the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, she shows us how racism can affect our lives. Racial prejudgement has a negative impact on the society, because it can cause unexpected conflict between each other. The first person to show racial prejudgement is Lula towards Scout and Jem. This happened when Calpurnia took the children to her church…

Words 1151 - Pages 5

Comparative Essay; to Kill a Mockingbird and the Colour Purple

One Will Take What He Is Given The purpose of Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is to demonstrate the hardships that are met when ignorance and tradition bring about the influence of sexism, racism and genuine prejudice to the general public. Ignorance is the root cause of prejudice as it prevents one to see beauty, so when it comes to dealing with the discriminating behavior held in this social order, the vast majority of people are judged by the label…

Words 3835 - Pages 16

English Essay Question 1

bEnglish Essay Question 1 “Prejudice, racism and stereotyping…forces us to examine the responsibilities of citizenship and confront the powerful ramifications of indifference and inaction”- Tim Holden Introduction: Using the themes of racism, prejudice and stereotypes forces us to examine the responsibilities of citizenship and confront the powerful ramification of the indifference and inaction which are depicted throughout Mississippi Burning and “To Kill a Mocking Bird”. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”…

Words 699 - Pages 3

What Is The Argument In To Kill A Mockingbird

The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” is a dramatic story that may play with your emotions, it is very cheerful and exciting at times but still can be unpredictable and saddening. The story is about the changes that the main characters go through over the span of three years in a secluded southern town known as Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. The argument that is going to be discussed in this essay is about Mayella Ewell, who is a “victim” of rape by an African American male…

Words 913 - Pages 4