to kill a mockingbird....?

Question

what did atticus try to establish by questioning bob and mayella ewell and by having tom robinson stand as mayella finally identified him? i don't get why he would go through all of that.....what was he trying to get at?

thanks

Answer 1

Atticus was showing, by questioning Bob and Mayella Ewell, that they were poor white trash and that Bob abused Mayella. He led Mayella to portray herself as a lonely young woman who would be desparate enough to turn to a black man for attention, even though she knew it was forbidden. Atticus made Bob Ewell out to be the villian of the piece, by showing that he, in all likelyhood, was the one that beat his daughter due to his being left-handed. Not many people are left-handed and due to the side of the face her bruising was on, the person that beat her up was left-handed.

He had Tom Robinson stand as Mayella identified him because then the jury and audience could see that his left arm was useless. He had caught it in a cotton gin when he was a child and could not use it at all, even to swear on the Bible. Therefore, he could not possibly have been the one to beat up Mayella.

Answer 2

If I remember right it.
For bob it was to show that he was left handed.
When Mayella identified Tom Robinson it show that his left arm was crippled.

What he was getting at is that it was more likely that Bob beat Mayella because the bruises were on the left side of her face, and that it would be very hard for Tom to hold down Mayella while raping her.
Thus, proving the fact that Tom Robinson was innocent and Bob and Mayella were lying.

Answer 3

I do not have a copy here a home, but I believe that Atticus, who was defending Tom, wanted the jury to get a clear view of the fact that Tom had one shriveled arm so that in later cross examination, he could prove that Tom could not possibly have attacked Mayella in the way in which he claimed he had. He could also have wanted to establish to the jury that Tom was an "upstanding" citizen with nothing to fear in these proceedings as he was innocent.

Answer 4

He was trying to establish that there are losing battles and that in the story tom robinson is a moking bird. Also he dies later in the novel in the prison. Also the class system has a large part in this

Bob is to state his credibility is falawed and mayella just to see if her credibility is also falawed.

also in that time the class system was the (Southern Cast System)

was white upper class men. White upper class women and childern below them.

Then middle class white men. followed by women then children.

Folowed by them was poor but with dignity white men, women, children

below them would be poor with out dignity (ewles) and it goes men, women children .

Then animals.

Then black people.