To Kill A Mockingbird Dbq Analysis

Power isn’t something you’re born with, it’s something you’re given, and you could use it in a good or bad way. This story was centered around the rape trial involved with Tom Robinson, and lost the case to Mayella Ewell. Besides the economic class, the role of women, and the color of your skin, the real question is how does power play a role in this? Because of her gender and class, Mayella is powerless, but her race makes her powerful. Although race makes Mayella powerless, class is one of the things that makes her less powerful. An example of this would be “Mayella looked as if she tried to keep clean, and I was reminded of the row of geraniums in the Ewell yard (Doc.A).” This shows that the people of Maycomb still look at her like she’s poor, no matter how she tries to look clean. Another example of this would be “ it came to me that Mayella Ewell must have been the
An example of this is when Tom states that Bob Ewell says to Mayella “you goddamn whore, I’ll kill ya (Doc.B)”. This shows that Mayella gets verbally abused. An example that shows Mayella is sexually abused is when she says “what her papa does do to her don’t count” (Doc.B). And an example of her being physically abused is when she said “Except when he drinking? Asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded.” (Doc.B). All of the evidence provided shows that because of her gender, Mayella has no power.
Even though Mayella’s class and gender make her powerless, the one thing that gives Mayella power is her race. An example of this would be in document C, when Mayella states that “ I don’t hafta take his sass.” Another example would be from document D, whenever Mr.Gilmer asks Tom why he ran, he said “I was scared,suh.” The final example of Mayella’s power because of her race can be found in document E, when Mr.Gilmer says “you felt sorry for her.” The evidence shows that Mr.Gilmer was upset whenever he heard Tom say he felt sorry for