TKAM Post

After Bob Ewell came up to testify, the next witness was Mayella Ewell. She was described as a thick bodied girl, walking up to the stand. Mr. Gilmer then presented his direct examination. Mr. Gilmer asks Mayella where she was and what had happened the night of her rape. She didn't want to answer, however, because she was scared of Atticus. Judge Taylor reassured her that Atticus would not do anything, and she continued on with her story. She was on the front porch and Bob had told her to chop up a chiffarobe for firewood, while he went off into the woods. She saw Tom Robinson walking by and called him over. She said she would pay him a nickel to chop it up for her. When she had walked inside to go get the nickel, that is when it had happened. She said he snuck up from behind her and surprised her. She claimed she hollered and fought back. All the sudden, she saw her father run in and yell, "Who had done it?". That was all from Mr. Gilmer's direct examination.

Next, Atticus came up to perform his cross examination. Atticus pretends to have a faulty memory. He asks her simple questions, like how old she was and addressed her with formal names like "miss" or "ma'am". She finds this insulting, and thinks that Atticus is mocking her. This tells us that she isn't really respected at home, and she's not very educated. Once Judge Taylor explains to her Atticus isn't being rude, Atticus then asks her about her siblings and her education. The Ewells aren't very educated, and she has to stay at home to work. Atticus then builds a picture of their homelife. The Ewells have to work hard for daily needs, and they are usually everyone for themselves. What's sad is that Mayella does not even know what a friend is. Then, Atticus proceeds to ask Mayella if she loves her father. She doesn't even know what this means, so she says he is tolerable until he starts drinking. Then, she claims that her father had never touched her. Atticus proceeds with his cross, and starts to boil on Mayella. He gets her confused, and asks if Tom Robinson was really the man who had raped her. Atticus made Tom stand up and Tom was crippled on his left arm. This makes it impossible for Tom to attack her since the attacker had to be left handed. Then, Atticus asks Mayella if her father was the one who beat her. She lost it and got into a dramatic rant, leaving off in a good stance for the prosecution, but not the defense.

First of all, I think that there's an obvious lie between Mayella and Bob's story. The first thing wrong with their stories is that Bob said he was an eyewitness, meaning he saw everything and who had done it. In Mayella's story, she said that her father ran in asking who had done it. This means that Mr. Ewell did not witness what had happened. The second one would be that Mayella was in charge of getting firewood. In Bob's story, he said he was the one getting firewood. There is an obvious hole in this part. I think it's sad that Mayella has to live with her father honestly. She doesn't know what friends are and does not know what really love is either. Her father probably abuses her, and he tried to make this a trial a cover up. The last thing would be that I was surprised that Mayella bursted out at the end. That was a good part on her end, but how will it affect the jury? Will the next witness, Tom Robinson, have a better influence on the jury because of his cripple?