Thursday, August 14, 2014

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, who does Mayella say she is afraid of and why?

At the beginning of Chapter 18, Mayella Ewell takes the witness stand, and Judge Taylor encourages her to tell the truth about what happened on the evening of November 21st. Mayella immediately begins to sob, and Judge Taylor tells her that she has nobody to fear in the court. When Judge Taylor asks Mayella who she is afraid of, Mayella points towards Atticus Finch. Judge Taylor is surprised, and Mayella proceeds to say,


"Don't want him doin' me like he done Papa, tryin' to make him out left-handed..." (Lee 110).



Judge Taylor then explains to Mayella that Atticus has no intention of scaring her while she is on the witness stand. Mayella Ewell fears that Atticus will expose her lies and make the jury realize that Tom Robinson is innocent. Mayella does not want her lies to be revealed in front of the jury and community, so she begins to sob in order to gain their sympathy. As was mentioned in the previous post, her antics do not work, and Atticus exposes her lies. 

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