In addition to the cogent points already made, in Chapter 18 of
To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella's testimony also reveals that she speaks
under duress as she attempts to remember what she has been told to say. Her discomfiture with
Atticus's civility also reveals, not only her backwardness, but her not being accustomed to such
treatment, suggesting an abusive relationship with her father, an important point as it creates
more credibility to Ewell's having struck his own daughter rather than Tom Robinson's having done
so. As she recites what her father has probably told her to say, Mayella twists her handkerchief
"into a sweaty rope." But, Scout remarks,
Apparently Mayella's recital had given her confidence, but
it was not her father's brash kind: there was something stealthy about her, like a steady-eyed
cat with a twitchy tail.
That she is
lying becomes obvious when Atticus asks her, "You are positive that he took full advantage of
you?" and her face contorts. She is also unsure of her age and asks wonderingly "Friends?" when
Atticus inquires if she has any; with this question she becomes hostile because she again feels
that he mocks her as she obviously has none and lives a lonely and pitiful
existence.
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