The Proceedings

The Proceedings

Megan Tattitch
Chapters 17, 18, 19, & 20
May 1, 2008

In chapter 17, the prosecutor Mr. Gilmer interrogates Mr. Heck Tate about his part in the raping of Mayella Ewell. Mr. Heck Tate said that Bob called him and told him that Mayella had been raped so he rushed over there to check out the crime. When Mr. Heck Tate got there he saw that Mayella was beaten and bruised. Many of the bruises on her face seem to be on her right side. Then, he leaves the stand, and Bob Ewell is called to the stand. Bob said that he was working in the woods, when he heard his daughter yelling. He ran to see what was happening when he looked in the window and supposedly saw Tom raping Mayella. Then, Atticus starts to question Bob Ewell, and had him right his name. He saw that Bob is left handed, and someone left handed would be more likely to bruise only the right side of a girl’s face.
In chapter 18, Mayella is called to the stand. Mayella’s story is she saw Tom passing by and asked him to help her chop a dresser for her. When they got inside, Tom grabbed her and took advantage of her. When Atticus was questioning her, it was clear that she had no friends, and her father was drunk all the time. Then, Atticus starts to really interrogate her and he asked her how Tom could beat up only the right side of her body and face, when his left hand is clearly useless. He tried to get her to admit that it was her father that beat her and there was actually no rape. Mayella gets very angry and starts to yell at him, and yells to the crowd that they would all be cowards if they did not convict Tom Robinson. She then would not answer anymore questions, so she left the stand, and Tom came up to the stand.
In chapter 19 Tom tells us his side of the story. He says that everyday he has to pass by the Ewell’s house because he doesn’t know any other way. Mayella always asks him to do jobs for her because she doesn’t have anyone else to help her. He was just being a gentleman by helping her. Then,...

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