To Kill a Mockingbird

In chapters 16 and 17 based on the evidence did tom robinson rape Mayella? Cite specific evidence from the novel to support your answer

to kill a mockingbird

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No, he did not. When Atticus asks Mayella if she remembers being beaten in the face, and Mayella first says no, but then yes. Atticus asks her to identify the man who raped her, and Mayella points to Tom, who Atticus asks to stand. Everyone in the courtroom notices that Tom's left arm is twelve inches shorter than his right, due to an accident in his youth when the arm got stuck a cotton gin. Atticus asks for more details about the struggle, then he asks many questions which Mayella doesn't answer: Why didn't the other children hear her screaming? Where were they? Why didn't they come running? Did she start screaming when she saw her father in the window? Did she get beaten up by her father, not Tom Robinson?

Source(s): http://www.gradesaver.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/study-guide/section3/