(I am assuming that this question pertains to the novel
To Kill a Mockingbird.)
As Jem states
in the novel, there is a societal pecking order in Maycomb: Negroes are on the bottom of
Maycomb society, while the Ewell famiy ("the disgrace of Maycomb" for generations) is
only slightly higher. However, in the eyes of the all-white jury, the trial comes down
to a simple matter of black vs. white: Tom is black, Mayella Ewell is white, and their
decision becomes a simple one. Since a white man's (or woman's) word is always believed
over the word of a black man, the jury's decision is already determined before the
evidence is presented.
It is obvious from the testimony
that Tom is an innocent man. Atticus determines that Mayella's injuries must have been
caused by a left-handed man (Tom's left arm is crippled); and the Ewell's testimony
conflicts with each other's as well as with Tom's. Tom is the victim here, not Mayella;
Mayella's lies on the stand make her seem like a sympathetic character, but her charges
against Tom--which carry a death sentence--instead make her the villain of the trial.
But, as Atticus knew before the trial began, Tom's fate was sealed by the 1930s Southern
bias that the average white man held against
Negroes.
Atticus hopes that the verdict will be overturned
upon appeal, but Tom's decision to try and escape, resulting in his death, leaves the
conflict unresolved. Bob Ewell, however, is not satisfied with the outcome: Tom's death
does not square things with Bob, who has been disgraced and embarrassed on the stand by
Atticus. In Bob's mind, vengeance against Atticus and his family is still a necessary
ingredient to clear his own family name.
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