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In this trial, Atticus is asked to defend an African American
(Tom Robinson). This man has been accused of raping a nineteen
year old girl, Mayella Ewell. She, her father and the town
sherif say that she was hit fiercely on the right side
of her face. Atticus delivers a breath-taking performance
accusing Mayella's ambidextrous father of having beaten her after
seeing Mr.Robinson in their home. Tom's testimony justifies
his thoughts: he says that Mayella was the one who invited him
in and had any improper conduct. Apparently, her father
then came in and beat her severely. Atticus carefully prepared
this case: no jury had ever taken an African American man's word
against a white man's. For this reason, His
speech had a great impact on the jury who took a few hours to
decide that Tom Robinson was guilty rather than the usual twenty
minutes. |
