There are several reasons as to why Mayella Ewell chose to falsely accuse Tom Robinson of assaulting and raping her. After Mayella's father had witnessed her kiss Tom, he beat her badly. She not only felt ashamed for breaking the taboo of tempting a black man but also wanted to protect her father. If she would have stated that her father assaulted her for kissing Tom Robinson, Bob would have gone to jail, and her reputation would have been ruined throughout the community. Atticus addresses Mayella's motivation for fabricating the story by mentioning that she felt guilty for breaking the "time-honored code" of society. Her first reaction was to destroy all of the evidence, so she lied about Tom Robinson raping her. Mayella also felt confident that the jury would accept her testimony for the simple fact that she was white.
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