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What are the differences between Tom Robinson's and Mayella Ewell's testimonies in To Kill A Mockingbird?

There are marked differences between the two testimonies and I will list them, showing the specific contrasts.


1.  Mayella testified that Tom Robinson only once came to their house. That was when she asked him to chop up the chiffarobe for firewood. Tom testified that she had asked him to do tasks for her on numerous occasions, so that had not been his only visit. 


2.  Mayella said that the day Tom supposedly assaulted her was the same day on which she had asked him to chop up the chifforobe, whilst Tom stated that she had asked him to do that the previous spring, long before the incident for which he was on trial.


3.  Mayella stated that she had promised Tom a nickel for doing the task whilst Tom mentioned that Mayella had only said that she might give him half a nickel, which he refused. 


4.  Mayella refused to testify about her siblings' whereabouts when asked why they did not respond to her cries. Tom said that she had told him that she had saved up seven nickels to send the children away to buy themselves ice creams.


5.  Mayella's testimony was that Tom came into the house after her and grabbed her around the neck, choking her whilst swearing and shouting out what she called 'dirt.' He beat her around the face and then threw her to the floor and sexually assaulted her.


Tom, in contrast, stated that she had asked him into the house and requested that he fix a door's broken hinges. When he discovered that there was nothing wrong with the door, he wanted to leave but she then asked if he could stand on a chair and remove a box from the top of the chifforobe for her. When he was on the chair she grabbed him around the legs which frightened him. He knocked the chair over and she then hugged him around the waist and kissed him.


6.  Mayella testified that she had been screaming, fighting and shouting throughout her supposed ordeal, whilst Tom testified that there had been no screaming at all, only that he had tried to get away from Mayella. He had pushed her and asked her to let him pass.


7.  Mayella's further testimony was that she only remembered her father standing over her shouting, "Who done it, who done it?" Tom declared that Mr Ewell had been shouting through the window, saying: "You goddamn whore, I'll kill ya."


In spite of the conflicting evidence, the jury still returned a verdict of guilty. Their judgement had clearly been tainted by their prejudice, even though Atticus had focused his closing statement on just such misguided lack of objectivity. The evidence obviously favoured Tom Robinson and the jury's final decision was a terrible miscarriage of justice. 


Tragically, Tom Robinson's attempt to help another human being for whom he felt sympathy resulted in his incarceration and then his death. 

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