To Kill A Mockingbird Chapter 18 Analysis

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How does Harper Lee guide our sympathies and present themes in chapters 17 and 18 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

During the court case the author uses Atticus to portray the change in mood of the book through the words “there was an edge to Atticus’ voice”. This shows the adjustment from the more childish earlier themes of the first half of the book, surrounding Boo Radley, into the much more serious world of the court case. Atticus loses his ‘comfortableness’ and becomes ‘arid, detached, professional’, which reflects the way in which the whole book becomes. The effect of this is that tension is created due to the shift in Atticus’ character - from the friendly, polite man to the professional lawyer. This intrigues the reader as it shows the book …show more content…
At first Mayella is described as a ‘young girll’ and ‘somehow fragile looking’, which makes the reader sympathise to the fragility of her caught up in the prejudices of America at that time. However, she is later described as more manipulative - ‘she’s got enough sense to get the judge sorry for her’ is what Jem says when talking about her. This can be likened to her father, who at first appeared not very bright but later purposeful;y turns the court house into chaos - he is shown as ‘sitting smugly’, which suggests his uneducated demeanour may just be a simple facade to appeal for sympathy and to create amusement. Through the words ‘there was something stealthy about her, like a steady-eyed cat with a twitchy tail’ emphasises the sneaky manipulation of Miss Ewell, and creates a related image which demonstrates the fact graphically to the reader. However, later on any sympathy towards Miss Mayella is taken away when she hesitates in the following passage; ‘I don't recollect if he hit me…. I mean yes I do, he hit me’. Through this the reader becomes doubtful of Mayella’s story and any sympathy is lost due to the harshness of her actions which ultimately lead to the death of Tom
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