Several significant pieces of evidence are revealed throughout Mayella's testimony in Chapter 18. When the prosecutor, Mr. Gilmer, questions Mayella, she confidently gives a recited account of what happened on the evening of November 21st. After Mr. Gilmer is finished questioning, Atticus cordially begins to cross-examine Mayella. Atticus begins by asking her several questions about her background and family which depict her miserable home life. The reader learns that Mayella's father is an alcoholic, the Ewells are dirt poor and filthy, Mayella's siblings are often sick, and Mayella is left to care for her siblings on her own. Mayella also admits that her father has an abusive personality when he is drunk.
When Atticus questions Mayella if she remembers being hit in the face, she says, "No, I don't recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me" (Lee 248). At this point, the reader can surmise that Mayella is lying because her testimony is conflicting. When Atticus asks her to identify her perpetrator, Mayella points to Tom Robinson. Atticus then asks Tom to stand before up, and the reader learns that Tom's left arm is severely crippled and useless. Reverend Sykes explains to Jem in the audience that Tom had his arm caught in Dolphus Raymond's cotton gin when he was a boy. Mayella goes on to testify that Tom choked her, released his grip, and threw a glancing punch off of her right eye. Atticus comments, "You're becoming suddenly clear on this point" (Lee 250). Mayella's sudden recollection raises several "red flags," as well as Mayella's refusal to answer Atticus' final set of questions.
The reader learns that Mayella's father was, more than likely, the perpetrator because he was an abusive alcoholic and it would have been physically impossible for Tom to have assaulted her. Mayella's testimony is also conflicting and deeply flawed. The reader learns that Mayella's story is fabricated and that Tom Robinson is being wrongfully accused.
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