Mayella Ewell is a controversial character in To Kill A Mockingbird when it comes to identifying if she has power or not. Power can be defined as “the ability to control one’s own life or the lives of others.” The definition of power can make this scenario able to be argued from both sides. Mayella Ewell has areas of power and areas of disempowerment but eventually, she fails to have the power she needs.
In the 1930’s a powerful person could be defined as a white male, who is adequately wealthy. At this time, women were considered gentle, not respected, and not equal to men. Women were expected to, “know how to be charming” and, “well mannered,and polite” (Document IV). However, because she did not display the correct fundamentals, any possibility of Mayella having gender power was eliminated. Since she did not meet society's interpretation of what a woman with power should be presented as, Mayella was later taken advantage of by her father during the trial. In the trial Mayella’s father shows his level of domination when he suggest to Mayella to watch what she is about to say as shown in the book, “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” …show more content…
Whether you were white or black was mostly what all the people of Maycomb County talked about. Tom Robinson, who is a black man, was wrongfully accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Mayella uses her racial power to bring this case all the way to the Maycomb County Court. During the trial Reverend Sykes, who is also a black man, states, “Now don’t you be so confident, Mr. Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…” (Document D). Reverend Sykes unmasks the cruel truth of how ignorant and racist the people of Maycomb county are. Mayella Ewell’s story is continuously protected by her race and she gets away with