Scout: Hey, Miss Dubose.
Miss Dubose: Don't you say hey to me, you ugly girl!
Atticus Finch: Did you rape Mayella Ewell?
Tom Robinson: I did not, sir.
Atticus Finch: Did you harm her in any way?
Tom Robinson: I did not.
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
2 quotes
Directed by: Robert Mulligan
Starring: Robert Duvall, Gregory Peck, Frank Overton, Brock Peters, John Megna, Rosemary Murphy
Continuity mistake: When Bob Ewell is on the witness stand and Atticus asks him if he ran for a doctor, Atticus is hovering over Ewell and his visible shadow behind Ewell reflects this. When the camera shifts to Atticus, he is a good 10-15 feet away. When the camera returns to Ewell, Atticus' shadow is still there.
Trivia: Gregory Peck won his only Oscar for his role as Atticus Finch in this movie.
Question: Why did everybody in the courtroom go silent when Tom said that he did chores for Mayella because he felt sorry for her?
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Answer: At that time in history, Tom, a black man, was considered inferior to Mayella, a white woman. When he says he "felt sorry" for her, it is interpreted as him thinking he is above her or better off in some way. Regardless of his good intentions, for him to think of himself as being in a superior position to help her was considered unacceptable because it was seen as a black person rising above their lower place in society.
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