Tom reveals to the courtroom that he had regularly
assisted at the Ewell place as he ‘felt sorry’ for Mayella being left with all the
chores and all the children by her father. He explains that she had asked him on that
particular day to ‘bust up a chiffarobe’ for her. Mayella had saved up enough money to
send the children off to buy ice cream – implying that she planned her encounter with
Tom to be unobserved. She tried to hug Tom and went to kiss him. Her father did observe
the encounter, however, as Tom tried to flee.
“She says she never kissed a grown man before
an’ she might as well kiss a nigger. She says what her papa do to her don’t
count.”
Tom was open and
honest in his testimony, but he had uncomfortably revealed the depth of prejudice that
existed in Maycomb. No one from the white community ever helped or acknowledged Mayella
and she was starved of affection and company. Tom Robinson, however, according to the
‘rules’ of Maycomb, should never have seen himself as superior to this (or any) white
person. His admission that he felt sorry for her was interpreted by the court as
arrogance and assisted in the guilty verdict.
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