Class, Gender, and Race in ​To Kill a Mockingbird​: Is Mayella powerful?

The book To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee includes the themes of

class, gender, and race. Scout and Jem are the children of Atticus Finch, who is a

lawyer in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus is the attorney for an African

American man named Tom Robinson. Tom has been accused of taking advantage of

Mayella Ewell. Mayella is a poor white girl who barely has any interaction with anyone.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell has a powerful role based on her race, gender

and class, which is demonstrated multiple times in the book. Since Mayella was white,

and Tom was African American, race was the most influential factor in the court case.

Gender was the second most influential aspect in the court case, while class was the

third most prominent part of the court case.

Racism is an important theme that occurs in this book; the book is based in the

middle of the Great Depression where racism was prevalent. In document D, Mr.Gilmer

is questioning Tom in court about why he ran away after meeting with Mayella. They

have the following interaction: “But you weren’t in a fix—you testified that you were

resisting Miss Ewell. Were you so scared that she’d hurt you, you ran, a big buck like

you?”, asked Mr.Gilmer. Tom replied with “No suh, I’s scared I’d be in court, just like I

am now.” “Scared of arrest, scared you’d have to face up to what you did?” “No suh,

scared I’d hafta face up to what I didn’t do.” “Are you being impudent to me, boy?” This

quote shows that Tom ran away from the confrontation with Mayella because he knew

that he was not going to win the court case that was surely going to follow his arrest.
During that time, if you were African American and accused of a crime, you were guilty

of that crime regardless of the evidence.

Gender is a main part of society, even back during the middle of the Great

Depression. Document B mainly has a gender theme due to the conversation that

happened in the courtroom between Atticus and Mayella. The following confrontation

goes like this: “I mean, is he good to you, is he easy to get along with?” “He does

tollable, ‘cept when—” “Except when?” 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.

“Except when nothin‘,” said Mayella. “I said he does tollable.” Mr. Ewell leaned back

again. “Except when he’s drinking?” asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded. This

quote from the book shows the reader that Mayella is clearly afraid of her own father

and of what would happen to her if she says the wrong thing. The readers of To Kill A

Mockingbird clearly know that Tom Robinson is innocent and did not do what Mayella

claimed that he did. Many fathers during that time influenced the behavior of their

children through tactics like intimidation. Girls were expected to obey their fathers, even

if it meant telling lies. Females were often controlled by the males in their lives and

Mayella was clearly scared of her father, which contributed to her falsely accusing Tom.

The three main economic classes are low, medium, and high. Document E best

showcases how the economic class of Mayella can make her powerful. “ Mayella Ewell

must have been the loneliest person in the world...white people wouldn’t have anything

to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn’t have anything to do

with her because she was white.” The meaning of this quote is that due to the economic
status of the Ewells, little to nobody will associate with much less talk to Mayella.

Nobody will expect the economically weak Mayella to lie in front of the judge and jury,

allowing people to pity her efforts to make her ‘home” as “nice” as it can be. In a court

case, the judge might favor the more pitiful person and ignore the facts in front of them.

The jury could be influenced by their sympathy for Mayella because she is poor.

Three main themes allowed Mayella to be influential in the court case against Tom

Robinson, which is: race, gender, and class. In To Kill A Mockingbird, this book is

mainly about how shallow the judicial branch was during the 1930s for the African

Americans that were being tried and put into jail for some crimes that they did not

commit.