To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 18, 19, 20.

First of all, I am loving these court case scenes. They're a lot faster paced than the rest of the book, and feel a lot more compelling to read. It's glorious. Carrying on, in chapter 18, I honestly thought that Mayella would have tried to abuse her status as a female to make the court give sympathy for her, as a "defenseless, stereotypical dame", or even act as a lonely and easily-manipulated child. However, she did the exact opposite, and said she fought back tooth and nail, something that would have at least thwarted off a one-armed intruder, buff farm worker or not. Atticus and his ability to speak, however, was a thing of beauty. The way he gently approaches Mayella, playing another gentleman, turning his back to her to give her space, and then slowly closes in for the kill, just the way it was subtly described was amazing to read. In chapter 19, I was reading through with heavy fear of the reaction of the court. In that time period, it's not only odd to hear that a negro didn't rape a white woman, but that the white woman was the one making forceful advances on the negro. Dill's reaction to the prosecution's aggressiveness is something that actually surprised me, since the other two children, Jem and Scout, act more maturely, or at least use more adult-like language, and childish innocence isn't something that is easy to spot in this book, and it being put in plain sight is like a sucker-punch in realizing who is telling the story. I don't have much to say about chapter 20. Atticus tried his best to do a wrap-up speech that would attempt to convince the jury to vote without race in mind, and I believe that was a very noble, but futile, action. Most people of that era can't exactly be swayed on their opinions, often using a one-track mind that is akin to a train without brakes. Also, Mr. Raymond was a very difficult to understand person. He wanted people not to understand him, so I don't feel as bad about that, but I can see where he would be coming from, given his circumstance.