Race, class, and gender have established power since the dawn of time. Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird, uses power to show the lack of respect and rights of black people. Mayella, a white and southern woman, claims that Tom Robinson, a black man, has raped her and gets him killed. Mayella uses her power through race and gender to overcome Tom’s power and ultimately wins her the case and Tom’s death. Overall, Mayella has so much power through race and gender that it makes her more powerful than Tom in spite of her lack of class power.
Mayella is a white woman fighting against a black man which gives her racial power. Reverend Sykes says that “I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…” (Lee, D). …show more content…
Jim Crow laws were put in place to protect southern women from black men: “Southerners continued to use racism as a tool for re-election, scaring their constituents by claiming that ‘white womanhood’ was endangered by the loss of states' rights to control the blacks of the South.” (V). The Jim Crow Laws were put in place to limit black men’s rights around white women. They used these laws to protect womanhood in the south. Atticus tells everyone at the court that “‘the evil assumption—that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber.’” (Lee, D). Mayella is protected by the court because she is a southern woman who has accused a black man of raping her. The court is willing to protect the purity of southern womanhood even if it means taking the life of a man. Finally, Mayella’s southern womanhood makes her more powerful than Tom because she is able to use it to control his life.
Tom has more class power than Mayella, but her gender and race make her more powerful overall. He works hard to help Mayella without even asking for payment: “Mr. Gilmer smiled grimly at the jury. ‘You’re a mighty good fellow, it seems— did all this for not one penny?’ ‘Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em—’” (Lee, E). Tom knows to not ask for money from her because she is poor and he probably makes more money than her. He has class power over Mayella, but she is more powerful overall. In conclusion, Mayella is more powerful than Tom despite of his class