was trying to show, it seemed to me, that Mr. Ewell could have beaten up Mayella.....If her right eye was blacked and she was beaten mostly on the right side of the face, it would tend to show that a left-handed person did it."  (pg 178)

However, at that point in time, she thought that maybe Tom Robinson was left-handed.  That is until Atticus asked Tom to stand up.  Scout noticed that something was definitely different about Tom Robinson physically, he seemed off balance. 

"His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side.  It ended in a small shriveled hand and from as far away as the balcony I could see that it was no use to him." (pg 186)

Tom Robinson has no use of his left hand. Atticus was tryingto show that Tom could not have done the damage to Mayella's face.  Jem also noted the crippled condition of Tom's arm.  Reverend Sykes, who had snuck the children into the balcony to watch the proceedings, explained that

"He got it caught in a cotton gin, caught it in Mr. Dolphin Raymond's cotton gin when he was a boy....like to bled to death....tore all the muscles loose from his bones." (pg 186)

The point is emphasized again when Tom is called to testify and tries to take the oath on the Bible.  He has to lift his left hand with his right one, and then it won't stay in place.  Finally the judge tells him to just take the oath and not worry about placing his hand on the Bible.

In Chapter 18, during the trial in the courtroom, Jem exclaims that Tom Robinson is "crippled." In the 1930s, when the action is set, this was not generally considered an offensive term for people with disabilities, such as Tom's apparently nonfunctioning left arm, which Scout describes as "dead."

Reverend Sykes explains to Jem that Tom had severely injured his arm as a child. It may be he was working as a child laborer. As a boy, Tom's arm had been caught in Dolphus Raymond's cotton gin. Almost all the muscles in the arm had been torn from the bones. The child almost died from loss of blood.

It seems from this brief description and that of Tom's left arm as being a foot shorter than his right arm that he had not received adequate medical care at the time, or followup orthopedic reconstruction.

A "gin" is a machine for separating the cotton fibers from the seeds. The user places the cotton bolls (pods) into the machine, on top of a shredding mechanism. Another user turns a crank, moving the cotton through rows of sharp teeth around a drum. As cotton was a major crop in Alabama, Scout and Jem would have been familiar with the term, although they might not have seen it operating. Today most gins in the U.S. are automated, reducing the danger of such accidents.

While we learn little of Tom's family, in the early 20th century when he was a boy, unregulated child labor was extremely common. An employer having a 12-year-old working on dangerous equipment might not have been unusual.

Throughout the trial, Scout listens with the training Atticus has always given her about judging the credibility of a witness, and she believes Tom's testimony. She says that

Atticus sometimes said that one way to tell whether a witness was lying or telling the truth was to listen rather that watch . . . I applied his test . . . and I found myself believing him in spite of his protesting too much.

From the summative evidence of the trial, Tom seems to be a reliable witness. Examining some of his testimony therefore shows how he is a mockingbird in this book, only existing for goodness and beauty and not capable of harming anyone.

"I say where the chillun?" he continued, "and she says—she was laughin', sort of—she says they all gone to town to get ice creams. She says, 'took me a slap year to save . . . but I done it.' . . . "I said something like, why Miss Mayella, that's right smart o'you to treat 'em."

This shows Tom's propensity for trying to recognize goodness wherever he finds it. He is uncomfortable with Mayella's initial request to help him and feels something is a bit off about the entire situation—the quiet yard, his inability to locate the task Mayella needs help with—but he offers to help, anyway. And when Mayella tells him that she's done something generous for her brothers and sisters, Tom's immediate reaction is to encourage her efforts, even though he himself is at risk by being alone with a white woman in this setting. Tom's motives are noble, and his heart is genuine.

Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more'n the rest of 'em—

This is a fatal slip of wording for Tom, but in his innocence, he doesn't see the fallout coming. To say that he feels sorry for Mayella's situation is to somehow convey that he, a black man, is in a better position than the Ewell family. And in this setting in Alabama, that was social suicide. However, Tom conveys here that he genuinely did seek to help her and did feel compassion for her deplorable conditions. His goodness in this sentence is his undoing in the trial, and it is one of the reasons that the all-white jury convicted him.

"They shot him," said Atticus. "He was running. It was during their exercise period. They said he just broke into a blind raving charge at the fence and started climbing over. Right in front of them—"

It's a sin to kill a mockingbird because all they do is create beauty. According to the evidence of the trial, Tom could not have possibly committed the crimes Mayella accuses him of. His sole intention is to help a person in need. And even so, an all-white jury has convicted him, and in this scene, he is killed. An innocent is murdered, solidifying Tom's symbolic role as a mockingbird in this novel.

Tom Robinson is a morally upright, innocent man, who unfortunately becomes a victim of racial injustice after he is wrongly convicted of assaulting and raping Mayella Ewell. In a conversation between Atticus and Scout, Atticus provides some insight into Tom Robinson's character. Atticus tells his daughter,

"[Tom Robinson]'s a member of Calpurnia’s church, and Cal knows his family well. She says they’re clean-living folks." (77)

During the trial, Tom takes the witness stand and reveals his magnanimous, compassionate personality by testifying that he routinely helped Mayella Ewell complete certain chores without accepting monetary compensation. Tom tells Atticus,

"Mr. Finch, it was way last spring. I remember it because it was choppin‘ time and I had my hoe with me. I said I didn’t have nothin’ but this hoe, but she said she had a hatchet. She give me the hatchet and I broke up the chiffarobe. She said, ‘I reckon I’ll hafta give you a nickel, won’t I?’ an‘ I said, ’No ma’am, there ain’t no charge.‘ Then I went home." (194)

During the cross-examination, Tom displays his sympathetic character by explaining to Mr. Gilmer why he routinely helped Mayella without expecting pay. Tom tells Mr. Gilmer,

"Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em—" (201)

Unfortunately, Tom makes the mistake of testifying that he, a black man, felt sorry for Mayella, a white woman, and the prejudiced jury finds him guilty of a crime he did not commit. 

A symbol in a piece of literature is a recurring object, color, etc., that is used to support a major theme in that piece of literature.

To understand the significance of Tom Robinson representing the symbol of a mockingbird, one needs to recall Atticus' instructions to the children when they received their air rifles as gifts, and Miss Maudie's explanation:

“Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. 

“Your father’s right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

The overall concept is that it is ethically wrong to harm anything or anyone that does nothing to harm others—it's wrong to harm an innocent.

There are a couple of characters in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird that can be seen as mockingbirds. One in particular is Tom Robinson, a poor black man, and a father and husband. He works very hard to support his family. Mr. Dees (Tom's employer) speaks highly of the dedicated worker Tom is. Tom is a good man at heart, as well: he is polite and kind.

Tom Robinson does nothing to bring harm anyone, but is punished because he shows the kindness toward Mayella Ewell—innocently, he offers to help her do work in her home. She makes a pass at him and Tom desperately tries to remove himself from the situation. However, when Bob Ewell comes upon them, he beats Mayella and she cries "rape." Had it been a white man, Ewell would probably have beaten him up. However, because of Tom's race, Ewell's prejudice, and the fact that Tom (a black man) feels sorry for Mayella (a white woman), Tom never has a chance of survival.

In Chapter 19, Tom described the sympathy he felt for Mayella: a young woman who worked so hard without anyone to help her. Mayella often asked Tom when he passed by from work each day for help around the house.

Atticus asked Tom:

Were you paid for your services?

Tom responded:

No suh, not after she offered me a nickel the first time. I was glad to do it, Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun, and I knowed she didn't have no nickels to spare.

The fact that Tom is falsely accused of rape while trying to help Mayella shows how he is like a mockingbird: doing no harm but being harmed.

In Chapter 24, Atticus describes the excessive use of force to stop a man with only one functioning arm; this also shows how Tom can be seen as a mockingbird:

...the guards called to him to stop. They fired a few shots in the air, then to kill. They got him just as he went over the fence...Seventeen bullet holes in him. They didn't have to shoot him that much. [...] ...what was one Negro, more or less, among two hundred of 'em? He wasn't Tom to them, he was an escaping prisoner.

Mr. Underwood, who runs The Maycomb Tribune, the town's newspaper, most clearly reflects the sin in the senseless killing of Tom Robinson, found in Chapter 25:

Mr. Underwood didn't talk about miscarriages of justice, he was writing so children could understand. Mr. Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting or escaping. He likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children...

And the sacrificial essence of Tom Robinson, a black man, is evident with Scout's observation:

Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.

In every detail concerning Tom Robinson, he is presented as one who (like a mockingbird) does no harm, but becomes the object of hatred and mistrust, and is killed not because he is guilty, but because he is black and believed to be incapable of innocence by virtue of his race.

Tom Robinson is portrayed as a morally upright, compassionate man who is defenseless against the prejudiced community of Maycomb. Tom Robinson goes out of his way to help Mayella Ewell complete various chores and refuses to accept payment because he understands that Mayella's family needs the money. Calpurnia mentions that Tom is "clean-living," and he is a respected member of the black community. When Jem and Scout attend Sunday service at First Purchase African M.E. Church, they witness the congregation collect ten dollars for Tom's wife and children. During the trial, Tom is depicted as a soft-spoken, genuine man who simply tried to help Mayella with her chores. Unfortunately, Tom is wrongly convicted of assaulting and raping Mayella Ewell and is sent to Enfield Prison Farm, where he is shot while attempting to escape. Tom is also considered a symbolic mockingbird because of his peaceful character and vulnerability.

One of the overwhelming themes of To Kill a Mockingbird is that of empathy. We see this theme most prominently in the character of Atticus Finch, who's defining philosophy is to always withhold judgement and understand where someone else is coming from. Atticus tells his children that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because all a mockingbird does is sing. It has no nature or capacity to harm others, and therefore it is sinful to kill one. Even though children would never get in any kind of trouble for killing one, even though it is not against the law to kill one, a decent man would consider such an act immoral.

Such is the case with Tom Robinson. In the Bible Belt during the depression era, it was not at all common for a black defended to be declared innocent of anything, much less a rape case. By the work of many people who do not consider themselves to be doing anything wrong, Tom Robinson is set to eventually be killed. Atticus considers this to be a sin because it is overwhelmingly obvious to any logical person that he has done nothing wrong. Even though the law would never punish anyone for killing Tom, it is the wrong thing to do.

This is a great question. The most obvious choice of a mockingbird figure is Tom Robinson. To get to this conclusion, we have to first define what a mockingbird is. 

Atticus says to Jem and Scout that he would prefer that they only shoot tin cans with their new guns. He also says that they will undoubtedly want to shoot birds. However, they should never shoot a mockingbird, because they only do good. Miss Maudie expands on this by saying:

“Your father’s right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

So, if a character in the book only does good for others, then he or she would be a mockingbird. Also if someone harmed that person, then it would be sin. 

Tom Robinson is such a character. He only does good. He is a good husband, father, church goer, worker, citizen, and person. During the trial, Tom stated that he often helped Mayella. He helped her, because he was kind. He even went out of his way after a hard day's work. Here is the text:

Tom Robinson’s forehead relaxed. “She’d call me in, suh. Seemed like every time

Tom Robinson shows courage on the witness stand.  He tells about the events that happened with Mayella Ewell, even though he is under immense scrutiny by the jury and court observers.  His hesitation shows how he needs to summon up the courage to speak in defense of himself.  He frequently swallows before speaking, which also shows his hesitation.

He tells of many instances when he had helped Mayella with small chores and tasks around the broken down Ewell house.  Mr. Gilmer presses Tom for more information.  He asks Tom why he would be so willing to help Mayella without getting paid.  Tom explains that he was trying to help.  Mr. Gilmer asks for more and Tom replies:

"Yes, suh.  I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more'n the rest of--" (To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 21)

 Mr. Gilmer is quick to interrupt.  It is unheard of in Maycomb for a black man to pity a white woman.  Tom Robinson speaks with honesty.  He does not leave out parts of the truth to make himself look better.  This takes courage on his part.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, a black man, has been accused of attacking and raping Mayella Ewell (a poor white woman and the daughter of the town drunk). Atticus is appointed to defend Tom at his trial and willingly does so despite the horrifyingly racist attitudes of the community. After showing that Mayella's attacker had to be left-handed based upon the location of her bodily injuries, Atticus asks Tom to rise so that Mayella can identify him. Tom does so, revealing a surprising deformity:

He looked oddly off balance, but it was not from the way he was standing. His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shriveled hand...

Scout and Jem realize that Tom is crippled, and Reverend Sykes informs them that Tom was horribly injured in a childhood accident: his arm got caught in the cotton gin belonging to Mr. Dolphus Raymond which ripped his muscles loose from his bones. This is an important revelation for the court proceedings: it is clear that Tom could not possibly have attacked Mayella as Mayella had claimed due to his injured extremity.

At the very end of Chapter 25, Mr. Underwood compares Tom's death to the killing of a mockingbird, specifically "to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children." This tells us that he was killed for entertainment, not nutrition, and that he was killed out of habit (the hunters kill because that's what they do to birds) and by those who don't know any better (the children). The irony here is that the children in the novel do know better—it's the adults who don't, or who do know better, but don't act on it.

On page 90 of the book, Atticus explains to the children that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. 

"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.  They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they dont' do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.  That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (pg 90)

Boo Radley had a kind of wild youth, but he has done nothing but been protective of the children.  He covered them with blankets when they were outside, and Miss Maddie's house burnt down.  He left them gifts in the tree hole, and he sewed up Jem's pants when Jem split them while crawling under the fence.  Most importantly, he saved the children from Bob Ewell when Bob Ewell attacked them on their way home from the festival.  Even the sheriff says to Atticus,

"Mr. Finch, taking the one man who's done you and this town a great service an' draggin him with his shy ways into the limelight --- to me that's a sin.... If it was any other man it'd be different.  But not this man, Mr. Finch." (pg 276)

Atticus realizes what he is saying.  It would be like shooting a mockingbird.  Even Scout knows that is true.  When Atticus finishes this conversation with the sheriff all he can do is thank Boo for saving his children.

Tom Robinson is an equally good man.  Mayella would ask Tom to do minor chores around their house in the dump.  She was actually flirting with Tom, but he was unaware of it at the time.  Atticus asked him in court if he ever was paid for doing these chores.

"No,suh, not after she offered me a nickel the first time.  I was glad to do it.  Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun, and I knowed she didn't have no nickels to spare." (pg 191)

During the trial, Scout notices something about Tom Robinson.

"He seems to be a respectable Negro, and a respectable Negro would never go up into somebody's yard of his own volition." (pg 192)

He was just trying to be a good man and help someone out who needed help.  Unfortunately, in order to escape the repercussions of Mayella coming on to a Negro, they charged that Negro with rape.  In this case, they did shoot a mockingbird.  Tom Robinson was given the death penalty, and he was killed trying to escape the jail yard while he was waiting for his appeal. 

Tom Robinson is a black man accused of raping a white woman.  Atticus Finch is defending him.

Tom Robinson is a good man.  From his testimony, we can tell that he is kind, empathetic, generous, and careful.  Yet unfortunately his kindness gets him into trouble.  He tried to help Mayella Ewell whenever he could because he felt sorry for her.  She mistook his kindness for affection and tried to get romantic with him.  He rebuffed her, but her father saw them and the damage was done.  To save herself from his wrath, she said Tom Robinson raped her.

When Atticus explains this to his brother Jack, it is clear that he knows the chances of winning are not good.

The only thing we've got is a black man's word against the Ewells'. The evidence boils down to you-did-I-didn't. The jury couldn't possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson's word against the Ewells'… (ch 9)

Atticus still tries his best though, not just because he was appointed but because he knows Tom is innocent.  He is one of the story's "mockingbirds," a victim who does nothing to bring hate upon himself.  Unfortunately, Tom Robinson is convicted and then shot when trying to escape prison.

The answer to your question is in Chapter 10 when Miss Maudie explains what Atticus said to Scout about killing a mockingbird.  Basically, mockingbirds do no harm, only bring joy and happiness. Tom is a very helpful man who takes time out of his very busy work schedule to help Mayella Ewell for whom he feels pity.  All characterization of Tom shows him to be kind, gentle, and good--Scout even pays him the highest compliment by saying he is very much like Atticus.  All of Tom's deeds are to help someone he believes is lonely and without much assistance from her father and the other children.  Because he is accused of a capital crime, and is guilty because of the color of his skin, Tom's death is a true sin fueled by hatred and prejudice.  Tom is the best example of a mockingbird because he is wrongfully murdered.  The tragedy of Tom's death's is doubled because of the irony of his arm: the one piece of evidence that should have freed him--his withered arm--succeeds in being the reason he dies.

The entire idea behind the title To Kill a Mockingbird is that you should never kill a mockingbird because all it does is make beautiful music and harms no one. Two of the best examples of "mockingbirds" would be Boo and Tom. Tom would be considered a mockingbird because he was a kind man who harmed no one. On many occasions he helped Mayella with different chores around her house. His intensions were good; he meant no one harm. He only wanted to be kind and helpful. Sadly, as a mockingbird, Tom was killed because of nothing he did. He was misjudged and misunderstood. While Tom was an example of a killed mockingbird, at the end of the novel it was Boo who could have been killed by others because of people who didn't bother to look into Boo's actions. It was Scout who realized that killing Boo (or putting him into a situation that could have killed him) would be like killing a mockingbird. Both Tom and Boo did good things for others and never intended to harm anyone.

Scout and Jem get air-rifles for Christmas in chapter 9. Then in chapter 10, Scout mentions that Atticus tells Jem the following one day:

"I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (90).

Scout asks Miss Maudie about this and is told that mockingbirds are not pests like bluejays are. Mockingbirds provide beautiful music for everyone to enjoy, in fact. Also, mockingbirds are innocent, vulnerable, and don't hurt anyone or anything; therefore, Maudie backs up what Atticus says. But there certainly is a symbolic and parallel meaning between mockingbirds and Tom Robinson. Tom is an innocent man with a wife and children; he goes to work faithfully each day; and he is kind enough to help out a young girl named Mayella Ewell a few times by chopping wood for her. As a result, he gets caught in her vixen trap as she tries to kiss him one day. Her father, Bob Ewell sees this and presses rape charges! Poor Tom is like a mockingbird because he never hurt anyone, yet he dies because of the discriminatory and racist social system in the South.

Tom Robinson is depicted as a morally-upright, compassionate man, who routinely goes out of his way to help Mayella Ewell complete certain chores and tasks around her house. Calpurnia initially tells Atticus that Tom Robinson is a clean-living man with a positive reputation throughout their community. Although Tom does not say much throughout the novel, the reader learns more about his character in chapter 19. When Tom Robinson takes the witness stand, he demonstrates that he is a morally-upright, generous man by testifying that he routinely helped Mayella complete various household chores whenever she needed his help. In addition to testifying that he routinely helped Mayella, Tom also mentions that he never accepted any monetary compensation for his assistance. Tom then testifies that on the evening of November 21st, he offered to help Mayella bust up a chiffarobe. When Mr. Gilmer asks why Tom routinely helped Mayella without receiving compensation, Tom responds by saying,

"I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em—" (Lee, 201).

Tom's answer not only reveals his honesty but emphasizes his compassionate, generous nature. Tom never expected anything in return for his services and simply helped her out of the kindness of his heart. Tom’s benevolent, sympathetic nature reveals that he has strong, positive morals. Tragically, the jury is offended by Tom's answer and he becomes a victim of racial injustice.

Set in Macomb, Alabama, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird revolves around the moral, emotional, and mental development of the protagonist and narrator, Scout Finch. Much of her development is guided by her father, Atticus, as he attempts to prove the innocence of Tom Robinson—a just, hard-working, and generous Black man who has been falsely accused of rape by a white woman.

Tom Robinson is accused of assaulting and raping Mayella Ewell, though it later becomes clear that it was actually Mayella who tried to seduce him. To convince the jury and judge that Tom is not the culprit, Atticus points out that Mayella's injuries were primarily on her right side, which meant a left-handed man beat her. Tom's left arm is crippled and he cannot use it; however, Mayella's father, the violent and abusive Bob Ewell, is left-handed.

Despite all the evidence Atticus presents, the racist jury finds Tom guilty, simply because he is a Black man accused of harming a white woman. After the trial, Tom is sentenced to death and sent to the Enfield Prison Farm in Chester County. Atticus still has some hope for Tom's appeal case, but Tom loses hope and tries to escape from jail. Tom's escape attempt is unsuccessful, and a group of guards see him and immediately shoot him, killing him on the spot.

The character of Tom Robinson serves several functions. First, the Robinson trial provides the conflict and suspense to drive the plot of the book forward. Everyone in the town is involved in or is following the case, and the trial allows Lee to pull together diverse groups of characters into one courtroom.

Second, Tom's character reflects the dangers of white racism. He is a generous, caring person, but he does not stand a chance for a fair trial because of his color. His kindness to Mayella Ewell is repaid with an accusation of rape.

Finally, Tom, along with Boo Radley, is the best example of a "mockingbird" as referred to in the title. Atticus tells his children that "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" because they cause no trouble and only bring happiness with their singing. Tom ultimately becomes a "mockingbird" after he is shot trying to escape prison.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson is an African American man falsely charged with the rape and assault of Mayella Ewell, a white woman.

In those days in the Deep South, such an accusation was tantamount to a conviction. Many Black men were summarily lynched for allegedly raping white women; some were even lynched for supposedly looking at a white woman in a lascivious manner. The point of such lynchings was to keep Black people in a state of oppression and to maintain white supremacy.

Tom isn't lynched, but that's only because Scout manages to diffuse a potentially dangerous situation outside the jailhouse by engaging the lynch mob leader, Walter Cunningham Senior, in conversation.

In due course, though, Tom will receive the legal equivalent of a lynching by being convicted of crimes he physically could not have committed. Despite the best efforts of Atticus to plead his case, Tom never stood a chance at his trial. It was always inevitable that the all-white jury would vote to convict.

After being convicted, Tom is sent to Enfield Prison Farm. One day, during an exercise period, he makes a desperate bid for freedom by trying to scale the fence. The prison guards fire warning shots, but Tom keeps on climbing the fence. So they shoot Tom several times, riddling his body with no fewer than seventeen bullets.

Tom's tragic death is just one more example of the systemic injustice to which African Americans were subjected in the Deep South of the 1930s.

To Kill A Mockingbird

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom Robinson was a man of courage in the face of Mayella Ewell's struggles. Tom walked by the Ewell home daily on his way to and from work. He came to know that Mayella had a hard life with little help from her brothers or father. He noticed that Mayella was the only one who seemed to care about her appearance or environment. Also, she was friendly and spoke to Tom as he passed by her house. Tom felt sorry for Mayella. After Mayella asked for his help, he chose to help her when she was trying to break apart the chifforobe or heavy wardrobe.

Tom knew that he could be wrongly accused for helping a white women during this prejudiced time frame. Maycomb was a racist town and would not approve of a black man such as Tom helping a white young woman. Nevertheless, Tom exhibited great courage because he chose to help Mayella. Tom had a big heart filled with compassion for someone like Mayella who was less fortunate in her upbringing. Her father and brothers did not help her maintain the house or yard.

Tom noticed Mayella's strength and determination to do the job herself. He courageously walked in her yard to help her with a man's task. The chifforobe was a heavy piece of wooden furniture. Tom had the decency to try and assist  her in breaking it apart. It took great courage for a black man to even enter a white man's environment or yard. Tom put himself in great danger by choosing to help Mayella. No doubt, Tom knew the danger of his actions. He displayed great courage in putting his concerns aside. He was brave in deciding to help Mayella. 

Ultimately, Tom risked his life because he thought that helping Mayella was the right thing to do. Out of pity for Mayella, he courageously walked into her yard and began helping her with a difficult task. Tom made a courageous choice. This led to Tom being wrongly convicted of raping Mayella. Bob Ewell and Mayella claimed Tom had raped her. Tom was shot and killed while trying to escape imprisonment because he was innocent.