This is a mistake because by saying this Tom is taking pity on Mayella, this is suggesting that Tom is "higher" or greater than Mayella. In that time frame, blacks were never to be greater than whites.
Tom says that he felt sorry for her. A black man is not "supposed" to feel sorry for a white woman.
Because he feels mighty sorry for her. (although black men aren't meant to feel sorry for whites.)
Tom Robinson told Mr. Gilmer that he felt sorry for Mayella Ewell.
The mistake that tom makes when Mr. Gilmer asked him to explain why he helped mayella was him responding by saying he felt sorry for her.
He said that he felt sorry for Mayella Ewell.
because how she was poor and her dad treated her like he does.
Mr. Ewell and Mayella claimed that Tom Robinson beat and raped Mayella. The truth is that Mayella threw herself at Tom and Bob Ewell caught her and beat her.
Mayella had Tom chop different things on different days over a period of months. One time it was wood, another time a type of dresser. Tom did the chores because Blacks could not refuse a White woman, and because he felt sorry for her.
Mayella Ewell falsely accused Tom Robinson, a black man, of raping her. In reality, Mayella tried to seduce Tom, and when her father caught her, she accused Tom to cover up her actions and protect her reputation. Tom was innocent, but due to the racial prejudice of the time, he was found guilty and ultimately killed.
She made a completely ridiculous claim that Tom, who has a crippled left arm, snuck up on her, started strangling her with one hand, and threw her to the ground. He then allegedly got on top of her, started beating up the wrong side of her body, and raped her. This is the equivalent of saying a guy in a wheelchair kicked a man to death.
When he said that he felt bad for her it hurt him because it showed that he didnt know his "place"
Tom Robinson testifies that Bob Ewell, Mayella's father, was the one who harmed her.