Why did Atticus ask Mr. Ewell to write his name?

Answer 1

Atticus had Mr. Ewell write his name to show that he was left-handed.

The girl was beaten by someone who lead with his/her left hand.

Tom Robinson could not even use his left hand, therefore he could not have beaten her; just proving further that the trail was a farce.

Atticus was trying to suggest that it was Mr. Ewell who beat Mayella, not Tom--Mr. Ewell was left-handed, and Tom couldn't even use his left-hand. Atticus then proceeds to question Mayella about her home life*, further driving his point home. Check out the link as well to get some more plot info.

*how her father is always drunk and angry and how she takes care of all her siblings on her own

Answer 2

Atticus wants to show the jury that Bob Ewell is left handed, and the abuse to his daughter's (Mayella) right side of the face was most likely afflicted by a left handed person. Because Tom Robinson's left hand was made useless as a young boy Atticus was trying to show the jury that it would be very hard for him to beat her in that way.

Answer 3

Atticus asked Mr. Ewell to write his name to show the court that Mr. Ewell was left-handed. This was important because the person who committed the crime was most likely left-handed, and it helped to discredit Mr. Ewell's testimony.

Answer 4

By 'him', I assume that you mean 'Bob Ewell' at the trial in To Kill a Mockingbird, the novel (and only novel) by Harper Lee.

Atticus asked Ewell to write his name during his examination to prove an important point: Bob Ewell is left handed.

To put this into context, a certain Black man, Tom Robinson, has been put to trial after he was accused of assaulting and raping Mayella Ewell (Bob's daughter). The first witness, Heck Tate (the sheriff), had already identified that Mayella had bruises around her neck (implying strangulation) and bruises on the right side of her face (from her point of view, as opposed to the observers - there had been some confusion about this matter during Tate's examination). The conclusion: she had been beaten up very badly. The person who had beaten her up must have been left handed as one only naturally uses his writing hand to hit someone, and must have been using both hands to strangle her all round her neck, where the bruises were.

Atticus aims, by proving that Ewell is left-handed, to show that Robinson is innocent as he also proves that Robinson cannotuse his left hand at all (due to an accident earlier in his life). Therefore, the bruises could only reasonably have been inflicted by a left handed Bob Ewell. Because Robinson cannot use his left hand, this also means that he could not have strangled Mayella. By proving that Ewell is left handed, because only Ewell, Robinson and Mayella were at the crime scene, it must have been Bob Ewell who raped and assaulted Mayella.

The is also proven by other evidence given by Mayella herself, like her admission that she gets on fine with her father except when he's drunk, leading us to believe that Ewell regularly abuses his children, using Mayella, his eldest daughter, as a sex-slave.

I hope you found this interesting!

Answer 5

To see if he can write with his left hand