How does Harper Lee create sympathy for Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbirdcreates sympathy for Tom Robinson by describing his personality and his circumstances.  Tom is characterized as a hard-working family man who goes to work every day.  Unfortunately, he must pass the Ewell house on his way to and from his job.  Mayella Ewell attempts to talk to Tom, and he even helps her with minor repairs around the house.  When Mayella forces Tom to come in the house...

Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird creates sympathy for Tom Robinson by describing his personality and his circumstances.  Tom is characterized as a hard-working family man who goes to work every day.  Unfortunately, he must pass the Ewell house on his way to and from his job.  Mayella Ewell attempts to talk to Tom, and he even helps her with minor repairs around the house.  When Mayella forces Tom to come in the house to help her get down a box off a dresser, she grabs him and tries to kiss him.  Tom does the only thing he can do and runs out of the house.  Unfortunately, Bob Ewell sees the whole incident and presses charges against Tom for rape.  During the trial, Tom makes the mistake of saying he feels sorry for Mayella.  Tom has broken a code of conduct established by the white community; no black man can ever profess or feel sorry for a white person because it would imply that Tom is better than Mayella and Bob Ewell.  

Lee also gives Tom a physical disability to not only show how he couldn’t have hit Mayella with his useless left hand but to also make a point about how blacks are treated as less than human.  As a black, Tom is treated with disrespect and hatred. Because he is disabled and oppressed by racism, Harper Lee implies that he is symbolically seen as less than a man by the white community. 

As readers, we sympathize with Tom because Lee presents him as a kind person who doesn’t have a chance simply because of the color of his skin.  He is thought of as less than human not only because of his race but also because of his physical handicap.  The injustice of the guilty verdict and his subsequent murder for trying to escape really makes us understand and see Tom as a mockingbird in the story.