Atticus had originally told Jem and Scout (and Dill) to
stay at home on the day of the trial, but after he had come home for lunch, the children
decided to take a look for themselves. They managed to attain seats in the balcony of
the courtroom amidst Tom's black friends who were attending the trial. The kids remained
unseen by Atticus until they were pointed out by B. B. Underwood after Calpurnia arrived
to report them missing. The children desperately wanted to see the jury's verdict, since
they had already witnessed the entire proceeding (aside from Scout's and Dill's break
with Dolphus Raymond).
Calpurnia wanted to "--skin every
one of you, alive..." Aunt Alexandra "nearly fainted." Miss Rachel had "run distracted
looking for you--" But Atticus realized that the children had already seen the worst of
it--the false accusations and charge of rape by Mayella and Tom, and the racist
treatment of Tom by the prosecutor, Mr. Gilmer. When Jem begged to "Please let us hear
the verdict, please sir," Atticus
relented.
"Well, you've heard it all, so you might as well
hear the rest."
Atticus later
told Alexandra that
"This is their home, sister... We've made it this
way for them, they might as well learn to cope with
it."
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