TKAM – Chapters 17-20 – Flashcards

Heck Tate, the Sheriff, shared that Mayella Ewell was beaten all on the right side of her body. Atticus showed that Tom Robinson could NOT have raped or beaten Mayella because his left arm is useless. His left arm was hurt in a farming accident when he was a child. If the bruise is on Mayella's right eye, the person who hit her would have hit her with their left hand. Tom can't use his left hand. Later,he also shows that it is Bob Ewell (Mayella's father) is left handed so might have beaten Mayella when he saw her trying to kiss a black man, Tom Robinson.

We learn that there are many children, and one always drunk father. They are very poor and are abused by the father. Mayella in specifically is often assaulted by him. The family is so poor that they live at the dump and get food from the dump, never wash, and almost never have decent food. Only Mayella and the dad are literate (can read), and the rest of the kids go to school once a year only.

Ewell is left handed. Whoever hit Mayella on the night of the rape was also left handed. The brusing on her face, especially on her right eye means that someone was leading with their left hand. Mayella was also choked. Whoever choked her would have needed to use two hands. Tom only has one good arm (his right arm).

Atticus asks Bob Ewell to write his name to show what hand he writes with. By showing that he writes with his left hand, the jury can see that maybe Bob Ewell hit his daughter, Mayella, and NOT Tom.

Mayella and her father, Bob Ewell, are alike and different. The are different because Mayella tries to keep clean and healthy. She tries to take care fo the house and the kids. Bob, the father, does not care about keeping clean or taking care of the kids. They are the same because they are both telling lies in court. Neither care that Tom Robinson will be killed if the court finds him guilty of rape. They know Tom did not rape her, but would rather keep their family pride than tell the truth.

She is crying because she feels guilty. She wants people to believe her and feel sorry for her. She also might be crying because she thinks if she is upset they will stop asking her questions and leave her alone.

Mayella becomes very upset by Atticus's polite ways. She does not like being called "Ma'am". She is not used ot people calling her this. She thinks Atticus is making fun of her. Really, Atticus is just trying to be nice.

To the reader (me), Mr. Gilmer does NOT prove that Tom raped Mayella. It is easy for the reader to see that Tom's left arm does not work, so he could not have hit or raped Mayella. To the jury in the book, the jury believes Mr. Gilmer that Tom raped Mayella. They are not able to look past the color of Tom's skin. Our views are different because of discrimination. Back in the time period of the book, African American's were seen differently. As a person born now, I am able to see the facts and not just the color of someone's skin.

TOM's STORY: Tom walks past the Ewell's house every day on his way to and from work. Mayella had asked him to come in to look at the door because it was 'broken'. However, he saw that the hinges were working perfectly. Tom wanted to leave when Mayella asked him to come into the house to get something from the top of a large chiffarobe. That's when she came onto him. MAYELLA's STORY: In Mayella's testimony, she claimed that he had never gone into the house before and that she asked him to come inside to bust up a chiffarobe. That's when Tom so-called raped her.

Scout says Mayella is lonely cause Mayella's father was constantly drinking and her siblings (brothers and sisters) were not friendly to her. Mayella didn't go to school, her mother died, and she had no friends. Mayella doesn't understand what a friend is. She has seven siblings who she has no connection with, and an abusive father.

The relationship between Mayella and her father is an abusive one. He beats her and makes her do all the work around the house. Although she doesnt like what her dad does to her she puts up with it because she has nowhere else to go. Nobody in the town talks to the Ewell family because they are poor and uneducated. Maybe she falls for Tom because he is the only person outside of her family who talks to her.

Dill cries during the trial and has to leave the court room. The book does not really say why he is crying; however, it might be because he knows that Tom Robinson did not do it. He does not like the way Mr. Gilmer talks to Tom and treats Tom. He wants everyone to be nice to Tom despite the color of his skin.

No, she thinks Mr. Raymond is evil because he is white but lives with the black community. She thinks he always drinks whiskey (alcohol), but she later learns that he is really only drinking pop. He drinks coco-cola in a bag so people think he is an alcoholic and then they can tell themselves that is why he acts the way he does so they can have an excuse. He just wants to make life easy for the people of Maycomb and doesn't care what others think of him.

Mr. Raymond hides his coke in a bag, because he wants people to think he is drunk. If poeple think he is drunk, they will not give him a hard time about being white and living with black people.

Atticus says that the only think that Mayella had done wrong, was to tempt (flirt with) a black man "and not an uncle but a young, strong black man", and her father saw it. Now she is trying to erase the crime that she has done with another, by claiming that an innocent man (Tom) had sexually assaulted (raped) her. Her crime, as Atticus says in Chapter 20, is that she "was white, and she tempted (flirted with) a Negro."

atticus says people are not created equal contradicting the Declaration Of Independence because one man is smarter or always better in some way, but they should always be created equal the courthouse because, their color of skin doesn't matter, but what they bring to the table should.