Mayella Ewell Research Paper

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As class, gender, and race in To Kill A Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell is powerful, not by her class or gender, but by race. Mayella Ewell is a white, poor female, she lives in a shack by a dump among pigs and took place of her mother when her mother had passed away. She took care of her siblings, she cooks for the family and always takes a hit from her father, Bob Ewell, when he is drunk. Mayella is strong enough to fight that she is a woman and takes care of every one of her siblings even if they are poor. It must be remembered that Mayella is poor. She lives in a shack by a dump, the Ewells’ nearest neighbors would have nothing to do with her. She would save nickels for her siblings to go to town for icecream and she’d stay in doing her chores. …show more content…
She is abused at home when her father is drunk, she could not go to school because she had to take care of her siblings, and she couldn’t turn to anyone when she needed help. Knowing that she is a female is important because females never had as much power compared to males back in the days. The Great Depression took place in the 1930s, Jim Crow Laws of the time severely restricted the rights of African Americans. Mayella is white and has committed a crime on an African American guy, Tom Robinson, accusing Tom that he has raped her. As said from the Jim Crow Laws, “Any white woman who shall suffer or permit herself to be got with child by a negro or mulatto...shall be sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than eighteen months.” (DBQ Mayella, 7) Mayella had committed an exciting, though very dangerous problem.Never had the jury ever had to choose and decide between 2 different colored people before, it is more likely that the jury will take a white’s side than colored. All together, Mayella making advances towards Tom gives her so much more power, she has total control over him and she costs Tom his life. Mayella is powerful in how she got herself in and out of the situation she has created. Being white helped Mayella a lot because racism was still going on in the 1930s; however, in the end, Mayella won her case against
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