CH+17-18

Characters Mr. Gilmer: He is the solicitor and not well know in Maycomb and only seen around when court convened. Mayella: The oldest Daughter of the Ewell family. She is the accuser and is also the victim of a terrible situation.

Chapter 17 ​Chapter 17 is one of the most important chapters in "To Kill a Mocking Bird". Mr. Gilmer is the prosecutor. In this chapter he asks Heck Tate to tell him all he knows about the night everything started to happen. He tells the jury that Bob Ewell told him to go into the Ewell household and that his daughter had been raped. Heck Tate finally arrives at the scene and finds Mayella injured, battered and badly bruised, she tells Heck Tate that it was Tom Robinson who had raped her. Atticus asks questions and investigates everything that happened that day. He tells the jury how no doctor was called to the crime scene that day, __and also describes the bruises and how they were positioned on her body__ (very important). After Tate is finished talking Ewell is called to the stand.

Background on The Ewell Family ​Bob Ewell is a drunk, and has been unemployed for quite some time. His family is the poorest in the town. Ewell is characterized as poor, filthy, ignorant, in extreme need, and unintelligent.

Ewell tells the jury that after he had finished working in the woods, he heard his daughter screaming and yelling. When he got close enough to the house to see in the window he saw Tom Robinson raping Mayella. Of course, Tom ran. After that Ewell ran inside to see if his daughter was ok. Once he did so he ran to find the sheriff. At this moment in court Atticus stopped Ewell and asked him why a doctor wasn't called. Ewell describes "it was too expensive and there was no need." Atticus began running all the clues and facts thoroughly through his head. He remembered hearing about Mayella having bruises on the right side of her face. Atticus asked Ewell to write his name... and noticed he was left handed. The jury comes to the conclusion that a left-handed man would be more apt to leave bruises on the right side of the girls face. ​ ​ Chapter 18:

In Chapter 18 Mayella is called to the witness stand by Mr. Gilmer. After a few questions have been asked about what happened she begins to cry and mentions how she is fearful of Atticus and his scare tactics to get questions answered. As Mr. Gilmer continues asking questions he and the witness are beating around the bush, and not giving any details. Soon it's Atticus' turn to question and in doing so he starts by getting to know Mayella and her situation with her living conditions and family. He again states her age (19 yrs old) and asks is she is the oldest of the Ewell children, what is life like, how does her father treat her, and so on. She has difficulty answering some of the questions, so a a result many answers didn't match up with previous answers by other witness'. All of these questions and her answers are set to build up to the final question ask by Atticus, which is if her father did indeed raped her. Atticus also asks Mayella to carefully look at Tom and clearly I.D. him as the man who raped her. Tom is also asked to stand up, and it is revealed that Tom Robinson has a crippled left hand/arm. His arm was caught in a cotton gin when he was a boy and has left him with an arm 12 inches shorter than his right. As a result many assumptions are made about what really happened, and if Tom could of grabbed, beat and raped Mayella (with being a cripple in all). After her questioning she still claims that Tom raped her, and then a recess is called.

Pilgrimage: Is a long journey or search of great moral significance. Articulate: Endowed with the power of speech. Lavations: To refresh or soothe as if by washing. Chiffarobe: Is a closet-like piece of furniture that combines a long space for hanging clothes. Cotton gin: Is a machine that quickly and easily separates the cotton fibers from the seeds

Chiffarobe Cotton gin

Miss Mayella presents herself as a sad lonely character. What tells us such. Do we pitty her? What emotions do we have for her if any. Does she deserve our pitty, sympathy, or discust?
 * SAHLI SAYS **

Miss Mayella presents herself as a sad lonely character for the trial in order for the Ewells to win the case. Would the jury believe that Mayella had been raped if she was all smiles and gung ho? We pitty Mayella becuase she is putting on a false front in order to put an innocent man (Tom Robinson) in jail. However, we do have to take in to consideration if Mayella were to tell the truth to the jury. Would her father punish her and possibly abuse her more?