When Atticus first has the opportunity to question Mayella Ewell, he speaks in a friendly and courteous tone to disarm her and to help her feel less nervous. He smiles at Mayella while speaking to her, but she still looks at him suspiciously and accuses him of mocking her with his polite tones. Mayella's resistance to Atticus is explained by her observation of Atticus's questions to her father.
At this point, Atticus's tone of voice changes, and he sounds startled by Mayella's accusation. After the judge explains that Atticus is simply a polite person with polite ways, Atticus takes a brisker, more businesslike tone; he makes less obvious effort to put Mayella at ease now that he sees that his attempts to do so are having the opposite of the intended effect.
Atticus's tone changes during his cross-examination of Mayella Ewell as she begins to contradict her earlier statements. At the beginning of Atticus's cross-examination, Atticus has a calm, friendly tone, which is illustrated by his laid-back, gentle demeanor. Atticus understands that Mayella views him as hostile and is attempting to present himself as a considerate, trustworthy person. He also asks her easy questions about her background and does not interrupt her while she is speaking. As the cross-examination progresses, Atticus's tone can be described as direct and critical. He pays particularly close attention to each one of Mayella's statements and critiques her answers. When Mayella begins to contradict her testimony, Scout mentions,
"Atticus’s voice had lost its comfortableness; he was speaking in his arid, detached professional voice" (Lee, 188).
Atticus's tone quickly changes and can be described as authoritative, detached, incredulous, and challenging as he proceeds to rain down questions on Mayella that she refuses to answer. Scout mentions that it was obvious that Atticus did not enjoy startling Mayella, but it was necessary in order to expose her as a liar.
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