Chapter 18: Mayella's Direct Examination and Cross Examination

     In this chapter Mayella gets up to testify what happened that day, the day Tom Robinson took advantage of her.  In her direct examination she says that it all started when her dad told her to chop a chiffarobe while he went to the woods. She said she was tired and didn't feel like chopping the chiffarobe for fire, she saw Tom Robinson and asked him to chop it instead. Mayella would get him a nickel and Tom took the opportunity to get her by her neck and started to cuss at her. He then took advantage of her while she was screaming and fighting against him. Then next thing she knows her dad is un top of her asking who had done it to her and then her dad went call Mr. Tate and her story stops there. And even before her examination she said she was scared of Atticus because she didn't want to get called out like his dad, but why would she be scared of that? This gives us a clue she could be potentially lying and Bob's and her story don't match.
     One part that didn't match up is that why would Bob ask Mayella who did it if he claimed he had been witness of the rape? He claimed to be an eye witness of what had happened to her daughter but why would he ask that if he already knew the answer. He even stood up and pointed at Tom and told everyone he had seem him raping his poor Mayella. Another hole in their confessions is that Bob never mentions anything of a Chiffarobe and he said he went into the woods to get some firewood but In Mayella's testimony, her dad made her chop the chiffarobe for firewood. They really didn't need a lot of wood considering they lived in Alabama. In my opinion Bob and Mayella are both lying, if they were telling the truth then both stories would of matched and Mayella wouldn't of been scared of Atticus, she swore to tell the truth but I guess neither Bob or Mayella are telling the truth. If Tom is found guilty then he will die, I would just confess the truth. There is no need to kill an innocent men, they wouldn't only be affecting Tom, they would be affecting his whole family.
      And we also read her cross-examination. Atticus was trying to paint a picture of Mayella's home life. She even took offense when Atticus called her "ma'am" or "miss Mayella" because she taught he was mocking her but he just wanted to be nice to her. From this we can get that no one has spoken to her in a courteous way before. He also got her to confess that her dad became violent when he drank. She said that they got their water from a spring near the dump which is why most her of her siblings got ill and sick. And her dad would leave with the money he got and would not return for a couple days and when he returned he was sick and Mayella was the one who had to take care of him. Atticus also pointed out that Mayella had barely education but she said that two members of the family being able to read and write was enough. This all reflected badly on Bob and it potentially made everyone feel bad. Mayella didn't know what love was or what friends meant...she was always at home helping Bob with her sibling. Also, Atticus smartly pointed that Tom couldn't of been the one who had raped or abused of Mayella because Tom was cripple on the left side. Maylla had been hit on her right side which meant that someone left handed had to done it and Bob is Left handed.
     In my opinion like I said before, I think Bob is the one who beat Mayella because he is left handed and because Tom is crippled. However, sadly I think Tom will be found guilty because the jury will probably ignore the facts Atticus has started. They will probably let their protective side come out and they will find Tom guilty because they think by doing that they are protecting Mayella from danger. However, if they do find him guilty they won't be protecting her the real danger, Bob. But hopefully they use their reasoning to realize that Tom is not guilty and that he has kids and a wife who are waiting for him.