To Kill A Mockingbird, written in 1960 by Harper Lee, is a classic in modern American literature, and a Pulitzer prize winner in 1961. The novel explains the very complicated, but engaging life of Jean Louise Finch, or as her friends called her, Scout. To Kill A Mockingbird tells the story of a town called Maycomb from Scout’s point of view, and introduces the audience to Scout’s brother named Jem and their friend, Dill. Scout depicts everything in Maycomb from the haunted house of Boo Radley to the rape trial of Mayella Ewell. The rape trial is the most important event in entire novel because an innocent man, Tom Robinson, is sent to jail on the credibility of Mayella Ewell, does this signify that Mayella is powerful? Mayella Ewell’s social
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Since the Ewells are in the lowest economic and social class, they do not have power according to their class. Although Mayella “tried to keep clean,” she “lived behind the town garbage dump,” which was not an acceptable place to live in Maycomb (Doc A). In the same way being in the lowest class made Mayella, according to Scout, “the loneliest person in the world” (Doc E). The Ewell’s were never shown respect, and this caused Mayella to be offended when Atticus called her “ma’am” and “Miss Mayella” (Doc C). Not to mention that she was always solitary because the Ewell’s “lived among pigs,” and therefore Maycomb citizens did not want to interact with her (Doc E). With this in mind, this all points to the fact that Mayella’s class does not make her powerful, but instead makes her helpless and …show more content…
During the Great Depression, race was a crucial characteristic that determined if a person was powerful or not. Whites were and still are in some places the assertive race; Mayella is white and therefore is automatically influential with white jury members. Tom ran away as fast as he could when Bob, through the window, saw that Mayella kissed Tom because he was in a “fix” (Doc D). Tom was not afraid of being arrested since he did not do anything wrong; he ran because he was scared of “‘[facing] up to what [he] didn’t do,’” which signifies that African Americans were undoubtedly guilty before being convicted (Doc D). During the trial, Dill began to cry because he despised how the persecutor “talked so hateful to” Tom and he also would not stop calling, “Boy” (Doc C). Mayella on the other hand was treated respectfully because she was white (Doc C). During the Great Depression, people were very racist and therefore the jury gave Mayella all of the
Since the Ewells are in the lowest economic and social class, they do not have power according to their class. Although Mayella “tried to keep clean,” she “lived behind the town garbage dump,” which was not an acceptable place to live in Maycomb (Doc A). In the same way being in the lowest class made Mayella, according to Scout, “the loneliest person in the world” (Doc E). The Ewell’s were never shown respect, and this caused Mayella to be offended when Atticus called her “ma’am” and “Miss Mayella” (Doc C). Not to mention that she was always solitary because the Ewell’s “lived among pigs,” and therefore Maycomb citizens did not want to interact with her (Doc E). With this in mind, this all points to the fact that Mayella’s class does not make her powerful, but instead makes her helpless and …show more content…
During the Great Depression, race was a crucial characteristic that determined if a person was powerful or not. Whites were and still are in some places the assertive race; Mayella is white and therefore is automatically influential with white jury members. Tom ran away as fast as he could when Bob, through the window, saw that Mayella kissed Tom because he was in a “fix” (Doc D). Tom was not afraid of being arrested since he did not do anything wrong; he ran because he was scared of “‘[facing] up to what [he] didn’t do,’” which signifies that African Americans were undoubtedly guilty before being convicted (Doc D). During the trial, Dill began to cry because he despised how the persecutor “talked so hateful to” Tom and he also would not stop calling, “Boy” (Doc C). Mayella on the other hand was treated respectfully because she was white (Doc C). During the Great Depression, people were very racist and therefore the jury gave Mayella all of the