A Controversy of Power
Power can often be thought of as a physical characteristic, that can be portrayed in the media as a large and muscular person that can throw heavy objects to far distances; however, it is not so often remembered that power can also mean, as stated from To Kill a Mockingbird Mini-Q (3), “Having the ability to change your own life, as well as the lives of others”. Power can be determined and affected by many things, but the three most significant ones are, gender, class and race. Mayella Ewell, a fictional character from Harper Lees, To Kill a Mockingbird, was a prime example of how that is, in fact, the case. She was a white woman in the 1930’s, with the lowest class in her community (other than black people), and her family was despised in their community. But when she called rape against Tom Robinson, an honorable black man, who was innocent, she won the case. So, is it possible for her to influence others with her reputation, gender, class and race?
Because Mayella was female living in the 1930’s, as well as in the South, she had little to no respect as a woman, giving her no power in her gender. It wasn’t just Mayella that had no power in her gender, it was all women living in her period of time. Physical, verbal, and sexual abuse, are just a few things that she endured through her father. Because Mayella can often be intimidated by her father, as a result of her gender, she wasn’t able to stand up to him, and his abusive characteristics towards her. But during the trial she indirectly admitted that her father was abusing her. In the quote, “… Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing. He sat up straight and waited for her to answer. … Mr. Ewell leaned back again.” (Lee, 245) This indicates that he was trying to frighten Mayella into not saying the incorrect thing, since she knew what would happen to her if she did. Because of her lack of self confidence against her father, she doesn’t even have the power to make a change in her life, and have her father taken into custody for the abuse that he was putting her through. Mayella was in a position of having to choose between lying for her father’s, already tarnished, reputation, and coming clean about everything that had actually happened that night. As well as when Tom told the jury that Mr. Ewell, had told Mayella “…you goddamn whore, I’ll kill ya.” (Lee 260), further proving that being a female in those times, and fraternizing with a man (a black man at that) would consider that woman no longer pure, and that she was living in an abusive home. Mayella is not given the amount of respect that any woman deserved, but she is given even little because of other circumstances. Still, Mayella had called rape against a man which was taken very seriously, then, as well as being a “Southern Bell”, like all women were. Her father’s abusive tendencies towards her made her even more insecure than she already would have been about having such low living qualities, Her reaction towards Tom was just her way of trying to reach out to the only person who would talk to her, because white people wouldn’t talk to her and nearly all black people wouldn’t either.
In addition to her lack of power in her gender, Mayella also holds no power in her class, either. Trash of Maycomb County, is what the Ewell family was considered. Primarily because their property looked like trash, and they looked like trash as well. The quote “He thought he’d be a hero, but all he got for his pain was… okay, we’ll convict this Negro, but get back to your dump.” (Lee 335), shows that even though the Mayella was able to lock up an innocent black man convicted, her family and her were still considered the lowest in class of the town. Maycomb knew that Tom was innocent, however, due to the fact that the Mayella was of higher a class since she was white, she subsequently won. Mayella and her father’s popularity and respect, most likely dropped even lower than before, because now all of the towns thoughts of them had been confirmed. To make it worse, Mayella’s class was already so low that she didn’t even understand the common courtesy Atticus was trying to give to her in the courtroom,
“‘Long’s as you keep on makin fun o’ me.’
Judge Taylor said, ‘Mr. Finch is not making fun of you. What’s the matter with you?’
Mayella looked from under lowered eyelids at Atticus, but she said to the judge: ‘Long’s he
Keeps on callin’ me ma’am and sayin’ Miss. Mayella. I don’t hafta take his sass, I ain’t called
upon to take it.’” (Lee 265)
Mayella assumed that Atticus was being offensive towards her, when he was only trying to treat her with as much respect as possible in the courtroom. It is obvious that because of her class, she had never been called this before in her life. Her class actuates more than just how she reacts to this, it also determines how much power she is able to obtain. People with a higher class, often have plenty of money, which leads to getting a higher form of education, which then turns into having the ability to gain more power, and being able to change more people’s lives and more drastically. Mayella’s power does not come from her class, if it did, then many of the black people in the community of Maycomb would be powerful as well.
Power can be most induced by your race. Race is, unfortunately, was the basic building block for all power in the 30’s. If you were a white person you more likely to be of a higher class, moreover being able to get a better education, and becoming a more intelligent person. But your race, could conclusively define the type of person, others thought you were. For instance, the Ewells could be the lowest class, but because they are white, they have an advantage above all the other black people, who work much harder than them. There are small things that would show the differences in how races are treated, for instance, in the trial, “‘Are you being impudent to me, boy?’ ‘No suh, I didn’t go to be’” (Lee 265)
Tom Robinson, is called boy, even though he is a grown man, but because he is a black man, he is treated with little respect as he deserves. While Mayella, is called ma’am, but shouldn’t, since she is not important to Maycomb County. Racism in Maycomb County is both a combination of the time period and the location. The south is rather notorious for being racist towards blacks, and considering white people to be of higher value. The Ewells took advantage of that, as in described in the quote, “…have presented themselves to you, gentlemen, to this court…confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on this assumption-the evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women…’” (Lee ) Because it was such a social standard, that white people be treated with more respect than black people, the all white jury, of course, voted to Mayella’s favor, even after all of the evidence that proved Tom Robinson to innocent. Even after their thoughts about Bob Ewell abusing his daughter, were confirmed. Through all of that, they still made their decision based on the race of Mayella and Tom. Mayella may not have much power as a woman, or in her class, but her race defines how much power she has, and how much power she has compared to the two other categories that define power.
Mayella may be weak as a woman, and her class may be the lowest of the low, but her race as a white person has a great effect on those around her. She was able to convict an innocent black man, just because of her race alone, even though there was plenty of evidence to contradict her accusation. If she were a white man, with a high class, and good reputation, imagine the influence she could have on people’s lives in those times… So, to conclude, Mayella does have power in her race, she has the ability to impact other people’s lives just by the color of her skin. She had the ability to end a man’s life because she was white, and he was black.