Long before the trial begins, Harper Lee allows the reader
to understand that it will be an uphill battle for Tom. Atticus recognizes that Tom has
little chance of being cleared of the charges, telling his brother Jack
that
"The jury
couldn't possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson's word against the Ewells." (Chapter
9)
The verdict has actually
been decided in the minds of the jurors before the trial starts, since the fact that a
white man's word is always accepted over that of a black man's holds true in the 1930s
Deep South. Although the Ewells are the "disgrace of Maycomb," they are white, and their
word will be accepted over that of Tom's.
Atticus will
provide plenty of evidence to support Tom's innocence: Mayella's injuries must have been
inflicted by a left-handed man (Tom's left arm is crippled); she never saw a physician
to corroborate her charge of rape; Bob's and Mayella's testimony often were in conflict;
and Mayella changes her story several times on the stand. But, as Atticus knew
beforehand, Tom's testimony--as honest and forthright as it seemed to Scout and Jem--was
not believed by the jury.
Tom suffers further indignities
when he is nearly taken from the jail and lynched shortly before the trial; while he is
being cross-examined, the prosecutor repeatedly refers to him as "boy;" and Bob and
Mayella both call him "nigger" while on the stand. For Tom, the worst part is being
imprisoned following the trial. Although Atticus believes he has a great chance of
freeing Tom on appeal, Tom is unable to deal with being caged like a bird, and when he
attempts to escape, he is riddled with bullets--seventeen of them--from the rifles of
the guards. Tom is memorialized in an editorial by B.B. Underwood, who likens his death
to the sinful and "senseless slaughter of songbirds."
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