To Kill a Mockingbird

Mayella is called to the stand. Scout describes Mayella as remarkably clean in contrast to her father. Mayella seems very uncomfortable and immediately cries. She also demonstrates her resentment toward Atticus, misinterpreting his politeness and gentility as patronizing.

Atticus asks Mayella a series of questions about her home life. Mayella’s answers characterize her as a lonely, dutiful person who cares for the family in her mother’s absence and has no friends of her own. She also implies—through her resistance to Atticus’ question about how her father treats her—that Mr. Ewell is abusive when he drinks.

Mayella testifies that she invited Tom Robinson into her house to break up a chifforobe. She initially claims that she only invited him in once, then contradicts herself, saying she might’ve invited him in several times. She also contradicts the previous testimony about her injuries, saying, “I don’t recollect if [Tom] hit me,” then immediately follows with “I mean yes I do, he hit me” (210). Her testimony reveals the many glaring holes in the prosecution’s case against Tom Robinson.

Atticus asks Mayella if Tom Robinson is truly the man who took advantage of her. When Mayella insists that he was, Atticus requests that Tom stand. The courtroom audience observes that Tom’s left arm is crippled. Tom explains that he got his arm caught in a cotton gin when he was 12 and the machine tore all of his muscles loose. Thus, Atticus reveals that Tom Robinson was not physically capable of beating Mayella with his left arm.

Feeling exposed, Mayella protests to Atticus that his “fancy airs…don’t come to nothin’” (214). Court is then called into recess. Jem is optimistic about the trial, but Scout feels unsure they will win. 

Atticus calls only one witness—Tom Robinson—to the stand. Tom testifies that Mayella invited him in several times to perform small chores. One day, she sent the children out for ice cream with money she spent the year saving. Without explicitly saying so, Tom implies that Mayella did this to ensure she would be alone with him.

Tom then testifies that Mayella invited him inside the house, asked him to stand on a chair to reach something on top of the chifforobe, then grabbed him about the legs, leapt on him, and kissed him. Bob Ewell then appeared, screaming obscene threats. Tom ran from the scene, fearing for his life.

As Tom gives his testimony, Scout reflects on the loneliness of Mayella, noting that “white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white” (218) and that, ironically, Tom Robinson was the only person she knew who was kind to her.

Link Deas, Tom’s employer, then stands and declares that in eight years of work, he has never had any trouble with Tom. The judge angrily expels Deas from court for speaking out of turn.

The prosecutor, Mr. Gilmer, cross-examines Tom. When Gilmer asks Tom why he did so many of Mayella’s chores, Tom begins to explain, “I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em—” (224). Immediately, he realizes he has made a deplorable mistake, as the jury will be averse to the idea of a Black man pitying a White woman.

Dill breaks down crying; Scout takes him outside to cool down. Dill says he can’t stand the demeaning way Mr. Gilmer was talking to Tom. 

Dolphus Raymond—a local White man infamous for marrying a Black woman and fathering mixed-race children—is sitting on the lawn. Raymond tells Dill that he understands his feelings. He offers Dill a drink from a paper bag to settle his nerves. Scout is initially anxious that Raymond is giving Dill alcohol, but Dill smiles when he drinks from the bag, revealing that the drink is plain Coca-Cola. Raymond then explains that he only pretends to be a drunkard. He says his performance of drunkenness offers the town an easy explanation for his life choices.

Scout and Dill return to the courtroom and listen as Atticus gives an uncharacteristically-impassioned speech. In his speech, Atticus begs the jury to believe Tom Robinson, referring to the courts as the country’s great equalizers. His speech is interrupted by Calpurnia, who walks down the aisle toward him.