In Chapter 18, Mayella Ewell is on the witness stand. Atticus is questioning Mayella about the events that transpired on November 21st. Atticus asks Mayella if she remembers being beaten in the face, and Mayella initially says "no," then changes her answer to "yes." Atticus asks her to identify the man who supposedly choked and beat her, and Mayella points to Tom Robinson. Atticus then asks Tom to stand up so that Mayella can get...
In Chapter 18, Mayella Ewell is on the witness stand. Atticus is questioning Mayella about the events that transpired on November 21st. Atticus asks Mayella if she remembers being beaten in the face, and Mayella initially says "no," then changes her answer to "yes." Atticus asks her to identify the man who supposedly choked and beat her, and Mayella points to Tom Robinson. Atticus then asks Tom to stand up so that Mayella can get a good look at him. When Tom stands up, Scout mentions,
"He looked oddly off balance, but it was not from the way he was standing. His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shriveled hand, and from as far away as the balcony I could see that it was no use to him" (Lee 248).
Scout is shocked when she sees that Tom is crippled. Reverend Sykes leans over and tells Jem that Tom got his arm caught in Dolphus Raymond's cotton gin when he was a boy. He says that the muscles in Tom's arm were torn from the bone. The fact that Tom's left arm is useless is significant in proving that he is innocent. Mayella's injuries to the right side of her face, meant that her attacker led predominantly with his left hand. Tom could not have beaten Mayella with his left hand, but Atticus suggests that her father, Bob Ewell, is responsible for her injuries because he is left-handed.
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