We had left off at the end of chapter 16, where the prosecution was calling up Sheriff Heck Tate to the witness stand. The stage of trial would be case-in-chiefs. First Mr. Gilmer, the prosecution lawyer, is conducting a direct examination. All he does is ask Mr. Tate, in his own words, what happened from his point of view. Heck told him that he was grabbed by Mr. Ewell and told that Mayella had been raped and beaten. They then identified the man as Tom Robinson and Mr. Ewell brought him in. That is all Mr. Gilmer asked Tate. Then Atticus did a cross examination. He first asks Mr. Ewell if a doctor called to state that there was no medical evidence and that Mayella's injuries were not as serious as rape since a doctor was not called. Atticus also establishes that the attacker was left handed. Mayella had a black eye on her right eye, so that means the person was left handed, facing her. This narrows it down since there are not many left handed people. Then, Bob Ewell was called up to the stand. The judge had to warn him several times of language and the way he said things. Mr. Gilmer basically asked the same thing that he had asked Tate. Bob's story was that he was in the woods, gathering kinderling. He heard screaming, and saw Mayella getting raped and beaten, making him an eye witness. He then pointed, dramatically, to Tom Robinson and pointed to him. Bob Ewell said that Tom Robinson was already gone by the time he got to Mayella. That's where we stopped reading.
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| He Did It |
The first thing that I find interesting would be Mr. Gilmer's way of giving direct examinations. I feel that he is approaching this in a lazy and cocky way. I think that Mr. Gilmer thinks that he had already won because it's an all white jury going against a black man. I also think that Mr. Tate already knows that Tom Robinson didn't do it. He had a light bulb go off in his head when Atticus proved that the attacker was left handed. That is what I think. I also think that the thing that Bob did, pointing at Tom in a dramatic state, was a smart thing for being very uneducated. That would sway the jury's emotion and help the prosecution. The thing I'm most surprised with would be Atticus's way of cross examining is very impressive. He already narrowed down that the injuries weren't as serious as rape and that the attack was left handed!
I also think that Mr. Gilmer's way of doing things is kind of lazy but it is working out for him because the jury must be on his side not Atticus's. I also think that Heck tate knows that tom didn't do it, but for all that we know Tom could also be left handed. What Atticus did was very impressive because there are way way way(and more ways) more people that are right handed so he narrowed it down to very few people. I also like construction of your blog. I also like the gif, that you put in,and also the pikachu meme.
ReplyDeleteGood job on your summary of this chapter, you really explained it really well. I also think that the way Mr.Gilmer gives the direct examination was lazy. I also agree that Mr.Tate did know that was not guilty, and when Atticus said that someone that was left handed had injured Mayella. Overall good job on this blog post, I can see that you did put effort on this blog post.
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