THE townsfolk of Maycomb were not cruel, but there was something ominous in the courtroom. Tom Robinson had not been proven guilty, yet nearly half of the townsfolk either silently acquiesced or came right out with it: Tom should get the death sentence.

And the jury decided that he had indeed raped Mayella Ewell. The judge read out the verdict. Tom was put in a prison cell, to wait. In despair he tried to escape, and was shot dead.

Harper Lee�