Chapters 16 through 18 are focused on the trial of Tom Robinson. Chapter 16 picks up just after the encounter with the mob led by Mr. Cunningham. The children, especially Jem, are expressing their fear and distaste for Cunningham, and "Mr. Cunningham's basically a good man, he just has his blind spots along with the rest of us" (159). This is an example of Atticus's remarkable ability to empathize with others, and he is struck,...
Chapters 16 through 18 are focused on the trial of Tom Robinson. Chapter 16 picks up just after the encounter with the mob led by Mr. Cunningham. The children, especially Jem, are expressing their fear and distaste for Cunningham, and "Mr. Cunningham's basically a good man, he just has his blind spots along with the rest of us" (159). This is an example of Atticus's remarkable ability to empathize with others, and he is struck, as is the reader, by Scout's ability to make even Mr. Cunningham empathize with him.
Chapter 17 and 18 find Atticus in the courtroom. In Chapter 17, Sheriff Tate and Mr. Ewell testify. Here we are impressed by the skill Atticus demonstrates in his cross-examination of the witness. We can sense that he is beginning to cast doubt on Ewell's account of what went on between Tom and Mayella as he gets the sheriff to be specific about which side of Mayella's face was bruised after the encounter. Later he gets Mr. Ewell to demonstrate and testify that he is left-handed.
When he cross-examines Mayella, she echoes her father's testimony, but Atticus with great drama reveals that Tom's left hand is essentially paralyzed. It seems that Mayella is almost certainly lying about the incident (since the bruise was on her right eye), and that, as Atticus suggests in a question, that Mr. Ewell and not Tom was responsible for the bruises on her neck and face.
In these chapters, then, we see that Atticus is not just a decent man. He is a skilled courtroom attorney as well. Thus these chapters add to the image of Atticus as an appealing figure.
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