In To Kill a Mockingbird, why does Atticus question Mayella about her lack of friends?

In Chapter 18, Mayella Ewell is called to take the stand. The prosecutor asks her to explain what had happened to her. She goes on to tell the court that Tom attacked her and raped her. When Atticus gets the chance to ask his own questions, Mayella shows a tremendous amount of anger towards Atticus. She accuses Atticus of making fun of her by calling her ma'am and Miss Mayella. The judge assures her that Atticus is just being the way he always is in the courtroom. Atticus is trying to make a point when he asks Mayella about having any friends.

"Miss Mayella," said Atticus, in spite of himself, "a nineteen-year-old girl like you must have friends. Who are your friends?"
The witness frowned as if puzzled. "Friends?"
"Yes, don't you know anyone near your age, or older, or younger? Boys and girls? Just ordinary friends?"
Mayella's hostility, which had subsided to grudging neutrality flared again. "You makin' fun o' me agin Mr. Finch?"
Atticus let her question answer his.

Atticus is trying to get the jury to see that Mayella is a young girl who was left at home with seven younger siblings to take care of, and that she was a lonely young woman. Atticus is proving that Mayella just wanted some attention, and since Tom was a willing person who good-naturedly helped her she tried to make an advance to him. The whole question about her friends proves that Mayella has no friends and wants someone to show her some kind of attention.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, why does Atticus question Mayella about herself and her family?

Mayella Ewell has accused Tom Robinson of attacking and raping her, and Atticus is Tom's defending lawyer. We know several things about Atticus: he is a compassionate man, and he is Tom's best chance at a fair trial. Most importantly, Atticus tells Scout in chapter 3 that "you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view," and it is just this perspective that Atticus brings to Tom's defense. In order for jurors to understand what really happened to Mayella Ewell, he needs the jurors to consider Mayella's point of view.

Atticus is well aware of the kind of life Mayella has lived, and it brings him pain to expose the details of her miserable existence to the entire courtroom. Scout notes that near the beginning of Atticus's questioning, he walks to the witness stand like "he was trying to come to a decision about something." And later, when Mayella is nearing her breakdown, Scout notices that "when Atticus turned away from Mayella he looked like his stomach hurt." Atticus understands what he has intentionally exposed.

But, by providing the context of her family life, the jury learns how Mayella is not a credible witness. Her father is an alcoholic and drinks away the money they could use for food. The kids are forever sick and generally unhealthy. Mayella's father has taught her that education is not important, and therefore no one is sent to school. She also has no friends.

By creating this image of Mayella, the jury sees that she is a lonely, destitute young girl with no hope of happiness in her environment. And, therefore, if someone showed her the least bit of kindness, she likely would find that appealing—as all people long for meaningful interactions. Unfortunately, Tom's kindness to Mayella was his undoing, and Atticus opens that door of thought through his initial questioning.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, why doesn't Mayella have friends, or even quite know what it would mean to have a friend?

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, there are several reasons why Mayella Ewell has no friends.

Mayella is the oldest child in the Ewell family. With no other woman in the house, she is in charge of taking care of the home and her seven siblings.

Ewell is considered to be "white trash" by polite southern society. He does not work, though his family digs through the dump to see if they can find anything of value there.

Mayella's father is a drunken lout. When he is intoxicated, he beats Mayella.

There is a suggestion of an unusual relationship between Mayella and her father. When Tom Robinson describes Mayella's advances towards him, he reports what she said to him:

She reached up an' kissed me 'side of th' face. She says she never kissed a grown man before...She says what her papa do to her don't count.

As Bob Ewell is not a fatherly, caring man, it is hard to imagine that he shows his daughter any affection.

It would seem that Mayella is unaware of her lack of friends.

Miss Mayella...a nineteen-year-old girl like you must have friends. Who are your friends.

Mayella is first confused by his question, and then she becomes hostile, asking him,

You makin' fun o'me agin, Mr. Finch?

This all indicates that Mr. Ewell keeps a close eye on Mayella, and between her responsibilities of keeping house and parenting her siblings, Bob Ewell does not allow her to have a life outside of her home. Therefore, she has no friends at all, and looks to her family for the company of others. Knowing nothing else, this would be why Atticus’ question regarding friends confuses her.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, why doesn't Mayella have friends, or even quite know what it would mean to have a friend?

As Atticus questions Mayella during Tom Robinson's trial, the reader begins to understand more about Mayella's life at home. Her family is poor, lives near the town dump, and receives government assistance which her father often spends on alcohol. When Atticus asks her if she has friends, Mayella seems confused by the question. She is only nineteen, and as the oldest sibling, she is responsible for taking care of the others. This leaves her little time to build friendships. It becomes clear that her only social interaction is with her younger siblings and her father, who is abusive to her. Mayella does not have adequate social skills and often thinks Atticus is making fun of her when he is simply being polite. Lacking the opportunity to be around others her age, Mayella hungers for attention and therefore seeks Tom Robinson to fill a void.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, why doesn't Mayella have friends, or even quite know what it would mean to have a friend?

Harper Lee insinuates through the evidence shared in the trial that Mayella has been taken advantage of by her father. Young people who have been treated that way by adults tend to really struggle with trust, a required tenant of friendship.

Furthermore, Mayella's home life is not attractive. In order to spend time together as friends, children often attend each other's houses. Mayella's few rows of flowers demonstrate that she wants something better than she has, and therefore would likely be embarrassed to bring a friend home to be with her.

Her father's drunken nature makes her responsible for the other children most of the time. She doesn't have the time to have friends, she has always performed the duties of a mother ever since she was old enough to have friends.

Lastly, Mayella seems to lack certain social abilities that she should have at her age. She doesn't understand that when Atticus addresses her as "ma'am", he is doing so to show respect.

Why doesn't Mayella have friends,or even quite know what it would mean to have one in To Kill a Mockingbird?Consider her situation in the family, her family's situation in town, and the town itself.

As Scout and Jem sit in the balcony of the courthouse listening to the testimony of Mayella Ewell in Chapter 18 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout whispers to her brother, "Has she got good sense?" Then Scoutobserves Mayella give Atticus "a final terrified glance" before continuing her testimony which has flaws in its credibility. 

Clearly, Mayella does not have a healthy family life.  With her mother's death, the responsibilities of taking care of the family has gone to poor Mayella since her father is a drunkard.  In addition, Bob Ewell is also abusive, and possibly even sexually abusive to Mayella. Since she has to remain in this sordid home, Mayella has few opportunities to make friends; besides, she has no nice clothes or money with which to go to town. Added to this situation, Mayella is a social pariah, labelled by the townspeople as "white trash," so few opportunities for meaningful socialization are open to her.

During the cross examination, why does Atticus question Mayella about her lifestyle, background, and family?

A good lawyer, in any type of medium (television, text, movie), will do anything they can to draw out concerns regarding the character of a witness or defendant.

This is no different in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. As a lawyer, Atticus needs the jury and judge to see what kind of person Mayella really is. Therefore, it only makes sense for him to question how she lives her life, her background, and her family.

The town knows Bob Ewell too well. They know how he feels about blacks and his extreme racial prejudices. Therefore, bringing this into court is important.

Another aspect of the questioning has to do with how Mayella lives her life. The fact that she has been known to flirt can bring doubt into the minds of the jury. If the jury can see that Mayella could have attempted to seduce Tom, the jury could then have some doubt as to how things happened exactly.