Subsequently, Tom tries to "escape" after his trial because he believed that there was no other chance for him to escape. The cops supposedly told him to stop and after multiple chances to listen, the cops used lethal force to stop him. .
Tom Robinson's case is such a big event in the book because it shows multiple cases of prejudice and fairness, and exposes the reader to the severity of racial discrimination that has been faced by millions for years and years. Being the main case in the story, it gives Lee a chance to really emphasize how fairness back in the 1930's is completely different than what it is today. The trial reveals a great deal about the prejudices that existed in Maycomb in the 1930's. Mayella would not have tried to kiss Tom if social prejudice had not excluded her from white society – Mayella does not even seem to understand the idea of "friends" when Atticus asks her about them. The arrival of Bob Ewell at the wrong moment involved several aspects of racial prejudice. White women were not supposed to have anything to do with black men and Bob is so shocked by his daughter's behavior that he beats her savagely. Once the charge of rape is brought, Tom becomes the victim of prejudices about black men and white women. These are so strong that the townspeople's first reaction is to lynch Tom without a trial. When Atticus agrees to defend Tom, he and his children come in for a great deal of verbal, and some physical, abuse. In the trial itself Atticus says that Bob and Mayella have assumed that they will automatically be believed over a black person. Atticus asks the jury to try to overcome this prejudice but it is too ingrained for him to succeed and, besides, the jury had probably been offended by Tom's remark that he felt sorry for Mayella.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, we see unfairness in other forms. Another event that plays a big role in Lee's portrayal of unfairness is through Jem and Scout's maturations and adventures throughout the story.