Mayella's Confession and How Atticus Shows What a Real Lawyer He Is

In chapter 18 during the direct examination for Mayella Ewell, Mayella says that when she was rapped her father came in and asked who did it.  However, in Bob's confession he said that he saw Tom Robinson do it. Atticus then thoroughly questions Mayella and gets her to confess that her home life is completely terrible. If Bob and Mayella confessions don't add up, then one of them must be lying, or both of them. This shows that Tom didn't do it. Its simple there stories are so different that they have to be lying. If the Jury can focus on this then they will really see what truly happened on that night. This detail may seem minor, but just a minor shift in the confessions could alter the fate of the case drastically. Then there's Bob Ewell. During his cross examination Atticus got him to write his name with his dominant hand. His left hand. He even agreed with Atticus that the attacker must be left handed. Then when Mayella said that Tom Robinson did it they had him stand up. They then witnessed that Tom barely had a left hand. His hand was caught in a machine when he was young. Now he has a crippled hand that could not have possibly caused the injuries on Mayella. So this shows us that Tom could not have possibly have done it. Then there's the part where Atticus asks Mayella about her brothers. Why hadn't they come first instead of her father. Where where they?

Atticus throughout his cross examination proved what a real lawyer he was. When the testimonies of the Ewell did not match up Atticus was on top of it. Then there was the questioning of Mayella after Tom stood up. He asked mayella if it was Tom who rapped her and when she said yes he hit her with the most powerful one word question this world has ever seen."How?"  This question is so powerful that it pretty much destroyed Mr. Gilmer's case. Tom couldn't have chocked Mayella around the neck because he doesn't have both hands and he also couldn't have beat her on the right side because he physically can't. Atticus completely destroyed the states case because while Mr. Gilmer had the laid back strategy of just letting the towns ignorance do its work Atticus worked hard for it. He wants to win this case to save a life. Mr. Gilmer could care less if Tom dies or not, but Atticus does because he has a drive to let this man come home to his family. This shows us what a real man of integrity Atticus is. Not giving up and working hard for a man's life.