How Did Mayella Ewell Gain Power?

Tom Robinson is an African American male who was wrongly accused of raping a poor, white woman, named Mayella Ewell. During the Great Depression, the Jim Crow laws (DBP Jim Crow laws 7) were put in place to segregate white people and people of color. The laws restricted intimacy and most everyday interactions between white women and black males. The laws were technically applied to everyone during the 1930’s, but males were especially protective of the women in the south. In a series of events, Mayella Ewell is able to gain power by using her race, gender, and class against Tom Robinson. Mayella is able to use people’s outlook on African Americans to her advantage in court and also the fact that she is a female. Although Mayella’s class isn’t her strongest suit, in the eye of the jury and everyone else in the South, no matter how poor you are as long as you are white you will have authority over African Americans. Knowing this, Mayella is able to find a solution to her father’s sexual abuse by gaining power through Tom Robinson. After the Civil War had ended and the Emancipation
Mayella Ewell lives with her father and seven siblings in a old Negro cabin behind a dump. Mayella acts like a surrogate mother to her siblings after their mother died when Mayella was young. Which means that Mayella is occupied with watching kids all day and is too busy to go to school. This makes her less powerful because although Mayella is pretty smart in the sense that she was able to use Tom Robinson, she is not smart enough to do much of everything else. “In To Kill A Mockingbird” Atticus says, “Okay, we’ll convict this Negro but get back to your dump.” (DPQ Mayella Chapter 27) This puts Mayella and her father at a disadvantage because other white people refer her as poor white trash who lives in a dump. Mayella Ewell will always be viewed as superior to African Americans but she would not be very much in white