Tom Robinson is accused of raping a young girl, Mr. Ewell's girl. Tom says that Mayella Ewell asked him to do a chore
for her, and out of the blue began to kiss him. Her father saw them kissing and he beat Mayella.
Atticus takes up the case, even though he knows that there is no possibility that he would win. He thinks that if he
did not take the case, he wouldn't be able to look at his children or feel any respect for himself.
The public knew that Atticus was given the case not by choice, but the fact that he was actually going to defend Tom
made the "audience" go mad. They assumed he would just let Tom go easily, but Atticus actually "fought" and gave amazing proof contradicting what the witnesses said to prove his innocence.
Atticus gives amazing evidence and proves that Tom Robinson is innocent, but because of the town's bias against black
people, Tom is sentenced to death anyway.