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: Brock Peters, Frank Overton, Gregory Peck, John Megna, Robert Duvall, Rosemary Murphy
Factual error: The time period of the film is 1932. In the opening title sequence, you see someone playing with Crayola Crayons (I assume it's Scout). One of the Crayons is labeled "Melon". Binney & Smith didn't sell the Melon colored crayon until 1949. Crayons produced from 1903 to 1948 sold for a nickel and contained only eight colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, and black.
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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