In spite of his disability, Tom Robinson is a hard working field hand in Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. On trial for the rape of Mayella Ewell, Tom testifies that "I picks for Mr. Link Deas... I works pretty steady for him all year round"--picking cotton and pecans. The previous November, when Tom was accused of his crime, "I works in his yard fall an' wintertime."
When Mayella first asked Tom to "bust up her chiffarobe," he felt uneasy entering the Ewell home, but his innate kindness prevented him from refusing her request. When she kissed him and told him to kiss her back, he tried to run from the house because "I was scared." While being cross-examined, Tom admitted that he "felt right sorry for her"--an admission that did not sit well with the prosecutor. When he was shot and killed, he ran in a "blind raving charge" toward the fence. Tom is portrayed as a soft-spoken, married family man. Although he once spent 30 days in jail for disorderly conduct, he was a good worker who Link Deas claimed "ain't had a speck o' trouble outta him."
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