‘You felt
sorry for her, you felt sorry for
her?’
Harper Lee
has italicized the selected words in order to place emphasis, and convey the
attitudes of Mr. Gilmer, (As well as the jurors and the white audience) through
vocal inflections. Tom’s reply was elicited from Tom by t
he guileful Mr. Gilmer intentionally, because he knows that the jury will look
unkindly upon a black man who has pity for a white woman. Such an idea is distressing
and unpalatable for the jurors, because they believe that a person with white
skin is by definition, superior to anyone with black skin.
This misstep made by Tom during testimony is especially damning, because an indirect implication of ‘feeling sorry’ for someone is that you are in some way superior to the person, and this is exactly how Tom’s statement is interpreted by the incredulous white audience.
The expressed sentiment of pity would be acceptable coming from a white person, considering the condition in which she lives, but in the context of the racial standards of the time, Tom’s statement inspires enmity amongst the audience.
This misstep made by Tom during testimony is especially damning, because an indirect implication of ‘feeling sorry’ for someone is that you are in some way superior to the person, and this is exactly how Tom’s statement is interpreted by the incredulous white audience.
The expressed sentiment of pity would be acceptable coming from a white person, considering the condition in which she lives, but in the context of the racial standards of the time, Tom’s statement inspires enmity amongst the audience.
