Judge Taylor instinctively reached for his gavel, but let his hand fall. The murmur below us died without his help.

The disquiet in the court that caused Judge Taylor to reach for his gavel was caused by an answer Tom Robinson gave in his testimony that the white audience found particularly alarming. When Tom is asked if and when he ever went to the Ewell residence, he innocently replies: “Yes suh” “I went lots of times.” The white audience interprets his naïve answer as validation of their racist suspicions of him being some kind of lecherous brute or sexual predator. This is one of several unintentional faux-pas made by Tom Robinson during his testimony that foreshadows his inevitable conviction.