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.
Factual error: At the beginning of the movie when Jem and Scout boost up Dill to see inside the courtroom, there is no way Dill would be able to reach such a high place with Jem and Scout's hands only going about waist high.
Factual error: Dill said he was from Meridian MS. When the Jem slapped Boo Radley's door and ran he told Dill to tell them about it back in Meridian County. There is no Meridian County in MS. Just the town of Meridian.
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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