K.D.+TKAM+journal+2

KD Chapters 17-18: One Word __ Chapters 17-18: __ Unraveling In Chapters 17 and 18 of //To Kill a Mockingbird//, the court case between Mr. Ewell and his daughter, Mayella, begins to unfold. Scout, Jem and Dill watch from the upper balcony, without their father’s knowledge, invited to sit there by Reverend Sykes. Sheriff Heck Tate already sits on the witness stand, the first person to give his testimony. Mr. Gilmer, the circuit solicitor begins to question Mr. Tate. Tate claims he reported to the scene after Robinson allegedly took advantage of Mayella. Next, Atticus, defending Mr. Robinson, questions Tate. During this round of questioning, Tate describes Mayella’s injuries including one to “her right eye. [he] remembers now, she was bunged [sic] up on that side of her face” (Lee 225). After Mr. Tate, Mr. Ewell takes the stand. During his questioning by Gilmer, Ewell states he carried wood to the house when he heard Mayella screaming. He states he looked in the window and saw Mr. Robinson taking advantage of his daughter. Next, Atticus questions Ewell and finds it odd that Mr. Ewell did not call a doctor to tend his daughter’s injuries. Atticus asks Mr. Ewell to write his name on an envelope and discovers that Mr. Ewell uses his left hand when writing. The fact that Mr. Ewell seems to use his left hand most of the time matches his daughter’s injuries. Watching this and realizing what it means, Jem begins to think that Mr. Ewell injured his daughter. However, Scout does not think the evidence rules out Mr. Robinson’s involvement. She thinks instead, because the beating occurred mostly on the right side of her face, the evidence does point to a left-handed person, “but Tom Robinson could easily be left-handed, too” (Lee 238). Next, Mayella Ewell herself comes to the stand. She states that, before he left to gather wood, her father asked her to cut up a chiffarobe (a dresser-like item) but she felt too tired to do the job herself. Mayella decided to call over Mr. Robinson to do the job for her, planning to pay him a nickel to complete the job. She claims while she was getting the nickel he came up behind her. He then proceeded to choke and hit her. She claims she screamed and fought, but couldn’t remember anything else that happened after he began to attack her. Next, Atticus questions Mayella and finds that her father gets angry when drunk, but Mayella claims he never hurt her. Mayella then claims she cannot remember if Mr. Robinson hit her face. Atticus then asks Mayella to identify her attacker. She points to Mr. Robinson, whom Atticus then asks to stand. He stands, and according to Scout, “his left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side” (Lee 248). During his youth, Mr. Robinson had gotten his hand stuck in a cotton gin, which caused the damage. Mayella then claims that Robinson choked her, released her, and hit her with his right hand. At this time, Mayella’s case begins to unravel. None of the other children heard her scream, even though the dump they supposedly visited while the events took place had a location closer than the woods where Mr. Ewell claimed to have gathered wood. Atticus then asks if her father beat her, which causes her to become angry with him and the other members of the court. Through the various testimonies that point to a left-handed assailant, Mayella’s changing of her story throughout her testimony, and Mr. Robinson’s relatively useless left arm, the Ewell’s case against Mr. Robinson begins to unravel. Chapters 19-21: Robinson Trial Update A verdict has __finally__ been reached in the controversial Tom Robinson trial. The day’s events started with Tom Robinson himself coming to the stand. While on the stand, questioned by his attorney, Atticus Finch, Robinson stated that Mayella Ewell had asked him for help with her chores on numerous occasions. On the day of the alleged attack, he stated, she asked him to come into the house in order to fix a broken door. According to Robinson, no signs of damage to the door could be found. Ewell __then__ asked him to get a box down from the top of the chiffarobe in the room. He __then__ stated that it was Ms. Ewell__, in fact,__ who had made advances towards him. Robinson states that, at this time, Mr. Ewell looked in the window and yelled at Mayella. He __then__ ran off for fear of being arrested for a crime he did not commit. During cross-examination by Mr. Gilmer, Robinson stated he felt sorry for Ms. Ewell, who had nobody available to help her with the chores. Mr. Gilmer __then__ reviewed Mayella’s testimony and questioned Robinson about it. On numerous occasions, Mr. Robinson disagreed with Mayella’s description of events. __After__ cross examination, Mr. Finch delivered a closing statement in which he discussed the equality of all men in court when a jury is truly just. __After__ a long deliberation period, the jury reached their verdict. As the Honorable Judge Taylor polled each juror, each one delivered the same verdict, a resounding cry of “guilty.” Mr. Finch could not be reached __after__ the verdict for comment on the day’s events. Chapters 22-24: Advice to Scout Scout, don’t let Aunty Alexandra’s ways make you upset. Though to you it seems she is trying to change who you are and criticizes your friends, she is only trying to act in what she believes are your best interests. Aunty wants you to be a proper lady, but she should take your desires into account as well. Aunty should respect who you want to be as well as what she wants for you. Try to express your interests to her, she may listen. If she does, there is the chance she may respect your wishes and allow you a little bit more freedom. If she doesn’t listen or respect your wishes, don’t try to force her to listen. If you try to force her to listen, you’ll lessen the chances of her listening to what you want and will make her only more willing to try to force her ways onto you. Maybe the two of you can find some common interests and try to better understand each other. Maybe try something Aunty is interested in; you may find you like it. You don’t have to change who you are if you decide you like one of Aunty’s activities. If you express interest in one of her activities, maybe she will stop trying to force so many ideas on you. If this doesn’t work and she still tries to force her ways on you, remember that only you know what lies in your heart, follow it.

Chapters 25-27: Letter to the Editor (Response to HL’s Article in the Persona of Mr. Link Deas) To the Editor: It is truly a shame that Tom Robinson was found guilty. He had worked for me for years and I never knew him as a troublemaker. Based on what was proven in court, it seems to me that Mr. Ewell should have been the one imprisoned for beating Mayella. What’s worse now in recent news is that Tom is dead, and he will never even have a chance to make an appeal in his case. His attempt to escape could have been spurred by anything but, it is still a shame and my heart goes out to his wonderful wife Helen and his children. Though Tom is now dead and gone, Mr. Ewell still seems agitated. I have hired Helen and she feels that she cannot safely walk by the Ewells’ on the way to work because they will heckle her as she passes. I have tried to make Mr. Ewell, the leader of this heckling discontinue it. Recently he has followed Helen to work, cursing her, and trespassing on my property. I would think that Mr. Ewell is content having put a man who was likely innocent to his death through Mayella’s charges. Why does he feel the continued need to heckle Tom’s bereaved widow? It should not be allowed to happen. Helen and the children should be allowed to heal as any other grieving person should. - Mr. Link Deas

Chapters 28-29: Advice Response (Response to EM’s Advice) Thanks big sister. Your advice regarding should truly be helpful with all the excitement we have had with the stabbing, Jem’s injury, and Boo Radley. I can accept that Jem has different interests and ideas; we have even teased each other about some of the things we believed when we were younger. It was kind of him to take me to the Halloween gathering, though it became a more frightening night than we could have ever imagined. This advice will especially be helpful as Jem recovers from his injuries from that night. If he wants to talk about what happens I’ll be there for him like he was there for me when he took me to the Halloween gathering. However, in the case of Aunt Alexandra, she has stopped trying to impose her ways on me, at least temporarily. However, I’m sure once the excitement dies down she will begin trying to impose them on me yet again. As for Atticus, I’m sure he will want to talk to both Jem and myself regarding that night. He will probably want us to share our stories and try to comfort us. But, forcing it on him may cause him even more stress after what has happened with the death of Tom Robinson and Mr. Ewell’s threats. I’ll wait until he wants to talk about it. I’m sure the idea of letting others be will remain applicable for the rest of my days in some way, shape, or form.