Atticus, in his summing up, says that Mayella Ewell has "put a man's life at stake" (i.e., Tom Robinson's), "in an effort to get rid of her own guilt."
He then clarifies that Mayella was not guilty of a crime, but she was guilty of breaking a rigid social code:
"... a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with. ... She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old Uncle, but a strong young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards."
Notice that Atticus does not say this social code is right, merely that Mayella Ewell knew she was "guilty" of breaking it. He goes on to say that, in order to escape the severe consequences that would come her way if she admitted what she'd done (social ostracism, and probably more savage beatings from her father), Mayella desperately tried to blame Tom Robinson by accusing him of rape.
Atticus has great sympathy for Mayella. He knows she leads a lonely life, and that Tom Robinson was the only person in her world who was kind to her. He understands why she was tempted. However, he cannot spare her feelings by keeping her secret. He must bring her secret out in order to save Tom Robinson's life.
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